The Shortlist for the RTÉ Choice Music Prize Irish Album of the Year 2016 is here. The shortlist for Irish Album of the Year 2016 is as follows:

All Tvvins – IIVV (Warner Music)

Bantum – Move (Self Released)

Wallis Bird – Home (Mount Silver / Caroline International)

The Divine Comedy – Foreverland (Divine Comedy Records)

Lisa Hannigan – At Swim (Play It Again Sam)

Katie Kim – Salt (Art For Blind Records)

James Vincent McMorrow – We Move (Faction Records)

Overhead, The Albatross – Learning To Growl (Self Released)

Rusangano Family – Let The Dead Bury The Dead (Self Released)

We Cut Corners – The Cadences Of Others (Delphi)

The winning album will be announced at the RTÉ Choice Music Prize live event, held in Vicar Street, Dublin on Thursday 9th March 2017. As part of the new partnership, the event will be broadcast live on RTÉ 2FM in a special four hour extended programme from 7-11pm.

The 12th annual RTÉ Choice Music Prize will once again celebrate and acknowledge the best in Irish recorded music. The 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.

The winning act will receive €10,000, a prize fund which has been provided by The Irish Music Rights Organisation (IMRO) and The Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA). All of the shortlisted acts will receive a specially commissioned award.

Originally formed by members from Denmark, Faroe Islands and Iceland, NORРbegan life in 2013 in Odense, Denmark. The band plays melodic progressive metalrock, powered by high octane energy and melancholic soundscapes. A unique style of heavy music with references to many different bands and genres and a dystopic lyrical universe about the human decadence.

NORÐ reflects the nordic feeling with their combination of dreamy melodies, tight riffing and headbanger breaks. Within a year the first set was written and the band started playing live gigs. The crowd really embraced the music from the very beginning and recorded material was in demand.

In 2016 the recording of the debut EP Alpha began at Molten Rock Studio in Odense with Jesper Egeskov Sommerby. By the time the single 'Rosehip Garden' hit the internet in December 2016 there was immediate international interest and the single received airplay in United States, Australia, Spain and other countries. Alpha will be released digitally on March 3rd 2017 via Inverse Records.