CMAT: “People are starved for an alternative perspective”
nme.comCMAT has spoken to NME about how so much new music is breaking through to an audience who have been “starved for an alternative perspective”.The Irish singer-songwriter caught up with NME on the red carpet for this year’s Mercury Prize where she was shortlisted for her 2023 album ‘Crazymad, For Me’, and faced stiff competition from the likes of Charli XCX, The Last Dinner Party, Ghetts, Corinne Bailey Rae, Beth Gibbons, Barry Can’t Swim and more.However, at the Abbey Road ceremony last Thursday (September 5) it was Leeds band and former NME Cover stars English Teacher who won.
The victory made them the first non-London winners of the award in a decade.Ahead of their victory, CMAT – real name Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson – reflected on the number of debut albums that had made the shortlist this year, and explained how it mirrored the demands from fans in 2024.“There is a lot of really creative stuff happening because it feels harder than ever to be a musical act in the first place,” she said. “There is very little cultural funding, there’s the cost of living, everything like that, and previously there has been a lot of very wealthy people from very wealthy backgrounds doing music.”She continued: “But now it does feel like what has been breaking though is the people who are extremely desperate to say things in their music.
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