Aldous Harding has been awarded the Taite Music Prize for her sophomore album Party.
This is the latest in a string of awards the acclaimed artist has collected for Party, including two Tui's at last year's New Zealand Music Awards and the honour of the record being named TimeOut's Albumof the Year, 2017.
Aiming to recognise and highlight the outstanding New Zealand albums that have been released in the past year the Taite Music Prize judges on artistic merit and is open to all genres and musical styles. The winner receives a prize package that includes $10,000, recording time at Auckland's Red Bull Studios and a year's supply of the energy drink.
Harding, who is currently in London was unable to attend Tuesday night's ceremony at the Civic, instead delivered a video acceptance speech thanking, "everyone involved in the making of Party, not just the music itself but the air around it, things around it and the people supporting the future of Party".
She then offered some heartening news for fans, saying, "We start recording in the next couple of days, the new album, so I'll put the money towards making the same mistake."
Even with Party's critical acclaim, victory was by no means guaranteed. Other nominees for the prize included other championed artists like Nadia Reid, Kane Strang, The Bads, Grayson Gilmour, Mermaidens Teeks and Fazerdaze.
Alongside the main prize other prizes handed out include The Miltones for Best Independent Debut while Headless Chickens were presented with the NZ Classic Record award for their influential 1988 album, Stunt Clown.
