The Choice Music Prize – an annual prize for the best album released by an Irish artist in the past year – have released their shortlist for best 2021 album.
The prize, traditionally hosted with a live performance by many of the nominated artists in Vicar Street, plans to return live in March, with an accompanying set of shows across RTE TV and radio.
The nomination list, as usual, features some familiar names and some less familiar, with the list having been picked by a selection of scene-expert music journalists, industry people, radio DJs and other associated types. The ten judges will gather in a room on the night of the prize to select the final winner.
The full list of ten nominated artists, each for their latest album, includes likely favourites Villagers (the project of poetic singer songwriter Conor O’Brien), the brilliant self-titled grief project of Dubliner David Balfe, ‘For Those I Love’, and the gentle beauty of Saint Sister.
The list is completed by albums by Bicep, a joint project by Mick Flannery and Susan O’Neil, Orla Gartland, Houseplants, Kojaque, Elaine Mai, and Soda Blonde.
Tickets for the event, renowned as an important annual industry showcase and party, are on sale now, and marka live return two years after the 2020 Choice Music Prize was one of the last live events to take place in Dublin before the covid shutdown.
The winner, announced live at the end of the night, receives a €10,000 prize from IMRO, the Irish Music Rights Organisation, while the song of the year prize, chosen by the public, will also be handed out. In previous years, the majority of nominated acts have performed on the night, but the live line up is yet to be confirmed.
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