Environmental Music Prize
Flume | Credit: Rick Kern/WireImage

Flume, Tash Sultana and Mo’Ju Among Finalists for the 2023 Environmental Music Prize

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?’

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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

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

Peter Garrett Labels NSW Premier’s Comments About Jailing of Climate Protestor “Disgraceful” and “Fascistic”

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