Choice Music Prize Irish Album of the Year shortlist announced

The highly anticipated shortlist for Irish Album of the Year 2023 at the upcoming Choice Music Prize has been unveiled this morning on RTÉ 2FM's Tracy Clifford Show.

This year's 10 nominees for the highly coveted prize include:

• Grian Chatten, Chaos for the Fly
• CMAT, Crazymad, For Me
• John Francis Flynn, Look Over the Wall, See the Sky
• Kojaque, Phantom of the Afters
• Lankum, False Lankum
• Rachael Lavelle, Big Dreams
• Soda Blonde, Dream Big
• The Murder Capital, Gigi's Recovery
• The Scratch, Mind Yourself
• Ezra Williams, Supernumeraries

The Choice Music Prize event is set to take place in Vicar St in Dublin on Thursday, March 7. It will also be broadcast live on RTÉ 2FM, with a TV special set to air on RTÉ2 later that month.

This year's Choice Music Prize will once again include the additional categories of Irish Song of the Year (shortlist to be announced on January 12), Irish Artist of the Year (shortlist to be announced tomorrow, January 9), Irish Breakthrough Artist of the Year (shortlist to be announced on January 10), and Classic Irish Album (expect further details on January 11).

The overall winner of Irish Album of the Year will be selected by a panel of eleven Irish music media professionals and industry experts. The winning act will receive €10,000 – a prize fund provided by the Irish Music Rights Organisation (IMRO) and The Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA). All shortlisted acts will receive a specially commissioned award on the night.

You can see the full list of albums that were eligible for the Irish Album of the Year award here.

Last year saw CMAT take home the award for Irish Album of the Year, for her acclaimed debut If My Wife New I'd Be Dead.

"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," comments RTÉ 2FM’s Head of Music, Adam Fogarty. "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..."

Take a look at the Hot Press-selected 50 Best Albums of 2023 here.