CMAT : Euro Country (Cloudy Blue Vinyl)

Its almost inconceivable that its only five years since the arrival of CMAT, as she approaches the release of her third album, EURO-COUNTRY. This BRITs / Mercury / Ivors-nominated acronymic star feels like shes been part of the culture forever - and what has endeared fans to her heart-sore tunes and humour is CMAT's ability to combine contradictory themes and moods: wide-eye drama with self-deprecation. Country music has always been a lynchpin for CMAT, but this is country in an augmented, reimagined way. Mixed with classic indie and affirmative soul-pop, it resists the music industrys desire to pigeonhole artists as one genre. Not only is there a palpable tonal shift, EURO-COUNTRY also feels like a huge step-up creatively. There is a sense of determination, of urgency, of gather round and listen up. From re-evaluating where you come from (geographically, metaphorically) and the impact of economics on a small country, to the attention that comes with