CMAT spoke to NME at the BRITs 2025 about how the success of The Last Dinner Party is marking a new era for women in the music industry.
The Irish singer-songwriter, real name Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson, caught up with NME while on the red carpet last night (March 1), sharing her love for the artists nominated this year. One in particular was The Last Dinner Party, who she credited with having inspiring impact on other women.
The band were the recipients of the BRITs Rising Star award last year, and were nominated for four awards this time, walking away with Best New Artist and using their speech to voice support for grassroots music venues.
“I’m very openly a big fan of The Last Dinner Party, they’re such a beacon for me,” CMAT told NME. “Back in the day, there was not a woman to be seen for miles. There were no women in indie music because they weren’t allowed to be visible.
“They weren’t put to the forefront at a time when guitar music was starting to die a death, and [the industry] didn’t think they should revitalise it by encouraging women to get involved… So to now see so many women, not just being here, but being the best at what they do to the point where they’re winning great awards, it makes my heart sing.”
CMAT also went on to look at the female pop artists who have been dominating the charts over the past two years – including Charli XCX, Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan – sharing why she thinks there has been such a huge response from fans.
“I think it’s to do with women being held down for such a long time and having so many barriers to entry. The minute that is lifted a little bit, the floodgates open. Artists like me and The Last Dinner Party were sitting in our teenage bedrooms, looking for [inspiring] women. That was our motivation going forward, to try and get other girls out of their bedrooms.”
She also revealed that new material could be just around the corner.
“There is lots and lots of new music and it’s coming very soon. I spent all of September to December working on it in a hole in New York City. It’s done now. I lost my mind there for a bit, but it sounds great,” she said.
“I’m really focusing on songs that transfer well to live music, because my live band is such an important part of what I do. They’re the basis of me becoming a well-known person in the UK who is able to sell tickets to gigs. I wouldn’t be able to do it if it wasn’t for my band, so I wrote an album for both them and me to slay.”
Speaking about her upcoming shows with Sam Fender, CMAT told us that she hasn’t met the Geordie hitmaker yet, but is already a huge fan of his latest LP, ‘People Watching’.
“I love the new album! I loved it almost six months ago when he was just posting little snippets of it on Instagram and I thought it sounded amazing,” she said, also describing it as “beautiful”.
New music from CMAT will mark her first since her 2023 sophomore album ‘Crazymad, For Me’. NME gave the record a four-star review, and wrote: “CMAT will have you in stitches one second and emotionally suckerpunched the next. It’s brilliant. Inventive, intoxicating, deliciously camp – she continues to transcend all expectations and remains absolutely unmatched.”
Elsewhere on the BRITs 2025 red carpet, The Last Dinner Party spoke to NME about the long-awaited follow-up to their debut album ‘Prelude To Ecstasy’, and called for more discussion around artists’ mental health.
Visit here for tickets to CMAT’s upcoming shows, and check out the full list of BRIT Awards 2025 winners here.
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