‘I blew up my whole life’: How tough love from Charli XCX set CMAT on the road to pop stardom

CMAT mixes whimsy with heartbreak (Picture: Sarah Doyle)There’s few origin stories as impressive as being told off by Charli XCX so much that you ‘blow up your life’ – but CMAT can pin a turning point in her music career to that very moment.Living in Manchester and trying to get into co-writing after the disbanding of her indie duo Bad Sea, the Irish musician – real name Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson – got a gig critiquing Charli’s music, and amongst a room