CMAT releases her wildly anticipated album Euro-Country this Friday August 29th. I recently had the pleasure of catching CMAT at All Together Now in Waterford earlier this month, and honestly that whole performance was a great precursor for this record. Her set was wild, funny, and packed with personality, so when I sat down with Euro-Country, I already had that live energy in my head.
In my opinion, this album really captures that same balance as her live show. Its CMAT being hilarious and larger-than-life, while at the same time digging into things with brutal honesty. This is an artist that isn’t scared to say what she (or the whole country) has been thinking. That’s what makes her stand out in a crowded pop world, she can be both the joker and the truth-teller in the same breath.
When I pressed play on Euro-Country, I didn’t exactly know what to expect, but within the first few seconds of “Billy Byrne from Ballybrack, the Leader of the Pigeon Convoy,” CMAT had me hooked. I didn’t expect it to happen so quickly. That opening’s tranquil, shoreline ambiance was unexpected. It has those dreamy, surreal vibes which flows into “Euro-Country”. This track is already sitting pretty at 3.1million streams and it’s no surprise. CMATs beautiful vocals are the perfect introduction to this record. I thought it was such a bold way to start a record, and it makes you sit up straight immediately.
Throughout the record, there’s this brilliant push-pull between razor-sharp humour and real heart. Take her mega viral “Take a Sexy Picture of Me”: it’s absurdly catchy (no wonder it blew up with that TikTok dance), but with lyrics like “make me look 16, like a baby” there’s still that aspect of social commentary that CMAT has been no stranger to. There’s tracks like “The Jamie Oliver Petrol Station”. A track I thought would be just a funny gag at first, but the more I listened, the more it revealed itself as this messy little dive into resentment and self-awareness. It has the nostalgic vibe but is actually quite a meaningful track. Something CMAT touches on as she says “yeah this is making no sense to the average listener, let me try to explain myself.” This was one of my favourites on the record. It’s catchy and honest.
But CMAT isn’t just serving clever lyrics, she’s serving up real emotions throughout too. “Lord, Let That Tesla Crash” is elegantly devastating, confronting grief in a way that feels scattered but painfully real, not forced into neat rhymes. It’s an absolutely beautiful, beautiful track. It takes its time at over 5 minutes long and it deserves every second of it. There won’t be many dry eyes listening to this one.
Tracks like “Iceberg” scream swagger and confidence with the delivery but are so honest and personal. The Titanic imagery paired with the slow collapse of a relationship is something that stuck with me as I moved through the album. It was such a clever track and at times I felt like I shouldn’t be listening to something so open and honest.
The range on the record is truly impressive as you contrast “Iceberg” to earlier tracks like “When a Good Man Cries.” They are completely different but yet both equally amazing. CMAT has really taken her time with this record and it feels like she’s done things on her own terms. The majority of tracks on this album are on the longer side which gives CMAT the chance to get the stories across in a way that doesn’t feel constrained.
As expected, Euro-Country also digs into wider national and political narratives with real bite. A sound going viral lately is the clip from this album “all the big boys, all the Berties.” CMAT doesn’t hold back and you’re thrown into Ireland’s Celtic Tiger crash. It’s genius: turning generational resentment and political failure into something that sounds like a festival chant. That’s not an easy thing to do. I think this record shows how she can Trojan-horse weighty commentary into music that still feels like pure pop and gets mega airplay.
By the time we reach the closing “Janis Joplining,” CMAT’s voice feels like it’s cracked open into something totally new. It’s jazzy, abstract and intimate. I thought it was a beautiful way to end the record, like she’s pulling the curtain back just a little further. This is interesting, quirky and theatrical, but also closes on something deeply personal.
So yeah… overall, it’s clever. It’s gutting. It’s hilarious and it’s human. After seeing her live and now living with this record, I think Euro-Country proves CMAT is one of the most exciting artists Ireland has right now. It’s sharp, funny, political, emotional, and endlessly replayable.
Euro-Country gets a well justified 9 out of 10
Reviewer – Alan Robinson @alan_robinson_photography