Irish pop sensation CMAT has secured the number two spot in the definitive list of the 50 best albums of 2025 with her critically adored third record, Euro-Country. The album, a potent mix of fury and wit, has been hailed as a high-water mark for pop music this year, inspiring a viral TikTok dance trend and a triumphant, career-defining performance at the Glastonbury Festival.
A Fraught and Hallucinatory Genesis in New York
The creation of Euro-Country was far from straightforward. Following the critical success and Mercury Prize nomination for her 2023 album Crazymad, for Me—which the singer herself deemed unsatisfactory—Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson retreated to New York to write and record. The process triggered a severe breakdown. CMAT revealed she began hallucinating, believing her apartment was infested with insects, a symptom later diagnosed by a doctor as intense stress hives. She has since described the album's making as akin to "a toxic relationship."
An Assured Sonic Leap from Country Roots
Despite its traumatic origins, Euro-Country emerges as the supremely confident work of an artist hitting a new creative peak. It boldly strides beyond the country-infused sound of her 2022 debut, If My Wife Knew I’d Be Dead, exploring jazz tones in Janis Joplining, raging alt-rock on The Jamie Oliver Petrol Station, and soul-kissed pop in tracks like Running/Planning and Take a Sexy Picture of Me.
The album is packed with CMAT's signature lyrical brilliance: witty, self-deprecating, and fiercely intelligent. From breaking the fourth wall to question her own song's coherence to delivering unforgettable opening lines, the record repeatedly affirms that this could be the work of no one else. She masterfully tackles weighty subjects—body-shaming, mental health, Irish identity, and late-stage capitalism—with a light, humorous touch that never feels like a lecture.
Cultural Impact: From TikTok to the Glastonbury Pyramid
Euro-Country achieved a rare dual impact. It managed to interrogate the human cost of Ireland's 2008 financial crisis on its title track while simultaneously sparking a viral TikTok dance craze, promoted by figures like Amelia Dimoldenberg and Julia Fox. This cultural resonance culminated in a showstopping set at Glastonbury that was widely praised as an explosion of infectious, chaotic joy.
CMAT has called this album "the most important" she has made, representing a break-up with an old self. While she questions whether such a punishing creative process is sustainable, Euro-Country stands as a triumphant career peak. It is a powerful testament to forging a unique artistic identity in an industry often dominated by the cookie-cutter, proving CMAT's status as a completely inimitable star.
