The Mercury Prize shortlist of the albums of the year for 2024 has been unveiled with a strong showing for new UK talent.
Alongside established stars such as Charli XCX, Corinne Bailey Rae and Ghetts, the list is dominated by debut album releases including the chart-topping Prelude To Ecstasy by The Last Dinner Party.
It’s all change for this year’s prize as, after more than three decades, there will be no public ceremony or live performances. Music Week broke the news earlier this week with organisers the BPI confirming that it will move to a broadcast-focused format in partnership with BBC Music.
There is also no sponsor announcement for the Mercury Prize as yet. The winner will receive £25,000.
While the effectiveness of the prize as a platform for albums and artists has become more challenged in the streaming era, the Mercury is undoubtedly a key opportunity for emerging and breakthrough talent. So it makes sense for it to run with eight debuts on its list of 12 albums this year – double the proportion in 2023.
The 12 Mercury Prize ‘Albums Of The Year’ are listed below:
Barry Can't Swim – When Will We Land? (Ninja Tune)
Berwyn – Who Am I (Columbia)
Beth Gibbons – Lives Outgrown (Domino)
Cat Burns – Early Twenties (RCA/Since ’93)
Charli XCX – Brat (Atlantic)
CMAT – Crazymad, For Me (AWAL)
Corinne Bailey Rae – Black Rainbows (Thirty Tigers)
Corto.alto – Bad With Names (New Soil/Marathon Artists)
English Teacher – This Could Be Texas (Island)
Ghetts – On Purpose, With Purpose (Warner Records)
Nia Archives – Silence Is Loud (Island)
The Last Dinner Party – Prelude To Ecstasy (Island)
It’s a great result for Island Records, following their victory in the A&R category at the Music Week Awards. The label has three albums in the running: The Last Dinner Party’s Prelude To Ecstasy (No.1 peak, 72,596 sales to date, Official Charts Company), Nia Archives’ Silence Is Loud (No.16, 9,870 sales) and the excellent English Teacher LP This Could Be Texas (No.8, 12,960 sales).
In the history of the Mercury Prize, Island have won four times (PJ Harvey twice, Talvin Singh and Pulp) and have had 27 albums featured.
Island President Louis Bloom said: “The Mercury Prize has always meant a huge amount to us at Island. We have enjoyed fantastic success at the Mercurys over the years and to have three such unique, brilliant and genre-defining acts included in this year’s list is a true testament to both the artists and managers, and also to the incredible team at Island. It is a real honour to have The Last Dinner Party, Nia Archives and English Teacher receive this recognition for the incredible music they make and inspires us to keep signing and developing special artists. Shout out to all the other artists on the list. The Mercury Prize is one of the highlights of the year. ”
The Mercury Prize is one of the highlights of the year
Louis Bloom
The Last Dinner Party’s album is the biggest seller so far on the list, although the streaming momentum of Charli XCX’s Brat – perhaps the album of the summer – means the Atlantic artist will overtake them this week. Brat, which even had an endorsement of sorts from US presidential candidate Kamala Harris in the past week, peaked at No.2 and has 71,738 sales to date.
The artists with debut albums on the list are Barry Can’t Swim, Berwyn, Cat Burns, jazz act Corto.alto, English Teacher, Nia Archives and The Last Dinner Party. Beth Gibbons’ album is technically her debut as a solo artist, although she has previously won the Mercury Prize as a member of Portishead in 1995.
“Really great surprise to be part of the 12 Mercury albums of the year, something I never expected," said Beth Gibbons. "Big thanks to all who have supported the album, it means so much.”
Charli XCX, Corinne Bailey Rae and Ghetts have each been shortlisted once before for the Mercury Prize, but none of them has won it.
Music Week cover stars Ezra Collective triumphed in 2023.
BBC Music will continue their long-standing broadcast partnership, which sees programming on BBC Four and 6 Music, celebrating all 12 albums. The finalists were announced live on 6 Music today.
The 12 albums are chosen by an independent judging panel and recognise artistic achievement across a range of genres. Albums by British and Irish artists with a UK release date between July 15, 2023 and July 12, 2024 were eligible for the 2024 Prize.
The overall winner of the 2024 Mercury Prize will be revealed in September with the Prize’s broadcast partner BBC Music providing TV and radio coverage, as well as online and social media support. As revealed earlier this week, promotional activity will replace the usual live performance event element of the Mercury Prize with details to be announced closer to the time.
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