Track Review: Aw, Shoot! // CMAT

After releasing her sophomore album Crazymad, For Me seven months ago and embarking on back-to-back tours across the UK, Europe, and US, you could forgive CMAT for wanting to take a break. However, the Brit Award nominee is showing no signs of slowing down, releasing her new single ‘Aw, Shoot!’ on the 7th of May.

Taking to X (formerly Twitter), CMAT described her latest release as a song “about drinking three bottles of wine a day and completely losing my mind.” Crafting tracks out of tough personal periods continues a successful theme for the singer. ‘Aw, Shoot!’ follows on from lyrics such as “cut all my hair off trying to look like Vincent Kompany” and “five years losing my friends and family / I lost myself” on Crazymad. 

She further explained to BBC Radio 1 that her latest release is “about trying to kickstart your life again when you’ve completely gone dormant.” Whilst this new single might have an upbeat sound and the singer’s impressive vocals at its forefront, its themes of being “on pause” and fearing laziness are universal sentiments listeners will be able to relate to.

The Irish artist has been consistently raw and vulnerable in her music, yet she manages to combine heartfelt lyrics with her signature country-pop sound. ‘Aw, Shoot!’ is instantly catchy with its hook “Aw, shoot, I put my life on pause and I can’t find any way out.” Outside of an album format, the single sees CMAT getting playful with lilting guitars and images of a “national cliché of a lady.” You can easily imagine her performing the song live and throwing a kick after each exclamation of “aw, shoot!”, exactly what you’d want from a standalone single released ahead of a busy festival season (performing at the likes of Radio 1’s Big Weekend, TRNSMT, and Kendal Calling).

The twangy guitars and references to a “sad country song of a woman” echo the singer’s debut album If My Wife Knew I’d Be Dead more obviously than Crazymad, where songs such as ‘I Wanna Be a Cowboy, Baby!’ and ‘Nashville’ situated CMAT firmly within American country influences. However, the opening notes of ‘Aw, Shoot!’ do feel familiar to Crazymad’s first track ‘California’, as the American state is switched out for “Paris” with similarly strong chords and drum beat. For an artist who has enjoyed rapidly increasing notoriety over the past two years, the international references tell a story of both struggle and success. 

Equally fun and heartfelt, ‘Aw, Shoot!’ is an unexpected treat for CMAT fans. Whilst her third album remains in the works, the singer has channelled the difficult feeling of being “ruined and … rigged to lose” into a single which is already winning with her listeners. It turns out this “sad country song” is, in fact, “good for the brand.” 

Words by Annabel Benton

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