Forget seeing heaven in a wild flower: the standout track on CMAT’s third album Euro-Country caught the Irish singer-songwriter slipping into visionary raptures in a celebrity-chef-branded motorway canteen. Quickly surpassing its comic premise, The Jamie Oliver Petrol Station spirals into a hallucinatory Krautrock fugue-state, Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson streaming her consciousness as she grapples with past selves, new realities and Sinead O’Connor.
Problems with wisdom teeth forced the postponement of her UK dates (“when the plan veers off-course, I lose my mind – but I couldn’t even open my mouth” she tells MOJO) but otherwise, CMAT’s had a spectacular year, her band’s US TV debut and Glastonbury performance spotlighting Euro-Country’s formidable songwriting. “This is making no sense to the average listener,” she states on The Jamie Oliver Petrol Station, but she made the chaos cut through.
So much so, in fact, that in the latest issue of MOJO – on sale now – the song was voted MOJO’s track of the year. Here, CMAT speaks to us about offending the titular TV chef, the “self-flagellating” process behind Euro-Country and her weekend-stealing turn at Worthy Farm this year. “On the day I was catatonic,” she tells Victoria Segal…
The Jamie Oliver Petrol Station is MOJO’s Track Of The Year.
That is one of the most surprising things I’ve ever heard in my life.
Why do you think it hit hard?
Immediately, it’s a fun song because it’s going after Jamie Oliver –which is just quite a funny thing to say. Then there’s a sing-alongy bit –“OK / Don’t be bitch.” But ultimately, it is about how I dislike myself and the world around me and how I’m always trying to fight back against the most hateful parts of myself. And weirdly, the abstract nature of it and the stream of consciousness seems to be more relatable to people. I know it sounds like I’m hating Jamie Oliver, but I promise I don’t.
Has he made contact?
No. I find that really funny. I think he might have maybe listened to the top line, and me bringing his kids into it, it’s obviously a bit touchy. But if he listened to the whole song, I think he’d actually appreciate it.
You told MOJO earlier in the year that recording Euro-Country was like being in a toxic relationship. How do you feel about it now?
I really love the record and what it’s done for my life already. That being said, I hope I don’t make a record in the same way ever again, because it was not a healthy process. This album does in a way feel like I’m breaking up with an old version of myself that was happy to talk about being mentally ill and the ramifications of it. I just don’t want to make another record where I’m self-flagellating for three months in a fucking weird apartment in New York and there’s imaginary insects crawling everywhere.
What are your 2025 highlights?
The highlight of my whole entire life maybe will be Glastonbury, I think – not just this year. I slept for two hours the night before because I was shitting myself. I just kept rocking back and forth – Why did I agree to the Pyramid Stage? On the day, I was so nervous I was, like, catatonic. By the time I was walking onstage, I was like, You know what, all I have to do is the gig and then it’s over. I had so much fun on stage, it was such a good gig. But I didn’t realise at the time how big it was. As we did the bows at the end, my fear kicked back in. Then I crawled behind a couch and curled up in a ball and wouldn’t let anybody look at me for 10 minutes.
It’s been mentioned as a great Glastonbury performance, like Pulp in 1995…
I studied that for the exam – which was doing the show. We actually added a violin player to the band because that performance was a marker for me. I literally did base it around Pulp in ’95, and a couple of others, like R.E.M. in ’99. I really liked how engaging that was despite Michael just being stationary – although performing at the mike. Obviously, I’m a bit of a vaudeville act; I like to jump around the stage and do little silly bits, but as long as I’m locked into the music, I think I get away with it. If I was just doing pantomime, that wouldn’t work. Shirley Bassey, Tom Jones’ legend slots – you have to watch them all. You can’t just copy and paste your normal show. Because there’s a live audience there of 200,000 people and they want to feel the same thing that you’re feeling – which ultimately is music.
Get the latest issue of MOJO to read the essential review of all the music that mattered in 2025. Featuring the 75 best new albums, 20 best reissues, best books and films, and new interviews with Jarvis Cocker, Van Morrison and The Manic Street Preachers. Plus! A CD of the year’s best tracks. More info and to order a copy HERE!
