CMAT delivers a lively, spirited anthem in her new song “Have Fun!” – a frisky, fresh, and feel-good revelry soaking up the sunshine and making the best of life’s unpredictable mess, and the second single off her forthcoming sophomore album, ‘Crazymad, For Me’!
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Stream: “Have Fun!” – CMAT
I suppose it is a song about how things in life are never satisfying, and don’t make sense, but they exist anyway and we have to make the best of it. And have fun!
In ways big and small, we never get full control over our own story.
The weather might shift and ruin a perfectly sunny day. A rail strike for enclosed carriers may prevent us from getting to our appointment across town on time. Or the economy might collapse and leave us in financial ruin, scrounging for scraps. The love of our life may one day decide to walk out on us – or change so much for the worse, that we walk out on them!
Life is unapologetically unpredictable; we never know what might come our way or our how our story will unfold, so we might as well learn to live in the moment and lean into the chaos. Thankfully, Irish artist CMAT has a new song just for that: A lively, spirited anthem about learning to survive and thrive in life’s inevitable mess and volatility, “Have Fun!” is a frisky, feel-good revelry soaking up the sunshine and making the most of the worst situations.
It’s not “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life, Pt. II,” but rather, it’s a reminder to not let these things that are outside of our control get the best of us; don’t let anyone or anything define your story any more than they should. We might not always be in control, but that doesn’t mean we’re helpless or hopeless to the will of the wind. In a way, accepting disorder and disarray into our lives could very well set us free.
One hundred bright green birds atop a Tesco in Clapham
Me on you it didn’t make sense but it happened
Now I’m flying home just like I always do
Back to business and far away from you
What are we like?
You cracked an egg into my mouth
Had me over to your house
Fucked your friends and fucked me out oh
What am I like?
I went in time and time again
Always pecking like a hen
That isn’t fed, that isn’t fed
So have fun! Ooh, have fun
‘Cause I’m done
I’m done, I’m done
Released 31, 2023 via AWAL, “Have Fun!” is CMAT’s stunning second song of the year and the latest single taken off her newly announced sophomore album, Crazymad, For Me (out October 13). The stage name for Dublin-based singer/songwriter Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson, CMAT is a fast-rising force on the world’s stage.
Already a sensation at home, her debut album If My Wife New I’d Be Dead was released in March 2022, and entered the Irish Album Charts at number one. An intoxicating, effortless blend of country and pop music, that record and its twelve tracks continue to shine bright thanks to CMAT’s vulnerable, honest songwriting and her emotional, impassioned performance.
“This record is about the fact that people who are going through the worst time often have the happiest and most fun demeanour ever – comedy being a thin piece of plaster over the deepest cracks in one’s psyche. It’s also about Diet Coke.” CMAT shared with Atwood Magazine last year.
“My vision going into it was, ‘I am going to create the greatest record of all time.’ Over the course of recording, I was very lucky to have achieved exactly that. I think it does a pretty good job of conveying my deep-rooted love of country music, while also letting the world know that I am a cool popstar and genius.”
In conversation as in her music, CMAT is charismatic, full of life, and guaranteed to make you smile. Take, for example, the story behind her debut album’s name: “It comes from an inscription on the inside of a book that fell off of a bus and hit me on the head. It read, ‘Mary- hope this book finds you some peace of mind. Love always, your undercover lover Mark Carroll. If My Wife New I’d Be Dead.‘”
Pure madness.
From the bittersweet, soul-stirring opener “Nashville” to the achingly raw closer “I’d Want U” and enchanting, utterly immersive songs like “Peter Bogdanovich,” “No More Virgos,” and “Geography Teacher” in-between, If My Wife New I’d Be Dead remains a dynamic standout in the pantheon of recent album releases, as well as a must-listen not just for pop and country audiences, but for fans of deep, provocative, and colorful songwriting.
CMAT wanted listeners’ main takeaway from her debut to be that it was “the greatest album of all time,” so either Crazymad, For Me will have to kill off If My Wife New I’d Be Dead and usurp that throne, or settle for second place. Either way, CMAT’s sophomore album already feels like another masterpiece. Its first single, the intimate, arresting lovelorn fever dream “Whatever’s Inconvenient,” was released in mid-April after premiering on BBC Radio 1.
“‘Whatever’s Inconvenient’ is a bit of a mission statement for me (and for my second album),” CMAT shared earlier this spring. “It’s a big question mark over why I am so unendingly bad at entering and maintaining romantic relationships. I don’t really answer the question here, because I can’t and probably never will, but it’s always helpful to acknowledge your own uselessness (I find).”
CMAT has described Crazymad, For Me as an “abstract break-up album – about what happens when you are still angry about something that happened 10 years ago.” It’s a concept record “of sorts” – one that involves time travel, Belle Epoque Paris and a woman who may or may not be CMAT in the future – and one whose core, central concept is further teased out and summarized by its visceral, invigorating sophomore single.
Five hundred and ten quid before bills out my purse
Dublin back then was cheap but it’s never been worse
I gave you all I had cuz i believed in nests
Silly bitch. Woo!
You should have spent it on yourself
But that’s what I’m like!
I’ll stick my neck right out for love
Give my beak and give my blood
Only part of me that’s good
Oh what are you like! Huh?
You did me wrong and lost out
I’d wonder what you’re up to now
But I don’t care, I don’t care
“This is a song about ring-necked parakeets that are wild in London, but it is also a song about getting over a breakup and moving on from an emotional stalemate even when you don’t, or can’t, forgive the other person’s actions,” CMAT explains. “I suppose it is a song about how things in life are never satisfying, and don’t make sense, but they exist anyway and we have to make the best of it. And have fun!”
Filmed in Paris and Dublin, the Greg Purcell-directed “Have Fun!” music video, released alongside the single, is a truly captivating affair that adds nuance, fresh flavor, and a fantastical element to the song’s already vivid, compelling lyrics. You don’t need to be a sci-fi fan to appreciate this feast for the eyes or its powerful message.
“I did two days in gay Paree with a wonderful motley crew of amazing locals who transported me back to la belle époque so convincingly I was ready to storm the Bastille by the time it was done,” CMAT laughs. “The video for ‘Have Fun!’ sort of encompasses the whole big wide overarching “theory” behind the album, actually.”
When life gives you lemons, squeeze ’em and make lemonade! Whatever it throws your way, take what you’ve got and run as fast as you can. There’s always going to come another storm; a new upheaval will inevitably rear its ugly head. Learn to thrive in that madness, and you might just make it out on top – and most important of all, remember to “have fun!”
So have fun, ooh have fun…
‘Cause I’m done
I’m done, I’m done
One hundred bright green birds
One hundred bright green birds
I think Jimi Hendrix let ’em in
I think Humphrey Bogart let ’em in
I think, I don’t care who let em in
I don’t care, I don’t care
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Stream: “Have Fun!” – CMAT
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© Sarah Doyle
© Sarah Doyle
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