Awards

Mercury Music Prize shortlist announced

By | Published on Wednesday 22 July 2009

So, for most music fans, yesterday was spent complaining about how their favourite artist had been robbed and that the entire world is unjust and wrong. Yes, the shortlist for this year’s Mercury Prize was announced.

Among the nominees are some of the year’s big sellers, like Florence & The Machine, La Roux and Kasabian, as well as the customary lesser known artists like Speech Debelle, The Invisible and Lisa Hannigan. Patrick Wolf wasn’t in there though, which is a travesty (yeah, we might mock but we like a good moan, too), but we actually like about half of the albums on the list this year, which makes a nice change. Seven of the nominees are signed to independent labels as well, which is also good.

Florence and Kasabian are currently the favourites to win, with William Hill giving them both odds of 5/1. Bat For Lashes, Glasvegas and La Roux follow closely with 6/1.

Chair of the judges, Simon Frith told CMU: “This has been a rich and creative year for British and Irish music. There are seven fine debut albums on the list and five outstanding records from more established acts, all marking out new ground. What most impresses is the imaginative verve with which British and Irish musicians continue to explore musical possibilities, push musical boundaries and refuse to be pinned down by genre”.

Here’s the shortlist in full:

Florence & The Machine – Lungs
Kasabian – West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum
Speech Debelle – Speech Therapy
Friendly Fires – Friendly Fires
La Roux – La Roux
Bat For Lashes – Two Suns
The Horrors – Primary Colours
Glasvegas – Glasvegas
Led Bib – Sensible Shoes
Sweet Billy Pilgrim – Twice Born Men
The Invisible – The Invisible
Lisa Hannigan – Sea Sew

The overall winner will be announced live on BBC 2 on 8 Sep.

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