The shortlist for the 19th annual Irish Album of the Year in association with IMRO and IRMA has been revealed.
Following arguably the strongest 12 months for Irish music in recent memory, the following ten albums have made the cut for the 2023 Choice shortlist:
CMAT – Crazymad, for Me
Grian Chatten – Chaos For The Fly
John Francis Flynn – Look Over The Wall, See The Sky
Kojaque – Phantom of the Afters
Lankum – False Lankum
The Murder Capital – Gigi’s Recovery
Rachael Lavelle – Big Dreams
Soda Blonde – Dream Big
The Scratch – Mind Yourself
Ezra Williams – Supernumeraries
Made on the Tracy Clifford Show on RTÉ 2FM, this year’s announcement comes 10 months after CMAT took last year’s prize for If My Wife New I’d Be Dead and the late, great Sinéad O’Connor was awarded the inaugural Irish Classic Album for I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got.
The winner of the prize will be announced live from Vicar St on RTÉ 2FM on Thursday 7th March. The show will feature live performances from some of the shortlisted acts, further details on the line-up to be announced.
The winning Album of the Year act will receive €10,000, a prize fund which has been provided by The Irish Music Rights Organisation (IMRO) and The Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA). All shortlisted acts will receive a specially commissioned award.
In a statement, Adam Fogarty, Head of Music, RTÉ 2FM, said: “2FM is delighted to continue our partnership with the RTÉ Choice Music Prize for the 8th year running. The RTÉ Choice Music Prize is an important annual event in the wider Irish music landscape, and we’re delighted to be able to continue to celebrate all that is great about Irish music and Irish artists.”
“The inclusion of the ‘Irish Artist of the Year’, ‘Irish Breakthrough Artist of the Year’ and ‘Classic Irish Album’ categories for the 2nd year running, coupled with the longstanding ‘Irish Song of the Year’ and the preeminent ‘Irish Album of the Year’ prizes allow us to more broadly represent the incredible past, present and exciting future of Irish music.”
