How do you take artists as differing as Dolly Parton, Glen Campbell, Dory Previn, John Lennon, XTC, Pentangle, Katy Perry, Charli XCX, Kylie Minogue, Little Simz, and the Plastic Ono Band and blend them into something singular that holds across eleven songs? Irish artist CMAT has somehow cracked her own code. Classic country, country pop, 70s folk rock, pop, rock, and European folk traditions are all here, fused together in a way that I wouldn’t think possible on her latest album Euro-Country.
“This record is really dealing with Ireland as a case study for capitalism. I think that’s kind of the angle and the true line in everything. I talk about my childhood and I talk a lot about the recession. I’m also just making it really personal. I don’t think there’s any point in talking about political stuff unless you’re going to have a lot of heart and soul and personal experience in it.”
On Euro-Country, CMAT circles around economic precarity, community loss, and the strain of coming of age during years shaped by recession and emigration, writing directly about the ways these forces settle into daily life. Pulling from memory, work, and observation, she uses wit and humor to reflect on her home country of Ireland and her own experiences, leaning into the idea that songs can be manic, funny, or danceable while holding heavy themes: economic collapse, panic, gendered pressure, and self-doubt.
“I did go insane making it. I was hallucinating insects crawling on my skin in the studio! I think basically me and my producer worked all day, then I went home and scrubbed my floor to get rid of the imaginary insects while my producer was still in the studio drinking a bottle of wine through a straw.”
Only half joking, CMAT has described how challenging it was to pull so many influences and reference points into a form that felt cohesive. The goal was clear: wrap the album’s heavier themes in songs that carried lift and brightness, and do it without cluttering the arrangements. She leaned into structural simplicity, building around loops, live takes, and a small set of sounds she and producer Oli Deakin returned to throughout the sessions. Mellotron blends shaped by accordion, mandolin, and soft choral tones move through the record with a steady warmth that ties her interest in European folk traditions. Everything settling around CMAT’s voice, which does the emotional heavy lifting.
I’ve been smitten with this album since I first listened to it. Euro-Country is everything I want in an album—sharp songwriting, thought-provoking lyrics, and music that’s catchy and memorable. It’s a winning combo, and this is a winning album.
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