Harry Styles, Sam Fender and Little Simz are among the artists competing for this year’s Mercury Prize, arguably British music’s most prestigious award.
Recognising the best British or Irish album of the last 12 months, the Mercury has previously gone to acts like Pulp, Skepta and PJ Harvey.
They include pop provocateur Self Esteem and folk singer Gwenno, whose album Tresor is sung mostly in Cornish.
Other first-timers include indie duo Wet Leg, post-metal girl band Nova Twins and jazz musician Fergus McCreadie.
Harry Styles’ Harry’s House is the most commercially-successful album on the list, spending six of the last nine weeks at number one.
A shimmering, fleet-footed pop record, it’s unlikely to win (no pop artist has taken the prize since M People in 1994) but marks another step in the star’s ascension to Britain’s pop elite.
Sam Fender’s Seventeen Going Under is another chart-topper, full of sax-soaked rock epics that tackle life, death, family trauma and the social deprivation in England’s North East.
Image source, EPALondon rapper Little Simz is one of two returning nominees, having previously been shortlisted for her 2019 album Grey Area.
This year, she’s recognised for Sometimes I Might Be Introvert, an orchestral hip-hop album in which she reckons with her public and personal demons, to stirring effect.
Guitarist Bernard Butler, who won the second ever Mercury Prize with Suede in 1993, also makes a return, this time for his collaboration with actress Jessie Buckley, better known for her roles in Chernobyl, Wild Rose and The Lost Daughter (for which she received an Oscar nomination).
Image source, Getty ImagesThe shortlist is completed by Leeds-based post-punk act Yard Act, south London soul singer Joy Crookes and rapper Kojey Radical.
Albums that missed out on a spot included Adele’s chart blockbuster 30, Charli XCX’s pop masterclass Crash, Dave’s We’re All In This Together and Florence and the Machine’s critically-acclaimed Dance Fever.
“‘Getting down to 12 albums this year was not easy,” said the judges in a statement, “simply because there were so many remarkable ones to choose from.
“Now comes the really hard part… choosing only one overall winner.”
That winner will be chosen on 8 September, the night of the Mercury Prize ceremony.
Until then, here’s all you need to know about this year’s nominees.
Source: BBC