"Hyper-melancholic, ultra-vivid, Crazymad, For Me showcases Thompson's off-beam pop skills, a distinctive voice in every way" - Mojo Magazine **** (4/5) 

"The singer combines ... enduring themes of heartbreak and self-destruction with camp humour and a distinctly Irish sense of the absurd" - The New York Times

"Once again, she transforms pop culture into poetry, painting the most vivid of worlds in the process, while her brand of country-indebted pop feels even richer this time around." - DIY ***** (5/5)

"A concept album about heartbreak and time travel, it’s both earnestly raw and playfully absurd, establishing CMAT  – moniker of Ciara Mary Alice Thompson – as one of the most bracing pop acts of the 2020s." - NME **** (4/5)

"Crazymad, For Me shows CMAT to be in a world of her own, one that’s way ahead of the pack." - The Line Of Best Fit (9/10)

"On the follow-up to last year's If My Wife New I'd Be Dead, CMAT finds an even sweeter spot – Crazymad, For Me is funnier, weirder, more colourful and more ambitious" - The Skinny **** (4/5)

Friday, October 13-- CMAT today releases her second album, the much-anticipated “abstract break-up record” 'Crazymad, For Me', via AWAL Recordings. The sensational 12-track record - “Bat Out of Hell by Meatloaf for the girls”, according to CMAT - has already received a number of outstanding reviews from the likes of Mojo Magazine, DIY, NME, The Line Of Best Fit, The New York Times, and more. It follows a period of rapid growth for the Irish star, fuelled by a stellar run of singles in 2023: "Have Fun!", "Whatever’s Inconvenient", "Where Are Your Kids Tonight? (ft John Grant)" and "Stay For Something". 

CMAT on 'Crazymad, For Me': “It is actually really and truly just a break-up album. It is an album telling the story of a breakup that I needed to tell the story of to myself, and so now I guess everyone else gets to benefit from the red hot gossip littered throughout this record. It is a serious piece of work though, and realistically took like six years of percolating around my head to come to the conclusion that the album makes - which is that time and perspective warps events, and there is no point to suffering. It all sounds a bit dour but it is fun stuff, I promise! 

“I tried to make it like Bat Out of Hell by Meatloaf for the girls, and I probably failed, but we landed somewhere nice and different anyways. I really hope that everyone enjoys these 12 miraculous bangers, and that at least 20% of 19-year-olds who listen to this record break up with their significant others. Then, my job will be done.”

The album arrives with the astonishing single California, the album’s gorgeous, sweeping opener that is perhaps her most ambitious recording to date. Like the bulk of the album, it was produced by Matias Tellez in Bergen in early 2023. ‘California’ - debuted live in Los Angeles last week - is accompanied by a unique one-take video from James Slater. 

CMAT on "California": "It’s a song about a relationship that ended a long time ago, and the fact that I was really worried about seeming dramatic because a lot of the time women are made to feel bad about feeling sad about things, about caring about things too much. I had this vision of me releasing this album about this one relationship and all my old friends being like ‘that’s so embarrassing, why is she still talking about it’, all that kind of thing. I just find it interesting that you’re not allowed to feel sad about things without being considered a drama queen. So I kind of doubled down on it, not only do I still feel bad about it, not only am I feeling dramatic about it, but I’m actually going to make a very great piece of art about it"

The album follows a busy year for CMAT, aka Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson: a breakout Glastonbury moment on the Woodsies stage, followed by a solo acoustic number post-Elton John on the BBC’s live coverage; a Spotify billboard in Times Square; two huge outdoor supports to Florence and the Machine, a debut appearance on Never Mind The Buzzcocks and her first festival headline at Otherside in her native Ireland, plus festivals across the UK and Europe. She’s also confirmed to make her live UK TV debut on the new season of Jools Holland on BBC2 in the coming weeks.

As CMAT and her band prepare for a 12-date headline UK and Ireland run - which includes a sold-out Shepherd’s Bush in London and an incredible four Olympia in her hometown of Dublin - CMAT today announces an extensive run of EU and US dates in 2024 and a massive Fairview Park headliner in Dublin in June of next year. Tickets for these dates go on sale on Friday, Oct 20 at 10 am. 

CMAT - CRAZYMAD, FOR ME - OCTOBER 13TH - AWAL

1. California

2. Phone Me

3. Vincent Kompany

4. Such A Miranda

5. Rent

6. Where Are Your Kids Tonight (feat John Grant)

7. Can't Make Up My Mind

8. Whatever's Inconvenient 

9. I...Hate Who I Am When I'm Horny

10. Torn Apart

11. Stay For Something 

12. Have Fun! 

TOUR DATES

10.13.23 Rough Trade East, London, UK* 

10.14.23 Rough Trade, Bristol, UK*

10.14.23 Pryzm, Banquet, London, UK*^

10.15.23 HMV, Belfast, IE*

10.16.23 Rough Trade, Nottingham, UK*

10.17.23 Jacaranda, Liverpool, UK*

10.18.23 The Vault, HMV, Birmingham, UK*

10.19.23 Resident, Brighton, UK*

10.20.23 Golden Discs, Dublin, IE*

10.20.23 Golden Discs, Cork, IE*

11.15.23 Chalk, Brighton, UK sold out!

11.16.23 O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London, UK sold out!

11.18.23 SWX, Bristol, UK

11.20.23 Leadmill, Sheffield, UK

11.21.23 Stylus, Leeds, UK

11.23.23 O2 Ritz, Manchester, UK

11.24.23 Barrowland, Glasgow, UK

11.25.23 Newcastle Uni SU, Newcastle, UK

11.29.23 Olympia, Dublin, IE sold out!

11.30.23 Olympia, Dublin, IE sold out!

12.01.23 Olympia, Dublin, IE sold out!

12.02.23 Olympia, Dublin, IE sold out!

02.12.24 Petit Bain, Paris, FR

02.14.24 Botanique, Brussels, BE

02.15.24 Melkweg, Amsterdam, NL

02.16.24 Luxor, Cologne, DE

02.18.24 Hotel Cecil, Copenhagen, DE

02.19.24 Parkteatret, Oslo, NO

02.21.24 Lido, Berlin, DE

02.22.24 Brotfabrik, Frankfurt, DE

02.24.24 B72, Vienna, AT

02.25.24 Ampere, Munich, DE

02.27.24 Bogen F, Zurich, CH

03.20.24 - Boise, ID, USA

03.22.24 - Seattle, WA, USA

03.23.24 - Portland, OR, USA

03.25.24 - San Francisco, CA, USA

03.27.24 - Los Angeles, CA, USA

03.28.24 - Pioneertown, CA, USA

03.31.24 - Chicago, IL, USA

04.02.24 - Toronto, ON, USA

04.03.24 - Montreal, QC, USA

04.05.24 - Boston, MA, USA

04.06.24 - Philadelphia, PA, USA

04.07.24 - Washington, DC, USA

04.09.24 - New York, NY, USA

06.13.24 Fairview Park, Dublin, IE

* Solo album instore shows

*^ Full band album instore show