It’s mid summer and so time once more for this year’s Mercury nominations.
As ever, it’s a diverse selection. Established artists on the list include Corinne Bailey Rae and woman-of-the-moment Charli XCX and UK rapper Ghetts.
The much talked about baroque indie pop of The Last Dinner Party is on there, as is Portishead singer Beth Gibbons for her Lives Outgrown album and London-based songwriter Cat Burns for her debut album, Early Twenties. Bradford junglist Nia Archives might be worth a punt for her acclaimed Silence Is Loud album.
You’ll get longer odds on some of the others – Edinburgh-based dance producer Barry Can’t Swim, Leeds indie band English Teacher. Or this year’s token jazz nominee corto.orto. (The usual token classical nomination seems to have disappeared completely.)
There’s never been an Irish winner of the Mercury in its 33 year history, but there’s a possibility singer-songwriter CMAT could break that duck, which would be a testament to the current strength of the Dublin music scene.
Interestingly, eight of the twelve nominees are women or acts from by women, a far cry from the early days of the Mercury when PJ Harvey aside, female artists struggled to get a look in.
There’s no sponsor for the award this year, which in itself should set alarm bells ringing. This means that there will be no live presentation ceremony, which usually features performances from all the nominees and is broadcast on the BBC.
Previous sponsors have included Hyundai, Technics, Panasonic, Barclaycard and, well, Mercury, which – for the benefit of younger readers – was a short-lived phone company that was an early alternative to BT.
As ever, there will be debates about the continued relevance of the Mercury. Winning it used to provide a huge boost to an artist’s career, both in short-term sales and long-term exposure. But this has undoubtedly diminished in recent years.
The 2015 winner Benjamin Clementine failed to reach the UK album chart with his subsequent two albums, and whatever happened to 2009 winner Speech Debelle?
There is also the criticism that the Mercury very much reflects a broadsheet-style overview of the nation’s music. Whole genres are ignored – rock and metal, most obviously, but also in 2024 classical. Occasionally an out-and-out pop act will be nominated such as Spice Girls, or indeed Charli XCX, but they never seem to win.
That said artists are still thrilled to be nominated. “Really great surprise to be part of the 12 Mercury albums of the year, something I never expected," said Beth Gibbons after today’s announcement. "Big thanks to all who have supported the album, it means so much.”
The full list of nominees are:
Barry Can’t Swim – When Will We Land?
Berwyn – Who Am I
Beth Gibbons – Lives Outgrown
Cat Burns – Early Twenties
Charli XCX – Brat
CMAT – Crazymad, For Me
Corinne Bailey Rae – Black Rainbows
corto.alto – Bad With Names
English Teacher – This Could Be Texas
Ghetts – On Purpose, With Purpose
Nia Archives – Silence Is Loud
The Last Dinner Party – Prelude to Ecstasy
The winner will be announced in September.
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