{
  "id": 18280382,
  "title": "Ecca Vandal Wins 2026 Australian Music Prize",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/05/ecca-vandal-wins-2026-australian-music-prize",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-11-05T08:29:15.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Billboard",
    "slug": "billboard",
    "url": "https://www.billboard.com/music/awards/ecca-vandal-2026-australian-music-prize-1236374662/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Ecca Vandal, born in South Africa of Sri Lankan heritage, has been named the winner of the 22nd Australian Music Prize (AMP) for her sophomore album, \"Looking for People to Unfollow.\" The award, sponsored by SoundMerch, recognizes outstanding Australian albums based on artistic merit. Vandal, who is based in Melbourne, Australia, beat out a shortlist of nine other albums, including works by Genesis Owusu, Grace Cummings, Julia Jacklin, and Karnivool. The AMP, modeled after the U.K.'s Mercury Prize, was established in 2005 to discover, reward and promote new Australian music of excellence. Vandal's winning album received praise from Zane Lowe, Spotify’s international editorial team, and Triple J, which named it the feature album of the week. Since winning the award, Vandal has performed at Coachella, made her U.S. TV debut on Jimmy Kimmel Live, and received seven nominations for the 2026 ARIA Awards. Her live performances of \"Looking for People to Unfollow\" are currently on tour, with sold-out shows in Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney. In an interview with Billboard, Vandal encouraged audiences to lose themselves in the experience, saying, \"I’ll be bringing all my energy so bring yours too. I love when a show feels like a little world that only exists for us for that hour, with everyone just collectively losing it.\"",
  "summary": "The genre-bending artist takes home a A$50,000 grand prize.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}