Ecca Vandal Wins 2026 Australian Music Prize

Ecca Vandal is crowned winner of the 22^nd annual Australian Music Prize for her sophomore album, Looking for People to Unfollow (via Loma Vista Recordings).

Sponsored by SoundMerch, the AMP lauds the outstanding Australian albums based on artistic merit rather than commercial sales. And its winner takes home a A$50,000 grand prize.

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Looking for People to Unfollow was announced as the 2026 AMP champ on Thursday (Nov. 11), beating out a nine-strong shortlist that included LPs by Genesis Owusu, Grace Cummings, Julia Jacklin and Karnivool, as decided by a music industry panel.

Based in Melbourne, Australia, and born in South Africa of Sri Lankan heritage, Ecca Vandal dropped her self-titled debut in 2017. With her long-percolating followup LP, plaudits came from Zane Lowe, and Spotify’s international editorial team, which anointed her as one of the streaming giant’s Artists To Watch 2026. Australia’s Triple J locked-in Looking for People to Unfollow as its feature album of the week.

The AMP extends a breakout year for the genre-bending artist, during which she performed at Coachella, her first-ever performance at a major U.S. festival; made her U.S. TV debut with a performance on Jimmy Kimmel Live; and landed seven nominations for the 2026 ARIA Awards, to be presented later this month in Sydney.

Now, she’s on the final leg of her tour in support of Looking for People to Unfollow, with sold-out dates to come in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney.

Speaking to Billboard about how audiences should prepare for the live Ecca Vandal experience, she remarked: “Aside from the flashing lights, I’d say come as you are and be prepared to lose yourself for a little while. 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.”

Modeled on the U.K.’s Mercury Prize, the AMP launched in 2005 as a platform to “discover, reward and promote new Australian music of excellence,” and is today coveted as the most prestigious national award for the album format.

Previous winners include efforts by The Avalanches, Sampa the Great (twice), Gurrumul, A.B. Original, Courtney Barnett and last year’s recipient, Ninajirachi’s I Love My Computer.