Despite the British music summertime looking unrecognisable with its lack of festival outings, one constant familiar feature has persisted. It’s that time of year again; the nominees for the Hyundai 2020 Mercury Prize have just been announced.
The 2020 #HyundaiMercuryPrize Shortlist has been revealed! Let’s take a deeper look at the 12 incredible albums that make up a snapshot in music over the past twelve months… pic.twitter.com/2xuP1WtMWG
— Mercury Prize (@MercuryPrize) July 23, 2020
On her BBC Radio 6 Music slot this morning, showhost Lauren Laverne revealed a record-breaking shortlist that for the first time in the award’s 29 year history included more women solo artists than men. Alongside mixed gender groups Sports Team, Porridge Radio and Lanterns on the Lake, five women were nominated for the award. In addition to Scottish composer Anna Meredith and English folk singer Laura Marling, Dua Lipa, Charli XCX and Georgia all hail from the pop sphere, though a pop album has not won the award since M People’s Elegant Slumming in 1994.
Charli was one of several artists to record their reaction from lockdown, saying that “it feels really good to be recognised, especially when there are so many incredible artists making so many bold steps and albums at the moment”. While the nominations have platformed Newcastle indie underdogs Lanterns on the Lake (frontwoman Hazel Wilde works a part-time job at Newcastle University to help fund the project), eyebrows have been raised at the omission of critical darlings Rina Sawayama and FKA twigs. Similarly, Guardian columnist Alexis Petridis lamented that despite Dave’s win last year, UK rap newcomer J Hus hadn’t got a look in so as to make way for genre staples Kano and Stormzy.
“Stop! Whoa!” Here’s @charli_xcx‘s reaction to making the 2020 Hyundai Mercury Prize Shortlist! #HyundaiMercuryPrize pic.twitter.com/aNJe9zEkOW
— Mercury Prize (@MercuryPrize) July 23, 2020
Marling’s Song for Our Daughter – an album addressed to a fictional, future daughter inspired by the concept of Maya Angelou’s book Letter to My Daughter (2009) – is the singer-songwriter’s fourth Mercury nomination, making her the joint second most nominated artist (level with PJ Harvey and the Arctic Monkeys) in the award’s history, just lagging behind Radiohead’s five. Like the Oxford five-piece, none of her previous entries have yet won her the £25,000 prize.
Fellow nominee (and bookies’ favourite) Michael Kiwanuka also matched previous award records, joining Coldplay and Anna Calvi in having all of his first three studio albums nominated. This year’s obligatory jazz nomination (made seemingly into an unwritten tradition in recent years) went to Moses Boyd’s Dark Matter. As of now, the awards ceremony is still set to take place on the 10th of September at London’s Hammersmith Apollo, though organisers will of course have to wait on future government guidance. Read the full list in alphabetical order below:
Moses Boyd – Dark Matter
Charli XCX – how i’m feeling now
Georgia – Seeking Thrills
Kano – Hoodies All Summer
Michael Kiwanuka – KIWANUKA
Lanterns on the Lake – Spook the Herd
Dua Lipa – Future Nostalgia
Laura Marling – Song for Our Daughter
Anna Meredith – FIBS
Porridge Radio – Every Bad
Sports Team – Deep Down Happy
Stormzy – Heavy Is the Head
