diff --git a/server/src/matcher.ts b/server/src/matcher.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a0beb14
--- /dev/null
+++ b/server/src/matcher.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+export interface Matchable {
+  title: string
+  artist: string
+}
+
+/**
+ * Normalization for matching: lowercase, strip accents, strip punctuation,
+ * strip leading articles (the/a/an anywhere as standalone words), collapse
+ * whitespace. Spec definition of "normalized artist/title equal".
+ */
+export function normalize(input: string): string {
+  return input
+    .toLowerCase()
+    .normalize('NFKD')
+    .replace(/[\u0300-\u036f]/g, '')
+    .replace(/[^\p{L}\p{N}\s]/gu, ' ')
+    .replace(/\b(the|a|an)\b/g, ' ')
+    .replace(/\s+/g, ' ')
+    .trim()
+}
+
+export function isConfidentMatch(a: Matchable, b: Matchable): boolean {
+  return normalize(a.title) === normalize(b.title) && normalize(a.artist) === normalize(b.artist)
+}
+
+/**
+ * Albums whose normalized title equals the release's normalized title —
+ * the "ambiguous" candidate list shown when no confident match exists.
+ * Candidates with matching artist sort first. Capped at 20.
+ */
+export function candidateAlbums<T extends Matchable>(release: Matchable, albums: T[]): T[] {
+  const title = normalize(release.title)
+  return albums
+    .filter((a) => normalize(a.title) === title)
+    .sort((a, b) => {
+      const am = normalize(a.artist) === normalize(release.artist) ? 0 : 1
+      const bm = normalize(b.artist) === normalize(release.artist) ? 0 : 1
+      return am - bm
+    })
+    .slice(0, 20)
+}
diff --git a/server/test/matcher.test.ts b/server/test/matcher.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ef51db7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/server/test/matcher.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+import { describe, it, expect } from 'vitest'
+import { normalize, isConfidentMatch, candidateAlbums } from '../src/matcher.js'
+
+describe('normalize', () => {
+  it('lowercases, strips punctuation, articles, accents, extra whitespace', () => {
+    expect(normalize('The Cinematic Orchestra!')).toBe('cinematic orchestra')
+    expect(normalize('  Blur: The Best   of… ')).toBe('blur best of')
+    expect(normalize('Björk — Début')).toBe('bjork debut')
+    expect(normalize('A Tribe Called Quest')).toBe('tribe called quest')
+  })
+})
+
+describe('isConfidentMatch', () => {
+  it('matches when normalized artist AND title are equal', () => {
+    expect(
+      isConfidentMatch(
+        { title: 'Motion!', artist: 'The Cinematic Orchestra' },
+        { title: 'Motion', artist: 'Cinematic Orchestra' }
+      )
+    ).toBe(true)
+    expect(
+      isConfidentMatch(
+        { title: 'Motion', artist: 'Massive Attack' },
+        { title: 'Motion', artist: 'The Cinematic Orchestra' }
+      )
+    ).toBe(false)
+    expect(
+      isConfidentMatch(
+        { title: 'Blue Lines', artist: 'Massive Attack' },
+        { title: 'Motion', artist: 'Massive Attack' }
+      )
+    ).toBe(false)
+  })
+})
+
+describe('candidateAlbums', () => {
+  const albums = [
+    { id: 1, title: 'Motion', artist: 'Someone Else' },
+    { id: 2, title: 'Motion', artist: 'The Cinematic Orchestra' },
+    { id: 3, title: 'Other Album', artist: 'The Cinematic Orchestra' },
+  ]
+
+  it('returns same-title albums with artist matches first', () => {
+    const candidates = candidateAlbums(
+      { title: 'Motion', artist: 'Cinematic Orchestra' },
+      albums
+    )
+    expect(candidates.map((c) => c.id)).toEqual([2, 1])
+  })
+
+  it('caps candidates at 20', () => {
+    const many = Array.from({ length: 50 }, (_, i) => ({
+      id: i,
+      title: 'Motion',
+      artist: `Artist ${i}`,
+    }))
+    expect(candidateAlbums({ title: 'Motion', artist: 'zzz' }, many)).toHaveLength(20)
+  })
+})