Last week Lauren Laverne announced the nominees for the Mercury Prize Best Album of the Year for 2011, the winner of which will be announced on 6th September 2011. Here we take a look at the 12 shortlisted albums.
Adele – 21
Adele has won many music awards since she released her first album 19, including Grammy for Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. Her album 21 is her second studio album released in the UK in January 2011. The album is currently the UK number one album, and has been at the top of the UK charts for over 17 weeks. One of the most notable singles in the album is Rolling In The Deep.
This is the fifth studio album by Elbow and features the Halle Youth Choir. This isn’t their first Mercury Prize nomination. In 2008 they won the Best Album prize for their album The Seldom Seen Kid. The first single they released from their new album is Neat Little Rows.
This is the second nomination for the singer and the first for her self-titled debut album. She has said it explores: “intimacy, passion and loneliness”. One of the most notable singles in the album, Blackout, is a cover of the number 1 song by Elvis Presley “Surrender”.
Everything, Everything – Man Alive
Not bad for a debut album! Besides its Mercury Prize Nomination, Man Alive is also among the Best Album nominees for Ivor Novello Award while the single “MY KZ, UR BF” is nominated for “Best Song Musically and Lyrically”.
Ghostpoet – Peanut Butter Blues & Melancholy Jam
Recently Judy Rogers, one of the Mercury Prize judges, said that Obaro Ejimiwe, aka Ghostpoet, will “get under your skin, taking hip-hop and dubstep in dazzling new directions.” Ghostpoet has also been said to be “UK’s finest prospect”
Gwilym Simcock – Good Days At Schloss Elmau
From the modern hip hop of Ghostpoet we move to the jazz and classical music world of Gwilym Simcock and his latest album. A graduate from the Royal Academy of Music, winning awards is no strange thing for him. This is his first Mercury Prize Nomination.
Yet another self-titled debut album shortlisted for the Best Album Mercury Prize. James Blake was number 9 in the Official UK Albums Top 100 for 5 weeks. He has also made it to the second place on the BBC’s Sound of 2011 list.
The 22 year old singer has said her debut album talks about “nights out, the experiences of being a young woman in London dealing with love and friendship”. Katy On A Mission, the lead single from the album, peaked at number five in the UK Top Singles Chart. This is her first ever nomination.
King Creosote & Jon Hopkins – Diamond Mine
Described as the “romanticised version of Fife” this collaborative project by singer Kenny Anderson and electronic musician Jon Hopkins is said to “simply break your heart”.
Metronomy – The English Riviera
This is the band’s third album and their first nomination. She Wants, the lead single from the album, was released in January this year.
In 2001 PJ Harvey became the first female Mercury winner with her album Stories from the City, Stories for the Sea. She has received two other nominations in the 90s. Her album Let England Shake explores topics like World War I, the conflict in Iraq and future apocalypse. The Words That Maketh Murder is the first single released from her new album.
This is the first album by the English rapper and was released in October 2010. His singles on Disc-Over have had great chart success, including number ones for Pass Out and Written In The Stars. His debut album earned Tinie two BRIT Awards earlier this year, and has gone Double-Platinum.
What do you think of this years shortlist? Who is your favourite? We welcome your reviews and views on who should be this year winner of Best Album Mercury Prize.
More from Review Centre
