CMAT swears by these songwriting rules

The Irish singer CMAT, Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson, has had a big breakout over the past eighteen months, including an electrifying performance at Glastonbury. Her latest album, Euro-Country, won Britain's Ivor Novello — the prestigious songwriting award. She talks with us about why she resisted country music for years, the blunt advice from Charli xcx that changed her life, and the meticulous method behind every album.

00:00 Intro

01:00 Making sense of a breakout year

02:08 The dream: headlining the Olympia

03:52 The best part: the gigs

04:49 Glastonbury and the Pyramid Stage

08:11 Borrowing from Pulp ‘97 and hiring a fiddle player

08:53 Winning the Ivor Novello

10:40 “I’m going to be a pop star”

12:21 Studying the Beatles one download at a time

13:51 Trinity College and dropping out

17:40 Open mics, shop jobs, and £50 a show

20:26 The Charli XCX listening session

27:06 Brat and what it meant for Euro-Country

30:42 Sponsor: The FLAG Art Foundation

31:45 “I Want to Be a Cowboy, Baby!” and resisting country

33:13 Writing Taylor Swift rip-offs at 11

36:37 Inspiration vs. perspiration

42:31 Willie Nelson and having something to say

44:09 Her process: voice notes to corkboard

48:34 Every album has to be about something

52:38 Co-writing and label pressure on album two

58:03 The surprise songs: “Take a Sexy Picture of Me” and “Jamie Oliver Petrol Station”

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About our Founding Sponsor, ⁠⁠The FLAG Art Foundation (flagartfoundation.org)⁠⁠:

The FLAG Art Foundation is a nonprofit contemporary art exhibition space in New York's Chelsea Arts District. Since 2008, FLAG has staged more than 100 exhibitions celebrating nearly 1,000 artists, with innovative partnerships including the Parrish Art Museum, the Serpentine Galleries in London, and the Harlem Children's Zone. FLAG is free and open to the public. Follow FLAG on ⁠Instagram⁠⁠ (instagram.com/flagartfoundation).

About Anthony Mason:

Anthony Mason, the host of Alchemy, is also a Special Correspondent with CBS News. One of the most versatile and experienced television journalists, Anthony co-hosted CBS This Morning: Saturday for seven years (2012-2019), and then the weekday CBS This Morning broadcast for two more. But he may be best known for his interviews with artists like Bruce Springsteen, Aretha Franklin, Dolly Parton, Annie Leibovitz, Judi Dench, David Hockney, and André 3000. He has won a dozen Emmy Awards. In 2023, the Songwriters Hall of Fame presented him their Patron of the Arts Award. And for the past three years he has hosted the GRAMMY Hall of Fame Gala.