Q&A: CMAT Rewrites Post-Breakup Troubles in new single “Have Fun!”
WE’RE ALL FAMILIAR WITH A BREAKUP — the breakup, to be exact. It can be tricky. You work through the emotions post-departure, move on, yet traces of the past come circling back. Dublin pop artist CMAT gets it, and that’s one reason she penned her latest single, “Have Fun!.”
After closing the door on a past relationship, when the confusing aftermath comes pouring in, sometimes all you can do is have fun. CMAT's witty lyricism encased in funky, get-up-and-move beats makes it easier to do so.
Comparing parakeets to an expired romance is her way of making light of how messy life can feel. Her knack for hilarious metaphors is something she jokes about over a Zoom call. “I think I could do a CMAT lyric generator at this point.”
The singer-songwriter’s corresponding visual for “Have Fun!” takes the imagery to fabulous new heights while doubling as a preview to her upcoming album, CrazyMad, For Me, set to be released this fall. Time travel, baroque-era costumes, and. of course, a little bit of dancing are all involved.
“It’s about the nature of time, perspective, and healing and how it moves all over the place (hence, all the time travel references — time doesn't exist in these situations),” CMAT explains.
In addition to a recent performance at Glastonbury, CMAT supported Florence + the Machine on her Ireland dates and will join First Aid Kit on dates later this summer. Read below as the global pop star tells us more about “Have Fun!,” the process of creating her new album, and what it's like to play these energizing shows.
LUNA: Let's talk about “Have Fun!,” which I love. It expresses a feeling anyone can relate to at some point in life. The track mentions parakeets while unwrapping the emotions brought up after a breakup. What made you put those two things together?
CMAT: That's the nature of writing, and it's the nature of the way that I write songs. At some point in my lifetime, someone is going to figure out the formula I use. I think I could do a CMAT lyric generator at this point.
I could sit there and be like, you know, “I’m really special, and the guy I was with was not special. And he didn't deserve me.” I could just say that in the song. I like things to be a little bit funny; I think you have to laugh at things.
LUNA: How does the visual describe the song, and what is it telling about the upcoming album?
CMAT: All of the themes — the birds, Angelina Jolie films, Queen Elizabeth the Second — all these weird, visual themes come up, and they all have relevance. But I abandoned explaining it in the body of the album and decided to explain the entire concept in the music video. So the story of the “Have Fun!” music video is basically the concept of the entire album.
Initially when I was putting this album together, I had an idea for it to be a concept album. We'd have the songs and interludes as if made in the style of the BBC Radio drama. I even wrote a script for it. But I ended up not putting it on the album because I don't think I'm going to have a collection of songs as good as this again; in my career on one record.
This album is banger, banger, banger. It's like literally 12 of the best songs I've ever made. There's just something about filling those banger songs with interludes in the middle — that was just not set for me. I was thinking, this is probably the closest attempt I'll ever get to making a classic album.
LUNA: You've mentioned it’s an abstract kind of breakup album. How did creating this project help you process emotions along the way?
CMAT: This album was me trying to understand my endless self-expression less and more like an internal expression of being like, “Something terrible happened that I didn't enjoy.” I was in a really long relationship that just messed me up. I think the whole theme of the album is about healing, having things make sense, and trauma. It's not linear. I don't believe time heals all wounds. I was reckoning with the fact that I felt embarrassed. If anyone knows I'm still upset about this thing that happened to me this long ago, they're going to think I'm a fucking side case, or that I'm dramatic.
It’s about the nature of time, perspective, and healing and how it moves all over the place (hence, all the time travel references — time doesn't exist in these situations).
LUNA: How would you describe the overall sound of this record?
CMAT: The sound changed from concept to execution. The demo of almost every song I've ever written has always been me playing the guitar and singing on my phone. There's a couple of instances on that record where that wasn't the case — “Have Fun!” is one of them.
I co-wrote it with Rob Milton. He was producing as we were going along. I wrote all the lyrics and the top lines. I like coming up with chord sequences and making my structure [and] my songwriting into something a bit funkier. That lent itself to the whole album — I was trying to make something rhythmically a lot more interesting than my first record.
A lot of my references are country music because I love country music. This time around, I was looking at people like Dottie West. There's a song called “A Lesson In Leavin',” which is the blueprint for the whole album.
LUNA: Lastly, you’ve recently played Glastonbury and are on tour. How are you feeling?
CMAT: There are a lot more people in the audience in the UK who know who I am now. There's a high level of music connoisseurship in the UK, especially with regard to guitar music. I've leaned into the fact that there are a lot of watchers.
There are dance breaks and moments where the musicians I'm working with now have to flex, and it can't be all tracks. But we're doing a lot more technical stuff.
It seems to be working because we've been playing these new songs and people are attentive.
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