Newsome has been included on the longlist for the highly coveted award alongside chart-topping acts such as The Presets, Amy Shark, Troye Sivan and Sarah Blasko.

The list was released last week, celebrating music’s peak creative format – the album.

The AMP is said to “transcend genre, popularity and politics”, with 21 judges including artists, journalists, retailers, programmers and more selecting the best Australian albums of the year based solely on artistic merit.

Newsome said he was surprised to hear he was included in the list of nominees. His album “Vanity of Trees” is his first solo recording and was released in November.

Inspired by the Mallacoota wilderness and its inhabitants – mainly trees – the album was recorded on what Newsome defines as “ratty” instruments.

 “The album was completely self-made in my Mallacoota studio. I didn’t use good gear – I used an eclectic mixture of old analogue keyboard sounds, acoustic instruments and a bunch of guitars,” Newsome said.

“My gear peaked in the middle of the project and fell apart at the end.”

 Although he said it would be lovely to take home the $30,000 prize, Newsome paid credit to the late Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu as his preferred contender.

“I am hopeful that Dr G Yunupingu will take out the honour, that would really be something.”

Now in its 14th year, the AMP award has persisted throughout the transformation of the music industry, with its recognition of the album format more important than ever. 

“In an age of streaming, we’re seeing a renaissance of the album as artists redefine what it can be,” said AMP judge and radio presenter Caitlin Nienaber. 

“Today fans may have been liberated in a world of pick-and-choose tracks, but artists can also create with a blank canvas when working on bringing an album into the world.”

While 86 releases made the 2018 longlist, a shortlist of nine will be unveiled in early 2019 ahead of the winner’s announcement in March.