Brussels, 7th March 2017

IMPALA has now revealed its shortlist of nominees for the seventh edition of the IMPALA Album of the Year Award. Once again the selection underlines the diversity and quality of independent labels from all over Europe. 25 albums are nominated and nineteen countries are represented this year.

Artists from every genre and generation are featured, from legendary UK act Radiohead to Swedish progressive metal pioneers Meshuggah, Swiss krautpop band One Sentence. Supervisor, Dutch rapper Boef and the new face of Italian disco Jolly Mare.

The voting is currently taking place to decide who will succeed to Jose Gonzalez’s acclaimed album Vestiges & Claws. The winner will be announced at the end of March.

The nominated albums are listed in alphabetical order by artist/name of the album/record label:

• Agnes Obel – Citizen of Glass (Play It Again Sam)
• Bisse – Højlandet (Showbisse Inc.)
• Blood Orange – Freetown Sound (Domino Records)
• Boef – Gewoon Boef (Zonamo Entertainment)
• Claudio Capéo – Claudio Capéo (Jo and Co)
• Danny Brown – Atrocity Exhibition (Warp)
• Dubioza Kolektiv – Happy Machine (Koolarrow Records / [PIAS])
• First Breath After Coma – Drifter (Omnichord Records)
• Hangutazók – Indulj El (RNC Music / Egység Média)
• Highasakite – Camp Echo (Propeller Recordings)
• Jolly Mare – Mechanics (42 Records/Don’t Panic)
• Kase.O – El Círculo (BOA)
• Klaus Johann Grobe – Spagat der Liebe (Cargo Records)
• Lost Frequencies – Less Is More (Lost & Cie)
• LUH – Spiritual Songs for Lovers to Sing (Mute Records)
• Mark Ernestus’ NDAGGA RHYTHM FORCE – Yermande (Ndagga)
• Meshuggah – The Violent Sleep Of Reason (Nuclear Blast)
• Mikko Joensuu – Amen 1 (Svart Record)
• One Sentence. Supervisor – Temporär Musik 1-13 (Oh, Sister Records)
• Oscar – Cut And Paste (Wichita Recordings)
• The Radio Dept. – Running Out of Love (Labrador)
• Radiohead – A Moon Shaped Pool (XL Recordings)
• Sara Renar – Tišina (Aquarius Records)
• Škrtice – Škrtice (Lampshade Media)
• Židrūns – Židrūns un tas, ko nevar nest (I Love You Records)

Radiohead’s A Moon Shaped Pool and Blood Orange’s Freetown Sound have been cited two times and Agnes Obel’s Citizen of Glass three times. Brussels-based label [PIAS] has two nominees: Dubioza Kolektiv and Agnes Obel. 

Helen Smith, Executive Chair, IMPALA commented: “The essence of this prize is to put the spotlight on the most exceptional album of the year. It’s a great shortlist again with both new faces and well-established independent artists. The jury will now decide which album they believe was the best in 2016”.

A full album playlist – IMPALA Album of the Year Award nominees 2016 (albums) – as well as a short playlist – IMPALA Album of the Year Award nominees 2016 (singles) – are available on Spotify to allow you to judge for yourself in advance of the winner’s announcement.

About the Independent Album of the Year Award

The “European Independent Album of The Year” award was launched in 2011, together with the annual “Outstanding Contribution to European Music” award, to mark the 10th anniversary of IMPALA. This award showcases the breadth and diversity of independent talent across Europe. The winner is selected on the basis of completely open criteria from a shortlist compiling national and non-national album nominations from territories across Europe put forward for their musical, artistic or other exceptional quality. Nominated albums were required to have been released on a European independent label between January and December 2014. Previous winners of the Award are Efterklang, Adele, The xx and Guadalupe Plata.

About IMPALA

IMPALA was established in April 2000 to represent independent music companies. 99% of Europe’s music companies are SMEs. Known as the “independents”, they are world leaders in terms of innovation and discovering new music and artists – they produce more than 80% of all new releases. SME’s also produce 80% of Europe’s jobs. IMPALA has its own award schemes to help promote cultural diversity and new talent and highlight the artistic contribution of independent music. IMPALA award winning artists include Modeselektor, Caro Emerald, Adele, M83, Mogwai, Vitalic, Melanie De Biasio, Soap & Skin, Arctic Monkeys, Andrea Bocelli and Jose Gonzalez.