Irish album of the year: Who are favourites to take the top prize on Thursday?
Favourites for the RTÉ Choice Music Prize album of the year include: Pillow Queens, Denise Chaila, Fontaines DC and Róisín Murphy.
Just like everything else in the past year, the RTÉ Choice Music Prize to crown the best Irish album of 2020 will look a little different this time around. There’s no live show at Vicar Street - instead the winner will be announced on Thursday, March 4, on the Tracy Clifford Show on 2fm. The shortlist itself also looks different this year, comprising eight debut albums, a majority of female acts for the first time, and all independent releases. So who are the nominees and who do we think is going to claim the €10,000 prize fund?
Hit with multiple lineup changes since forming around 2014, maybe we should just be relieved that the Dublin grunge trio, who have made their name through sweaty, pulverising live shows, have finally released their debut album. Lizzie Fitzpatrick is the only constant, snarling her way through a guitar fan’s dream album. It’s heavy and meant to be played very loud.
Perhaps it’s also meant to be played live, though? Unlikely.
One of the stars of the last year, the journey is only beginning for Limerick rapper Denise Chaila. But is Go Bravely even an album? Chaila says it’s actually a mixtape, “a series of sonic polaroids; a patchwork collection of snapshots and messages that came to me in the midst of overwhelming messiness”. The wordplay is undeniable (“Feeling so sinne fianna, I will not fall”), it has one of the songs of the year in the earworm ‘Chaila’, and has anthems-in-waiting such as ‘Anseo’.
A great introduction to Denise Chaila, artist and visionary. But the subsequent single of ‘Anseo’ sounds better than the version here. Which is proof enough that she’s only getting started. Among the favourites, but perhaps not this year.
Two albums in two years, two Choice nominations - and a Grammy nod too. The pandemic may have put the skids on the five-piece’s non-stop touring, but A Hero’s Death has gained them that most sought-after goal of Stateside attention. They painted this as a difficult second album, saying they scrapped a polished, LA-recorded album to return to Dogrel producer Dan Carey in London. The results speak for themselves.
It sounds like this should be a shoo-in, but we’d be surprised to see A Hero’s Death win the Choice gong.
One of the voices of the Black Lives Matter movement in Ireland last year, Jean-Luc Uddoh, a rapper who moved from Nigeria seven years ago, released his sprawling debut album in November, when critics are usually gathering their best-of-year lists together. That it didn’t get lost in the shuffle is proof of its quality, with killer tracks like ‘Call It What You Want’ showcasing his vocal skills and dance-friendly afrobeats vibe.
With 15 tracks spread just over an hour, 2020 Division is a little thin. It’s got some radio-friendly hits (‘Ozone’ was on the Fifa 20 soundtrack) and he’s an undoubted talent, but 2020 Division leaves us more looking forward to what the 23-year-old does next.
Her fifth solo album, it seems like the music world has finally come back around to Murphy’s world, bowing down to her undeniable - and weird - greatness. An album that Murphy, born in Wicklow and living in London, has sequenced like a DJ mix, these long odes to disco and the history of dance are mostly irresistible. Some of the tracks date back years (‘Simulation’ was originally released in 2012), with the songs in between the singles occasionally feeling a little lost by comparison.
We have this as the second favourite. Anyone who makes it to their fifth solo album - and a 30-year career in music - is worthy of acclaim, and Roisin Machine is Murphy’s best work to date. If anyone deserves the award…
Neal Keating used to be in a hardcore band before a new lease of life as a rapper for Dublin’s disenfranchised Generation Recession. His debut album, the concept for which he explains over two spoken-word tracks here, is mostly chill hip-hop with jazz infusions. A talented crew of guests, including Adam Garrett, Molly Sterling, and Jehnova - also feature.
Suffers somewhat in comparison to the other two rap/hip hop albums on the shortlist.
This Dublin four piece have known nothing but hype since forming about five years ago - and yet they’ve always delivered. The title reflects what many have known for a long time: That Pillow Queens are destined for the big time; see the deal they signed last month with Sub Pop Publishing. Their debut features the best opening line of the shortlisted albums, the best song (‘Gay Girls’, a coming-of-age song for Irish music, let alone the band and their fans), and the best closer, the guitar-swirling ‘Donaghmede’, an ode to singer Pamela Connolly’s hometown.
An instant classic that connects with an increasingly devoted and diverse fanbase, In Waiting is the runaway favourite for the Choice Prize, and deservedly so.
A chronicle of the ups and downs of just making it through the emotional tolls of your twenties, Personal History showcases why Ailbhe Reddy is one of the best songwriters in the country. Like In Waiting, this was recorded with Tommy McLaughlin at Donegal’s Attica Audio, and is dripping in electric guitar riffs. But it’s Dubliner Reddy’s lyrics - and gorgeous vocals - that hit hardest.
Probably not, but Personal History should gain Reddy a whole new legion of supporters.
This seems like the little album that could. Released to little acclaim last September, Hemet has been a word-of-mouth success since. Regan, a singer-songwriter from Galway, speaks plainly and revealingly. With radio friendly tracks like ‘How About That Coffee?’, played over gentle piano keys, Julia Jacklin-esque hits (‘Save the Day’), and the Lisa Hannigan-soaring vocals seen on ‘Freeze Frame’, Hemet, named after the area in California where Regan’s husband comes from, is a wonder that came out of nowhere.
This could be seen as a lightweight, but it’s anything but. Hemet packs a punch and if the judges give it the time, it should be in the running.
Wry lyrics, Pavement-aping frontman, and killer guitars, the Kildare/Dublin five piece tick plenty of boxes. Packing 13 tracks into 35 minutes, they’re not waiting around either. Those Pavement comparisons might be too overarching for some, but ‘Dunkirk’ and ‘Just in the Band’ show they’re able to shout louder, while things change nicely with bassist Emma Hanlon takes the vocals. There’s also a sprinkling of politics - and Simpsons references - on ‘Fad 95 if you’re so inclined.
Fad is an album that could connect big outside of Ireland, but Silverbacks aren’t for everybody. Which made their nomination seem surprising enough; a win would be a big surprise.
- Kean Kavanagh - Dog Person
- Bleeding Heart Pigeons - Stir
- Brigid Mae Power - Head Above The Water
- Aoife Nessa Frances - Land Of No Junction
- Junk Drawer - Ready For The House
- Hazey Haze - Is Mise
- Myles Manley - Cometh The Softies
- Ten Past Seven - Long Live The Bogwalrus
- Seamus Fogarty - A Bag Of Eyes
- Eve Belle - In Between Moments
