The nine finalists of the 18th annual Australian Music Prize (AMP) have been announced today (January 24), ahead of the ceremony in Sydney this coming March.
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Up for their third AMP nominations are Sampa the Great and Laura Jean – for their albums ‘As Above, So Below’ and ‘Amateurs’, respectively. Sampa was nominated in 2017 (‘Birds and the BEE9’) and 2019 (‘The Return’), winning in both years and becoming the only two-time AMP winner in the process. Jean, meanwhile, was nominated in 2014 for her self-titled album and in 2018 for her album ‘Devotion’.
The shortlist also contains two-time nominees Camp Cope (for ‘Running With The Hurricane’) and Julia Jacklin (for ‘Pre Pleasure’). The former were nominated in 2016 for their self-titled debut (as well as long-listed in 2018 for its follow-up ‘How to Socialise and Make Friends’), while the latter received a nod in 2019 for her second studio album ‘Crushing’ and was long-listed in 2016 for her debut ‘Don’t Let the Kids Win’.
Party Dozen have received their first shortlist nomination for their third album, ‘The Real Work’. The Sydney noise-rock duo were, however, previously long-listed for the AMP in 2020 for their second album, ‘Pray For Party Dozen’.
The remainder of the shortlist is composed of first-time nominations for debut releases: 1300 with their mixtape ‘Foreign Language’, Body Type with ‘Everything is Dangerous But Nothing’s Surprising’, King Stingray with their self-titled album and Tasman Keith with ‘A Colour Undone’.
Scott B. Murphy, the founder and director of the AMP, described the shortlist as “very strong” and “incredibly diverse” in a press statement. “[The list] truly captures another year of the world’s best music,” he said.
In their own statement, King Stingray guitarist and co-founder Roy Kellaway said the band was “stoked” with the nomination. “We… feel privileged to be in the company of so many other great artists that are making so many great records,” he said.
Body Type, too, expressed their excitement at being nominated: “It means the world to have our debut record shortlisted,” they said. “How cool to be recognised and supported by such a prestigious industry body. It’s an honour.”
All nine nominees were included in NME‘s list of the 25 best Australian albums of 2022. The list was topped by Jacklin’s ‘Pre Pleasure’, with Jacklin herself being described as “Australia’s best musical meditator on the self”.
“In spite of the subject matter, ‘Pre Pleasure’ is the brightest music Jacklin has ever put to tape,” wrote Joshua Martin.
The winner of the 18th AMP will be announced at Sydney’s Oxford Art Factory in a ceremony on March 1.