Hannah Peel and Floating Points & Pharoah Sanders among Mercury Music Prize shortlist nominees

Nominees for the prestigious Mercury Prize, one of the UK’s leading music awards, have been announced for 2021. Its winners are set to be announced today.

Nominees for the Mercury’s main category – ‘Albums of the Year’ – include albums by Arlo Parks, Floating Points & Pharoah Sanders, Berwyn, Ghetts and Nubya Garcia, spanning a diverse cast of genres from jazz, R&B, grime, contemporary classical and electronic. 

The Mercury Prize is known for championing the work of leftfield artists. Other nominees for ‘Albums of the Year’ include SAULT’s mysterious neo-soul follow-up ‘Untitled (Rise)’, Hannah Peel’s prog-electronic debut Fir Wave, and Black Country, New Road’s klezmer-fueled ‘For The First Time’.

The albums shortlist was selected by an extensive judging panel, which includes Radio 1 DJ Annie Mac, musician and broadcaster Jamie Cullum, musician and 2020 Mercury Prize winner Michael Kiwanuka, VICE.com editorial director Tshepo Mokoena, and Lanterns on the Lake’s Hazel Wilde.

Past winners of the Mercury Prize include singer and multi-instrumentalist Michael Kiwanuka (2020), the rapper Dave (2019), and the indie band Wolf Alice (2018).For more information, visit: https://www.mercuryprize.com/