Music Review: CMAT’s “If My Wife New I’d Be Dead” is pure fun
CMAT's debut is campy country at its very best, embodying some of the best aspects of Dolly-adjacent country-pop.
If Charli XCX told you to your face to blow your entire life up, you could be forgiven for pausing to consider whether that was really the best advice for you. But according to CMAT (the condensed stage name of Dublin-based artist Ciara Mary Alice Thompson), that was exactly what she needed to launch her career. And we’re all better off for it. Her debut album, If My Wife New I’d Be Dead (★★★★☆) not only embodies some of the best aspects of Dolly-adjacent country-pop, it is pure, relentless fun.
CMAT’s whiplash-inducing billing as “Abba meets Kacey Musgraves meets Kate Bush meets Dolly” is apt in the sense that her distinct personality and incredible charisma can’t help but shine through on each track.
She is especially indebted to Musgraves and Dolly in her loving embrace of the campy, gloriously tacky side of country music. She helpfully spells out exactly what she is going for on the opening track when she sings, “I look and feel like Anna-Nicole / And that’s all I ever wanted.”
What quickly becomes apparent is that her greatest strength as a songwriter is her wit. Through hilariously self-deprecating lyrics, she is completely unafraid to show the world the least flattering thoughts going through her head, often packaging them together with surprisingly deep insight.
“Always the cowboy, never the cow,” she sings on the chorus to the pity party that is “I Wanna Be A Cowboy, Baby!” The track manages to be brutally honest and winkingly pathetic all at once, inviting us to laugh-cry along with her to lyrics like, “And I feel bad ’cause I didn’t cry when someone I grew up with died / But I break down every time I’m on the scales.”
CMAT’s whip-smart sense of humor is on full display throughout the album, even on the tracks that reckon with heavier material. “2 Wrecked 2 Care” is an honest reckoning with the dull, ugly realities of burnout, brought home with the deliciously, viscerally uncomfortable line, “I got nothing but Diet Coke runnin’ through my veins.”
Originally released over a year ago but timeless in its content, the single “I Don’t Really Care For You” excoriates an ex in the style of a classic country diss ballad, but she saves most of her ire for herself and her own behavior. She begrudgingly picks apart her own role in the relationship’s breakdown, and in the process delivers incredible lyrics like, “I just spent seven hours looking at old pics of me / trying to pinpoint where the bitch began / Somewhere after the Passion of Christ and before I had an Instagram.”
Between an opening track called “Nashville” and the country aesthetics CMAT wraps herself in, you could be forgiven for assuming this album would land solidly in the country genre, but her embrace of synths and ear for a soaring hook give the album a definite pop bent as well.
Elements like the bright twangy banjo and acoustic guitar nod are often prominent, as on tracks like “Lonely” and “I’d Want U,” but at times they are completely edged out, as they are on “No More Virgos,” which opens with a heavy club beat and features wailing, Kate Bush-esque vocals as well as some of the richest, most maximalist arrangements of the album.
Tight pop hooks aside, If My Wife New I’d Be Dead is the kind of record that could only have come from someone fluent in the traditions of country and Americana. Apart from her wit and flair for songwriting, CMAT’s intuitive understanding of the strengths of the genre mark her as a promising emerging country artist.
If My Wife New I’d Be Dead makes a strong claim to a tradition within the genre that sees itself and the world around it as something to be laughed at, that lovingly reclaims trashiness as something to be embraced as celebrated, and believes sincerely that you can never be too glamorous, too melodramatic, or too honest with yourself and your fans.
If My Wife New I’d Be Dead is available to purchase and stream now. CMAT is currently touring the UK and Ireland. Follow her on Twitter at @cmatbaby.
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