The Avalanches Win 2020 Australian Music Prize

The Avalanches have been announced as the winner of the 2020 Australian Music Prize for their latest album, We Will Always Love You.

The winner of the $20,000 (£11,200) prize was announced in a ceremony earlier today, March 3, hosted by Australian presenter Jane Gazzo. Over 40 judges – including artists, journalists and programmers – took part in determining the winner this year.

“We’re so thrilled to be the winners of the prestigious AMP Award and be amongst the esteemed winners of the past,” The Avalanches said in a statement.

“We’d love to thank everyone involved in making this award happen especially SoundMerch, also to the many people who helped us put this record together. A truly special day for us and we’re so grateful.”

We Will Always Love You dropped last December and features assists from the likes of Blood Orange, Jamie xx, Weezer, Denzel Curry, and is the follow-up to 2016’s Wildflower, which opened at No. 1 on the ARIA Albums Chart. The LP “overflows with ideas, samples, and guests across their unique blend of blissed-out disco, soul, and psychedelia,” note AMP’s organizers.

The album also received considerable critical acclaim on its release. Typical of the critiques was the NME’S review, which praised the record for its “diversity of guest musicians, expertly woven music and compositional strength of the tracks”.

In winning the prize, The Avalanches triumphed from a shortlist comprising Tame Impala’s The Slow Rush, Ziggy Ramo’s Black Thoughts, Nyaaringu by Miiesha, Alice Ivy’s Don’t Sleep, Blake Scott’s Niscitam, Emma Donovan and the Putbacks’ Crossover, Fanny Lumsden’s Fallow and Gordon Koang’s Unity.

The prize money this year was provided by music merchandise company SoundMerch, which in turn was given naming rights to this year’s award.

Previous winners of the Australian Music Prize include Sampa The Great, Gurrumul, A.B. Original and Courtney Barnett.

Listen to the best of The Avalanches here.