The 10 albums nominated for the RTÉ Choice Music Prize Irish Album of the Year have been announced today on The Tracy Clifford Show on 2FM.
The 21st annual shortlist has just been revealed.
Choice Music Prize Irish Album of the Year shortlist:
- Amble – Reverie
- Bricknasty – Black’s Law
- Joshua Burnside – Teeth of Time
- CMAT – EURO-COUNTRY
- Dove Ellis – Blizzard
- Junior Brother – The End
- Just Mustard – WE WERE JUST HERE
- pôt-pot – Warsaw 480km
- Maria Somerville – Luster
- SPRINTS – All That Is Over
The list is heavy on independent and alternative with nods for the recently released debut from Dove Ellis, Northern Irish singer-songwriter Joshua Burnside whose reputation has slowly grown over the last two years, second nominations for Sprints, Bricknasty, NewDad, Junior Brother, and third for Just Mustard and the bookie’s favourite – CMAT.
Nialler9’s 50 best Irish albums of 2025
Some surprising omissions that might have been expected from 2024 Irish albums? For Those I Love’s Carving The Stone, NewDad’s Altar, Kean Kavanagh’s County Star, Poor Creature self-titled, Rory Sweeney’s Old Earth.
Choice Music Prize Irish album Judges
Chairperson: Jim Carroll – Editor of RTE Brainstorm
John Barker – Dublin City FM/Tilt
Aoife Barry – Freelance journalist/Get Around To It podcast
Ciara Byrne – Freelance journalist
Tara Carroll – Genuine Irish
Peter Curtin – RTÉ Lyric FM
Sarah Gill – Image magazine
Deb Grant – BBC Radio 6
Angela Hughes – Radio na Life/8Radio
Cathal Murray – RTÉ Radio 1
Roz Purcell – RTE 2fm
Jamie Taylor – BBC Radio Ulster/BBC Radio Foyle
The Irish Album of the Year 2025 will be announced live from Vicar Street on RTÉ 2FM in a special show 7-11pm on Thursday 5th March hosted by Beta Da Silva.
The show will feature live performances from some of the shortlisted acts, further details on the line-up to be announced soon. Tickets are on sale here.
The Irish Album of the Year award is chosen from a shortlist of ten albums by a panel of eleven Irish music media professionals and industry experts. The list of judges is available via choicemusicprize.ie
The winning Album of the Year act will receive €10,000, a prize fund which has been provided by The Irish Music Rights Organization (IMRO) and The Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA). All shortlisted acts will receive a specially commissioned award.
Choice Music Prize dates for this month.
Irish Artist of the Year – shortlist Tuesday 20th Jan
(winner announced 5th March at Vicar St)
Irish Breakthrough Artist – shortlist Wednesday 21st Jan
(winner announced 5th March at Vicar St)
Classic Irish Album – further details Thursday 22nd Jan
(winner announced ahead of the live event)
Irish Song of the Year 2025 – shortlist Friday 23rd Jan
(winner announced 5th March on 2FM daytime)
The public vote for Song of The Year will open on Friday 23rd January – Sunday 22nd February.
“The breadth and diversity of Irish music right now is astounding typified by recent Choice Music Prize winners Fontaines D.C., CMAT and more doing so well on the world stage. We look forward to honouring and celebrating the best in Irish music in partnership with RTÉ through our week of shortlist announcements on the Tracy Clifford show beginning on January 19th and ending with the 21st edition of the RTÉ Choice Music Prize Live event on Thursday March 5th at Vicar St”.
Dave Reid, Choice Music Prize co-founder
“I love this time of year when we get to celebrate the very best in Irish music through this year’s RTÉ Choice Music Prize. The albums, the songs and the artists we produce in this country are world class. After another excellent year for Irish artists and their music, there is so much to look forward to right across the categories and as usual, some real gems to discover. Congratulations to all the nominees and I’m really looking forward to welcoming them, and our 2FM listeners to the live event in Vicar Street on Thursday 5th March for what is one of my favourite nights of the year.”
RTÉ 2FM’s Tracy Clifford
Niall Byrne is the founder of the most-influential Irish music site Nialler9, where he has been writing about music since 2005. He is the co-host of the Nialler9 Podcast and has written for the Irish Times, Irish Independent, Sunday Times, Totally Dublin, Cara Magazine, Red Bull and more. Niall is a DJ, co-founder of Lumo Club, event curator, Indie Sleaze club promoter, and producer of gigs and monthly listening parties & events in Dublin.
