mercury prize
Charli XCX’s Brat was among the albums shortlisted for this year’s Mercury Prize on Thursday (July 25). It’s the second time that the recent Billboard Cover star – whose album recently charted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 – has been nominated for the prize, following a nod for 2020’s How I’m Feeling Now.
The Mercury Prize is awarded annually and celebrates the best of British and Irish music across a wide range of genres. The Last Dinner Party’s Prelude To Ecstasy, Beth Gibbons’ Lives Outgrown, Corinne Bailey Rae’s Black Rainbows and CMAT’s Crazymad, For Me are also up for the award. The winner will be announced in September.
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The shortlisted albums were announced at a launch event in London this morning. It follows the news that this year’s live event – traditionally held at the capital Eventim Apollo and featuring performances from the nominated acts – will not be taking place. Coverage across the BBC on TV, radio, online and social media will replace the usual live performance.
The announcement comes admidst a huge summer for Charli. Earlier this week, the pop star endorsed U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris following the news that President Joe Biden would not seek the Democratic nomination in this year’s U.S. presidential election. Fans on social media quickly spliced together clips of songs from Brat with footage of Harris, and the presumptive democratic party nominee changed the banner on her campaign’s X feed to the signature Brat green palette and font. In addition, talking heads on CNN, Fox News and late-night talk shows scrambled to clumsily explain this sudden explosion of memes to their audiences. In September, Charli will join Troye Sivan on a co-headline tour in the U.S. before a string of solo arena shows in the U.K. later this fall.
The Mercury Prize was first awarded in 1992. Recent winners include Ezra Collective (2023), Little Simz (2022), Arlo Parks (2021) and Michael Kiwanuka (2020). PJ Harvey, who won the prize in 2001 and 2011, and is the only artist to have won the award twice.
A panel of judges, chaired by Jeff Smith, head of music, Radio 2 & 6 Music, selects the winner and it also includes the following: Danielle Perry – broadcaster & writer; Jamie Cullum – musician & Radio 2 broadcaster; Jamz Supernova – 6 Music broadcaster & DJ; Lea Stonhill – music programming consultant; Mistajam – songwriter, DJ & broadcaster; Phil Alexander – creative director, Kerrang!/contributing editor, Mojo; Sian Eleri – Radio 1 broadcaster & DJ; Will Hodgkinson – chief rock & pop critic, The Times; Sophie Williams – music writer & broadcaster.
Here’s the complete list of 2024 Mercury Prize album of the year nominees:
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
Ezra Collective’s Where I’m Meant to Be won the Mercury Prize on Thursday (Sept. 7), making the London jazz quintet the first jazz act to win that prestigious award. The Mercury Prize celebrates the best of British and Irish music across a range of contemporary music genres. This year’s ceremony was held at Eventim Apollo in Hammersmith, London.
Accepting the award, drummer Femi Koleoso said, “This is not just a result for Ezra Collective, or for UK jazz, but this is a special moment for every single organization across the country, ploughing efforts and time into young people playing music.”
Where I’m Meant to Be, Ezra Collective’s second studio album, was written and recorded in lockdown. But rather than reflect the isolation of the COVID-19 era, the album has been described by BBC as “a joyous celebration of community, positivity and friendship.”
The album was produced by the band and Riccardo Damian, and features a diverse roster of musicians, including Sampa the Great, Kojey Radical, Emeli Sandé and Nao, as well as filmmaker Steve McQueen.
Where I’m Meant to Be reached No. 24 on the Official U.K. Albums chart, a strong showing for a jazz album. On this side of the pond, it debuted and peaked at No. 15 on Billboard’s Contemporary Jazz Albums chart.
The album was nominated for best jazz record at the 2022 Libera Awards. But it draws on several other genres, including grime, salsa and reggae.
Speaking to BBC News after being announced as winners, Koleoso explained: “We’re the shuffle generation of music, we listen to some Beethoven, and then 50 Cent comes on straight after, and then Little Simz comes on just after that. And that kind of influences the way we approach music. So, there are no rules. We love jazz, but at the same time we love salsa too, so why not try and get that in there?”
The other albums in contention for the top prize were Arctic Monkeys’ The Car, Fred again.’s Actual Life 3 (January 1 – September 9 2022), J Hus’ Beautiful and Brutal Yard, Jessie Ware’s That! Feels Good!, Jockstrap’s I Love You Jennifer B, Lankum’s False Lankum, Loyle Carner’s hugo, Olivia Dean’s Messy, RAYE’s My 21st Century Blues, Shygirl’s Nymph and Young Fathers’ Heavy Heavy.
Broadcaster Lauren Laverne hosted the ceremony, which featured live performances from nine of the shortlisted artists, including Jessie Ware and RAYE.
Last year’s Mercury Prize winner was London rapper Little Simz for her fourth album Sometimes I Might Be Introvert.
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