The Choice Music Prize has become one of the highlights of the Irish musical calendar since its inception in 2005 and is awarded to the Irish Album of the Year, as chosen from a shortlist of ten releases by a panel of twelve Irish music media professionals and industry experts.

Acts featured in Musos’ Guide who are nominated include; Cult Called Man, Eileen Gogan, I Have A Tribe, King Kong Company, Land Lovers, MINDRIOTmt, Mongrel State, Roisin Murphy, and Super Hyper Giant. Past winners include SOAK, Two Door Cinema Club, The Gloaming, Delorentos, The Divine Comedy, Villagers and Jape.

The winning act will receive €10,000, a prize fund which has been provided by The Irish Music Rights Organisation and The Irish Recorded Music Association. All of the shortlisted acts will receive a specially commissioned award. The shortlist for this year’s RTÉ Choice Music Prize, Irish Album of the Year 2016, in association with IMRO & IRMA, will be announced on Wednesday 11th January, 2017.

The 12th annual RTÉ Choice Music Prize will be awarded on March 9th with coverage on RTE. Tickets for the Choice Music Prize live event will go on sale from Ticketmaster on Friday December 2nd priced €26.50 including booking fee.

The full longlist is available here

After a seven-year gap between 2007’s Overpowered and last year’s mercury-nominated Hairless Toys, Róisín Murphy returns with Take Her Up To Monto. The title is lifted from the Irish folk song, popularized by The Dubliners, about the seedy history of Dublin’s red light district. It was written and recorded in the same period as last year's offering with the same producer. Murphy was aiming for a "sleepy, synthesized vibe" and she has definitely achieved that.

Murphy is known for her arty idiosyncrasies in both her music and its presentation. She has been heavily influenced by Bjork and has, in turn, influenced Lady Gaga. With Take Her Up To Monto she is definitely leaning more towards Kate Bush or Bjork than Gaga or Goldfrapp. This is music for grown-ups with introspective lyrics and complex song structures. You won't be hearing these in the local nightclub. Listening to Take Her Up To Monto feels like reading someone's private diary. There are no concessions to the pop mainstream where she made her name, first with Moloko and latterly as a solo artist. Murphy's highly personal delivery tightens the gut and raises a lump in the throat. It can be quite uncomfortable listening.

‘Mastermind’ starts the album slowly with a self-analytical lyrical passage, a personal State-Of-The-Nation address, before hitting its groove. ‘Lip Service’ takes a lighter turn with a jazzy, lounge band backdrop for Murphy's theatrical delivery while a recurring piano theme underpins ‘Thoughts Wasted’. ‘Ten Miles High’ sounds like it belongs on the soundtrack to Blade Runner.

I am always dubious whenever I hear that an album was recorded at the same sessions as a previous one because it suggests that the tracks contained within weren’t up to scratch last year but that they will suffice now. It sounds like the leftovers of the Hairless Toys sessions have been polished and served up on Take Her Up To Monto. There is much of interest here but little to entertain. As B-sides or EP tracks many of these tracks would give a deeper feeling and understanding of those Hairless Toys songs but in isolation this collection is easier to admire than to enjoy. One for Murphy completists only.

Take Her Up To Monto is available via Amazon and iTunes.