CMAT has shared the details of her third studio album with the release of its first single ‘Running/Planning’ and the announcement of a much anticipated UK and European tour.
‘Euro-Country’ marks Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson’s, otherwise known as CMAT, follow-up LP to her 2023 LP ‘Crazymad, For Me’, an influential country-pop project which awarded the singer with her first Mercury Prize nomination. The ‘Have Fun!’ performer recently teased her upcoming sonic era at this year’s BRIT Awards where she coined the album as “her best record so far”.
In an Instagram post announcing her upcoming album, CMAT delved into the prominent themes exhibited throughout the record, she shared: “The title, ‘EURO-COUNTRY’ is essentially dealing with the big 3 points I wanted to make with this record.
“1. EURO-COUNTRY is the genre of music I make.
2. EURO-COUNTRY is the type of loss, pain and lack of community that I feel we are suffering from under modern capital isolation.
3. EURO-COUNTRY is, of course, Ireland. The love of my life, the most toxic boyfriend I’ve ever had.”
‘Euro-Country’ will be released August 29, but for fans unable to wait until then, CMAT has dropped the LP’s first single ‘Running/Planning’, a powerful track which gives listeners a taste of what’s to come.
Speaking about the single, CMAT said: “’Running/Planning’ is about having to chase your own tail to be good enough to exist. It’s an abstracted view of societal pressure on women – specifically through a relationship lens: You start dating someone, you get engaged, you get married. You have kids etc etc… everything has to follow this linear pattern. (That’s the reason for the repetitive chorus!)
“And the minute you don’t follow that path, your mam starts giving out to you. That narrow path that everyone is supposed to be on… the minute you get outside of that, it gets stressful. And I don’t know anyone who is like, ‘Yeah, love this!”
The Irish songstress continued her announcement revealing she will be touring her upcoming album after its release across the UK and Europe. The ‘It’s the EURO-COUNTRY Tour!’ will commence at the beginning of October in London before making numerous stops across the country, in Manchester, Glasgow, Nottingham, Brighton and many more. Tickets for the tour will go on sale Friday 4 April at 10am, however, fans who pre-order the new album by 5pm BST on April 1 will get exclusive access to tickets with a pre-sale code. Ticket information is available here.
‘Euro-Country’, CMAT’s third studio album will be available from August 25, pre-order here.
