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last week. It’s one of the greatest things I’ve e
ver seen.” Thus a beautiful friendship was born. Looking at Regan’s Instagram, Thompson knew that her detailed style would fit well with her reference heavy lyrics. “I love things that go down to the itty bitty detail. I love Where’s Wally? Her style is like Where’s Wally? but beautiful. She’s so amazing. I base the artwork off the Bunty annuals. Magazines for pre-teen girls but they’re full of comic strips for girls. There’s a very specific style that I just love. I want it to look like a girls magazine from 1978 but I want it to be really referential to the song itself. It’s been a distinct choice from me, as well.” Speaking about her experience, ‘great minds think alike’ seems fitting. “I’ve had a lot of fun working with Ciara and creating these visual counterparts to her music. Her lyrics tell stories of past traumas, make obscure references to things, make you laugh, and get stuck in your head for days. Translating this kind of music into images often requires a lot of detail and some symbolism throughout. There are hidden treasures in each image,” says O’Regan. Stylist and costume maker Ríon Hannora was only a few doors down from Thompson when she began talking to her about collaborating. “I was living in West Cork and she was living in the house across the road from me. We didn’t figure that out until four months later, it was so bizarre,” remembers Hannora. “As soon as we met, we knew it was ideal. We both egg each other on. Everything I throw at her, she says ‘perfect, ideal, let’s go.’ We go out for a pint and do some brainstorming to see what look we’re going to come up with next. We have five outfits within the space of 20 minutes because we’re both on the same buzz.” “All of us are a match made in heaven, we’re all on the same buzz. I made three outfits including the one in the communion outfit. She shows me some of Rachel’s artwork as well. So, the denim piece that was on the cover of Hot Press, Rachel drew it on the album cover and then I looked at it and made it, already wanting to make one. It’s effortless. It’s all a coincidence that we’re all wanting to do the same thing.” “For the No More Virgos, I had CMAT glued onto her chest. Poor Ciara was taking glue off of her for the next week. I was taking all the drag queen’s eyelash glue and rubbing it on her chest so her necklace would stick. It’s so much fun. She’s the ideal person to be styling” The obsession with ‘80s corniness continues in the Lonely and No More Virgos music videos, both styled by Hannora. “She loves a bit of trash. On one side of the corset, there will be a lovely soft tapestry of this soft fairy. On the side, it’s white and she’s spray painted my name in black. Everything she’s made is body friendly because it’s adjustable by nature… She is a genius. She’s a technically brilliant designer,” Thompson beams. “You need to try and find people whose taste level you actually trust. People whose interests align with your own and are so referential, so impressive and so informed. This is what connects all of them.” ● CMAT’s If My Wife New I’d Be Dead is released on March 4 on AWAL Recordings. She plays The Academy on March 11 (sold out). linktr.ee/cmatbaby CMAT loves… Shirley Bassey documentaries “She’s insane. She’s the most performative person I have ever seen in my life, if you watch her do an interview she’s like ‘huh ha! Huh ha!’ and that’s just an interview on Parkinson. You know what I really like about Shirley Bassey is she admits to being a cunt. Her staff were all saying she was the most difficult person to work for and also the easiest because everyone loves her.” Pentangle “They’re a folk jazz band from the ‘70s in England and they have the most arrangements of child ballads. I’m fucking obsessed. I bought an Appalachian Dulcimer the other day just so I could do Pentangle songs. I physically can’t listen to anything that isn’t made by Pentangle.” Miss Piggy CMAT edits There’s one CMAT fan account (@2wrecked2care) and it’s fucking hilarious because it’s deeply unhinged and I love it. I talk about Miss Piggy all the time and how much I love the Muppets. They’ve just started to post pictures of Miss Piggy edited to look like me. Some fan, somewhere, editing pictures to make Miss Piggy look like me! I should be angry about this but I fucking love it.” 22