Twenty-two artists are in the running for Australia’s 2023 Environmental Music Prize. The prize celebrates songs and music videos that “connect us to nature and reflect the hopes, fears and ambitions of the environmental movement.” Voting is now open via the prize’s official website.
This year’s crop of finalists includes big-name artists Flume, Tash Sultana, Midnight Oil and Ziggy Alberts, up-and-comers Beckah Amani, Meraki Mae, Hazel Mei and Sunfruits, and First Nations artists Kutcha Edwards, King Stingray, Mo’Ju, Wildfire Manwurrk and more. The winner of the public-voted prize will receive $20,000. Find the complete list of finalists below.
King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard – ‘If Not Now, Then When?’
Melbourne band King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard won the inaugural Environmental Music Prize in 2022 with their song ‘If Not Now, Then When?’ “I’ve written quite a few songs about climate change, but after the Black Summer bushfires in 2019-2020, shit started to feel dire,” the band’s main songwriter, Stu Mackenzie, said of the sentiment behind the winning track.
King Gizzard donated their $20,000 prize money to The Wilderness Society. Matthew Brennan, the Wilderness Society CEO, extolled music’s unique ability to effect change.
“Where data, social media or scientific reports may have failed, a song can build movement and power,” he said. “It can bring communities together to demand more from our politicians and corporations. In the face of global environmental challenges music can give more of us the courage to be part of the solution.”
Environmental Music Prize 2023 Finalists
- Anya Anastasia – ‘Losing Wild‘
- Beckah Amani – ‘Smoke And Mirrors‘
- Emily Wurramara – ‘Lady Blue‘
- Flume – ‘Go‘
- Georgia Mae – ‘Gentle‘
- Hazel Mei – ‘Golden Chains‘
- Jen Cloher – ‘Being Human‘
- King Stingray – ‘Milkumana‘
- Kutcha Edwards – ‘Singing Up Country‘
- Meraki Mae – ‘Warrior‘
- Midnight Oil – ‘Rising Seas‘
- Mo’Ju – ‘Change Has To Come‘
- SheisArjuna – ‘Vessel‘
- Sunfruits – ‘End of the World‘
- Tash Sultana – ‘Willow Tree‘
- The Bowerbird Collective – ‘The Godwit and Curlew‘
- Troy Cassar-Daley – ‘Back On Country‘
- Wildfire Manwurrk – ‘Mararradj‘
- Wildheart – ‘Backburner‘
- Woodes – ‘Forever After‘
- Xavier Rudd – ‘Stoney Creek‘
- Ziggy Alberts – ‘Together‘
Lismore-based jazz-folk artist Meraki Mae said they were excited to be nominated and spoke of how initiatives like the EMP “[give] voice and power to my community here in Lismore and what we’ve been through and what we continue to go through.”
Midnight Oil’s Peter Garrett also commended the aims of the EMP. ““In the midst of a climate crisis that demands attention, the Environmental Music Prize – with songs to make us think and act – is a fantastic initiative,” he said.
Further Reading
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard Win Inaugural Environmental Music Prize
Jack River, King Stingray Among Finalists For Inaugural Environmental Music Prize
