Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson (born 23 February 1996), known professionally asCMAT (/ˈsiːmæt/,SEE-mat), is an Irish musician and singer.[1]The Guardian wrote of her music, "Her songs are mournful yet accessible, emotionally literate and cleverly crafted, but, crucially, with a huge sense of humour".[2] She has released three studio albums,If My Wife New I'd Be Dead (2022),Crazymad, for Me (2023) andEuro-Country (2025).
Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson[3] was born on 23 February 1996[4] in Dublin, and moved with her family toClonee andDunboyne inCounty Meath as a child.[5] She returned to Dublin to study atTrinity College Dublin,[6] but later dropped out and moved to Denmark for three months to attend a songwriting camp.[7]
CMAT had aspirations to become a professional musician from a young age, and relocated toManchester, England, to pursue a career in music with her then-boyfriend, performing together as Bad Sea.[8][9][1][10] She has since described their relationship as toxic and isolating, and she stopped pursuing a music career, living a partying lifestyle.[10] She attended an in-person listening session at a London studio with the Englishelectropop singerCharli XCX, who advised CMAT to reimagine her approach.[11]
She broke up with her boyfriend and moved toDublin to begin self-releasing her music online, and gained considerable attention, as well as radio play fromRTÉ Radio 1 andBBC Radio 6 Music.[12][13][14][15] Her debut studio albumIf My Wife New I'd Be Dead was released in February 2022.Metacritic, which aggregates review scores, gives the album a score of 85 based on 9 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[16]Hot Press magazine wrote that the album was "undoubtedly one of the most thrilling Irish pop debuts of the century".[17] In a four-star review,DIY wrote, "If My Wife New... feels like a more well-rounded, modern proposition than one solely indebted to the oldest style going could suggest."[18] The album entered theIrish Albums Chart at number one.[19] In June 2022, she released a single called "Peter Bogdanovich", which came with amusic video which featured her dressing as the late director.[20][21] On 19 August 2022, "Peter Bogdanovich"[22] charted at number 20 on the Irish Homegrown Top 20.[23] In March 2023,If My Wife New I'd Be Dead won theChoice Music Prize for Irish Album of the Year.[24]
She announced her next studio album,Crazymad, for Me, in June 2023[25] which was released in October 2023. Like her previous album, this album debuted at number one on the Irish Albums Chart.[26] Her album was later nominated for the Best AlbumIvor Novello Award on Thursday 23 May 2024.[27]
She announced her third studio albumEuro-Country on March 2025, in which she also released the album's lead single "Running/Planning".[29][30] She describes the album as the "type of loss, pain and lack of community that I feel we are suffering from under modern capital isolation" and the "best thing I have ever made".[31] On 7 May 2025, the album's second single "Take a Sexy Picture of Me" was released.[32] She performed on the Pyramid stage at the2025 Glastonbury festival, earning positive reviews.[33] The album's fourth single, thetitle track, was released on 22 July. It received media attention and praise for its portrayal of ordinary people's struggles after the2008 financial crisis.[34][35] Like her previous two albums,Euro-Country debuted at number one on the Irish Albums Chartl[36] it debuted at number two in the UK.[37]
She has been noted for her large fanbase among IrishLGBTQ+ people,[38][39] once telling anNME interviewer "I'm making music for the girls and the gays, and that's it."[40]
CMAT pulled out of a performance at theLatitude Festival in May 2024, citing the festival's sponsorship byBarclays, and the company's financial involvement in theGaza war.[41] At the 2025 Glastonbury festival, she made a statement insupport of Palestinians at the end of her set.[42]
In a 2023 interview inHot Press, CMAT said "IfBertie Ahern goes for the presidency, I will actually make it my personal fucking mission to make sure that he doesn't win."[43] In advance of the2025 presidential election and speculation that Ahern was seeking a nomination to run, CMAT released a single, "Euro-Country", referencing Ahern and including the lyrics "All the big boys, all the Berties, all the envelopes, yeah, they hurt me..." and "I was 12 when the das started killing themselves all around me." The attack on Ahern was widely covered in Irish media.[44] Ahern later announced he was no longer seeking his party's nomination.[45]
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