Jessie Buckley is among the list of first-time nominees dominating the 30th anniversary of the Mercury prize, which celebrates the best British and Irish albums of the year.
Buckley was nominated with Bernard Butler for their debut collaborative album, For All Our Days That Tear the Heart. Buckley is among 11 first-time nominees shortlisted for the Mercury best album award.
It comes after the multitalented Kerry woman received an Oscar nomination for best supporting actress earlier this year for her role in The Lost Daughter.
Guitarist Butler won the second Mercury prize with his former band Suede in 1993 and told the PA news agency: “I am blessed I am here still doing this. I should be working in Sainsbury’s still but here I am. Life is good.”
Little Simz, who is also nominated, is the only artist with Mercury history: her third album, Grey Area, was nominated in 2019. Her second nod comes for its follow-up, Sometimes I Might Be Introvert, which was widely considered one of the best British albums of 2021.
The Isle of Wight indie-rock duo Wet Leg are among a handful of acts nominated for their debut album.
London songwriter Joy Crookes is nominated for her long-awaited debut album Skin, released five years after her earliest singles.
Self Esteem (AKA Rebecca Lucy Taylor) receives her first nomination for her second album, Prioritise Pleasure.
Meanwhile, Welsh synth-pop artist Gwenno is up for her third album, Tresor, her second collection of Cornish-language songs; and London rock duo Nova Twins are nominated for their second album, Supernova.
Guitarist Amy Love told the Guardian they were glad to have been nominated for their second album, which they recorded during lockdown. “So much had happened in the world and in our personal lives that creating this album was really therapeutic: we allowed ourselves to be more vulnerable, experiment with more dynamics. We’re really proud of it.”
Nova Twins are the first Black rock act to be nominated for the prize. “It means everything to us,” said bassist Georgia South. “When you start you think, we’re two kids who wanna rock out and make music, but the more we went along and realised how much diversity is missing in the music scene and the heavy music scene. When we play shows, people say to us, ‘we felt so seen’ or ‘we’ve never seen so many people of colour at a show’. We’re proud to be opening doors for more bands that are diverse – women, non-binary, POC, from the LGBTQIA+ community – saying that everybody is welcome.”
After several years in which the Mercury shortlist reflected at least a little of the UK’s fertile jazz scene, it appears to have reverted to its infamous “token jazz album” years, with just one artist from the genre nominated: Scottish pianist Fergus McCreadie for his trio’s third album, Forest Floor. It was inspired by the Scottish landscape, in part thanks to spending lockdown living at his parents’ countryside home.
“It’s great to represent Scotland and Scottish jazz,” McCreadie told the Guardian. “I’m excited not just for me but what this could mean for opportunities for our scene. The Glasgow and Edinburgh jazz festivals gave me my start – both really amazing places.”
Forest Floor also reveals the inspiration of Scottish folk music – another genre historically short on love from the Mercury committee. “Jazz is what I trained in but it’s very hard to ignore where you’ve come from as a musician,” said McCreadie. “I grew up with a pipe band in my town, my parents listened to a lot of folk music – you can’t escape it in Scotland. I love the music so much and it’s nice to bring that out in a different way to how it’s been done before musically.”
The prize has faltered on representation compared with recent years. This year only 33 per cent of the nominees are people of colour against a high of 64 per cent last year. And 2020 remains the yardstick for gender diversity, with 66 per cent female nominees compared with this year’s 58 per cent.
Perhaps least surprising among the male nominees is Sam Fender. The rousing indie rock of his second album, Seventeen Going Under, has galvanised festival crowds and political rallying cries.
London rapper Kojey Radical’s nominated debut album, Reason to Smile, was nearly a decade in the making. It’s an album reminiscent of previous Mercury winner Ms Dynamite’s A Little Deeper, wrote the Observer’s Kadish Morris, both “era-defining works that blend hip-hop with neo-soul and jazz, and storytelling that paints the Black British experience with the finest of brushes”.
Those who believe the Mercury should be the preserve of left-field music – as opposed to its mainstream equivalent, the Brit awards – may clutch their pearls at the presence of Harry Styles for his third album, Harry’s House.
Fender and Styles are joined by Leeds four-piece Yard Act, for their debut album The Overload.
The judging panel – which includes musicians Anna Calvi, Loyle Carner and Jamie Cullum – said in a statement: “Getting down to 12 albums this year was not easy, simply because there were so many remarkable ones to choose from. That serves as proof that British and Irish music thrives during unsettled periods in history, with the albums chosen covering everything from imaginative pop to pioneering rap to Cornish language folk-rock. We feel that these 12 amazing albums each have something to say artistically and socially, all in their own unique, enriching ways.”
The proportion of Independent to big label albums has also dropped: with a ratio of five indies to seven majors this year, compared with eight indies and four majors last year.
This year’s Mercury prize ceremony will be held on September 8th with the winner taking home £25,000 (€29,653). Albums by British or Irish artists released between July 17th, 2021 and July 15th, 2022 were eligible for entry. – Guardian
This year’s Mercury prize nominees
Jessie Buckley and Bernard Butler – For All Our Days That Tear the Heart
Joy Crookes – Skin
Sam Fender – Seventeen Going Under
Gwenno – Tresor
Kojey Radical – Reason to Smile
Little Simz – Sometimes I Might Be Introvert
Fergus McCreadie – Forest Floor
Nova Twins – Supernova
Self Esteem – Prioritise Pleasure
Harry Styles – Harry’s House
Wet Leg – Wet Leg
Yard Act – The Overload
