When the Zoom connection to Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson – the Irish singer-songwriter better known as CMAT – activates, she welcomes us as if we're an old friend.
Ciara's chatting away about her day in the studio in New York, and enjoying her downtime by reading 'Intermezzo' by fellow Emerald Isle native Sally Rooney. "I'm the most qualified to be reading this," she jokes. "Not only am I a white woman, I'm a white woman from Dublin who went to Trinity College and has a series of debilitating mental problems. I'm the final boss!"
CMAT's Mercury Prize-nominated 2023 album, 'Crazymad, For Me', has propelled the once-fledgling troubadour to global exposure. It received glowing reviews, topped the Irish albums chart and saw her taking on even bigger stages at festivals and theatres alike.
Of course, the million-dollar question: How do you follow that? It's something Thompson and her team are tackling head-on as she works on her third studio album, which she hopes to have completed by the time she arrives in Australia next January – where she'll be performing at A Day On The Green with The Teskey Brothers and Band Of Horses, alongside her own headlining shows.
"It was incredibly stressful the first little while," Ciara says. "It's funny. . . I've only got a short time to make this record, which obviously puts pressure on, but I also don't know what I'd do if I had six months to make a record either.
"I'd probably just jump the shark and start making free-jazz or something. I'm happy to keep doing things my way when it comes to making records – I'm very hands-on, and I often co-produce as well. It's a slow build when you compare it to being a viral TikTok smash, but you're almost guaranteed to maintain a growing fanbase if you're making good records and you're a good live act."
Thompson swears by her abilities as an onstage performer, using the achievement of her literal childhood dream as testament to this. Ciara recalls one of the early meetings she had after being signed, discussing what her goals were. "My biggest ambition in life was to play a headlining show at the Olympia Theatre in Dublin," she says.
"Last Christmas, I did four in a row. If 18-year-old me knew where we ended up, she would be f...ing buzzing. I can't even begin to tell you. What's going to happen next? I get to come to Australia? How mad is that?"
When asked what she puts her success thus far down to, Thompson considers a few different factors. There's her attention to lyricism. "I think I place a lot of importance on the lyrics in my work, whereas a lot of the alternative music landscape maybe doesn't understand that as well," she muses.
There's also her unfiltered social media presence. "I'm putting across my actual personality, and connecting with my fan-base without a marketing strategist ticking off personality pieces on a clipboard," she says. "I'm controlling my own narrative."
More than anything, however, CMAT knows the only real way ahead as a musician in this day and age is to stay true to your craft. "You cannot write music thinking that there's a specific type of thing the internet is going to love," she says.
"You cannot think that you are smarter than your audience. You simply have to make work that's incredibly good and idiosyncratic. I have people that are like, 'we need a song that doesn't have any swearing that's three-and-a-half minutes'. My songs are five-and-a-half [minutes], and also: telling an Irish person not to swear? Are you fookin' kidding me?"
CMAT 2025 Tour Dates
Tue 14 Jan - Northcote Theatre (Melbourne)Thu 16 Jan - Factory Theatre (Sydney)
The Teskey Brothers & Band Of Horses 2025 Tour Dates
Wed 8 Jan - Burswood Park (Perth)Fri 10 Jan - Peter Lehmann Wines (Barossa Valley)
Sat 11 Jan - Mt Duneed Estate (Geelong)
Sun 12 Jan - Centennial Vineyards (Bowral)
Sat 18 Jan - Bimbadgen (Hunter Valley)
Sun 19 Jan - Sirromet Wines (Brisbane)
