On CMAT's big, soulful number "When A Good Man Cries," there's a part where the Irish quasi-country singer howls, "I hope that I pass and I get reborn." On Thursday night, CMAT appeared on Stephen Colbert's Late Show to sing that song. While delivering the word "reborn," she mimed out giving birth to a baby and then casually tossing the baby over her shoulder like it was garbage. This was a quick, offhand bit of stagecraft, a literal throwaway gesture, but it should tell you just about everything about CMAT that you might need to know.
Here's one thing it should tell you: When CMAT performs on TV, you should go out of your way to watch it. She's a virtuoso performer who smashes her gigantic notes, and she's also a gigantic weirdo who likes to make a spectacle of herself. Last year, she released her album Euro-Country and made an extremely memorable American TV debut on Kimmel. I don't know if last night's Colbert performance was quite on that level, but it was something to see.
There's a lot going on visually with CMAT's stage show. On Colbert, she performed on a stage made up to look like Irish hills, and she dressed like a twee office secretary, except with hoop earrings and gold fronts. All the people in her backing band had similarly vivid, complicated stage outfits, too. You won't get bored watching this lady perform. Watch it below.
Euro-Country is out now on AWAL.
