Other artists to feature on the list for the prestigious award are Scottish electronic DJ and Producer Barry Can’t Swim, Jungle artist Nia Archives, Portishead’s Beth Gibbons, Corinne Bailey Rae, and grime artist Ghetts. The remaining nominees are Berwyn, Cat Burns, CMAT, Corto.alto, and English Teacher.

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The full list of Albums nominated for this year’s Mercury Prize are:

Barry Can’t Swim – When Will We Land?

Berwyn – Who Am I

Beth Gibbons – Lives Outgrown

Cat Burns – Early Twenties

Charli XCX – Brat

CMAT – Crazymad, For Me

Corinne Bailey Rae – Black Rainbows

Corto.alto – Bad With Names

English Teacher – This Could Be Texas

Ghetts – On Purpose, With Purpose

Nia Archives – Silence Is Loud

The Last Dinner Party – Prelude To Ecstasy

The mercury Prize is undoubtedly a great opportunity for up-and-coming artists. So, it therefore makes sense that the list of nominees this year has been dominated by debuts with 8 of the 12 albums nominated being debuts which is double what it was last year.

One of the debut albums on the list being The Last Dinner Party’s ‘Prelude To Ecstasy’ and this is the biggest selling album so far on the list, however, Charli XCX’ ‘Brat’ has momentum at the moment and is likely to overtake ‘Prelude To Ecstasy’ this week.

Among the eight debut albums that made the list this year is Beth Gibbon’s ‘Lives Outgrown. Although Gibbons has released numerous albums as a member of Portishead this record is her debut as a solo artist. According to Music Week Gibbons said: “Really great surprise to be part of the 12 Mercury albums of the year, something I never expected. Big thanks to all who have supported the album, it means so much.”

Nominees Charli XCX, Corinne Bailey Rae and Ghetts have all been nominated for the Mercury Prize before but none of them have won the award.

The list of nominees, as well as the winner, has been chosen by an independent Judging panel and has been taken from a wide range of genres. Albums released by British and Irish artists between July 15, 2023, and July 12, 2024, were eligible for the award.

Earlier in the week it was revealed that the traditional award ceremony with live performances has been dropped this year. More details of what this entails are set to be revealed closer to when the winner is announced but Dr Jo Twist OBE, CEO of the BPI, home to the Mercury Prize, said: “For the 2024 Mercury Prize we will work imaginatively with the BBC to deliver a premium programme of music content and digital engagement that will, as ever, benefit all 12 artists in reaching a wider audience, providing an important platform for their evolving career and musical journey.”

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Berwyn won’t only be at the awards show as a performer having being nominated for his mixtape DEMOTAPE/VEGA. The first artist to ever be nominated for a mixtape alone.

Berwyn is a Trinidadian migrant who has lived in the UK since he was 9 years old but does not yet have a British passport, which previously would have made him ineligible for the award. The rules were changed after Japanese-Britsh pop star Rina Sawayama revealed last year she was ineligible for a Mercury and Brits award nomination despite having lived in the UK for 26 years.

An online campaign transpired in support of her with the hashtag #SAWAYAMAISBRITISH , which ignited a conversation around Britishness and what makes somebody British. Sawayama met with the BPI following this and the rules were changed.

The change in rules meant that artists will have to meet one of the three following criteria in order to be eligible: they were born in the UK, they are a UK passport holder (this includes those that hold more than one passport), or they have been permanently resident in the UK for more than five years.

These rule changes have allowed Berwyn to be nominated for his debut mixtape, a victory that will be appreciated by the artist who in his most recent project spoke about how his citizenship had affected his ability to put out music and nearly led him to give up.

Berwyn’s performance will be on BBC iPlayer and BBC 4 on Thursday 9th September at 9 pm.

Berwyn’s Mercury prize-nominated mixtape is available to listen to here:

The shortlist has been shared on social media and includes five debuts: Arlo Parks, Celeste, Black Country, Nubya Garcia and Berwyn.

The 2021 Hyundai Mercury Prize Shortlist has been announced!

Congratulations to:@arloparks@berwynberwyn_@BCNRband@celeste@floatingpoints@THEREALGHETTS@Hanpeel@lauramvula@mogwaiband@nubya_garcia@SaultGlobal@wolfalicemusic #HyundaiMercuryPrize pic.twitter.com/Z728zcSuXR

— Mercury Prize (@MercuryPrize) July 22, 2021

The list also includes Wolf Alice, who won the prestigious award back in 2018 for “Visions of A Life” and acknowledgement for their debut album “My Love Is Cool” in 2015. Mvula was nominated twice before, in 2013 for “Sing To The Moon” and in 2016 for “The Dreaming Room“.

Arctic Monkeys, PJ Harvey and Laura Marling are the only ones with three nods each, and Harvey is the only artist with two wins.

“The Mercury Prize is known for championing a wide range of musical genres, with Primal Scream winning the first award in 1992 and artists including Ms Dynamite, Pulp, Dave, Roni Size, Skepta, Elbow, Franz Ferdinand, Arctic Monkeys and The XX among the acts who went on to claim the prize“. 

The records will be judged by a panel of music critics and industry professionals. This year it will be three-time nominee Anna Calvi, Dj and radio presenter Annie Mac, Musician Jamie Cullum and last year winner Michael Kiwanuka.

The 2021 eligibility period for best album ran from 18th July 2020 to 16th July 2021. David Wilkinson, A mercury Price chairman said that even though last year has been challenging, “creatively, this is shaping up to be an exceptional year for British music – with so many outstanding albums“.

The gala will take place on 9th September at the Hammersmith Apollo in London. More info about it can be found on the official website.

See the shortlist for Hyundai Mercury Prize 2021:
Arlo Parks: “Collapsed in Sunbeams”
Berwyn: “Demotape/Vega”
Black Country, New Road: “For the First Time…”
Celeste: “Not Your Muse”
Floating Points / Pharoah Sanders / The London Symphony Orchestra: “Promises”
Ghetts: “Conflict of Interest”
Hannah Peel: “Fir Wave”
Laura Mvula: “Pink Noise”
Mogwai: “As the Love Continues”
Nubya Garcia: “Source”
Sault: “Untitled (Rise)”
Wolf Alice: “Blue Weekend”

Photo Credit: Raymond Flotat

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Berwyn is a Trinidadian born singer/songwriter who grew up in Essex, moving to Romford when he was 9 years old.

Following his move to England Berwyn credits his music teacher for seeing the talent within him, in an interview with The Face magazine the 24-year-old said “I wasn’t so sure about my talent. But she noticed things like my tone of voice, my ear for music – those kinds of things.”

His breakthrough song ‘Glory’ released in 2020 and saw him feature on Jools Holland ‘Live at home for later’ where the artist made a real impact performing the track in his kitchen with an added verse speaking on the racism within England at the height of that summers black lives matter protests following the murder of Geroge Floyd at the hands of the American police.

Berwyn has already released four of the eleven tracks that will feature on his upcoming tape, those being; ‘Rubber bands’, ‘Vinyl’, ‘100,000,000’ and ‘i’d rather die than be deported’. Amassing over 500 thousand views on these four releases, 300 thousand coming from his own youtube channel with ‘I’d rather die than be deported’ being released on the home of UK music GRM daily.

In his post announcing the tracklist of his upcoming project, Berwyn also shared the exciting news that the project will be released on vinyl in August.

Berwyn is also set for a national tour at the end of the year, having announced seven dates across the country.

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Berwyn’s latest effort will be released on the 18th of June.

CD and Vinyl pre-orders are available here.

BBC Wales is delighted to support Gŵyl 2021!

A free, online festival packed with music, comedy and conversation from Wales and the world.

March 6 & 7, 2021@FOVCardiff @FocusWales @OtherVoicesLive @AberComedyFest
Visit https://t.co/KGcxoJVvHm for more info. pic.twitter.com/M5UuDsZy3T

— BBC Wales (@BBCWales) February 10, 2021

BBC Cymru Wales’ Director General Rhodri Talfan Davies told Wales Online that the festival would provide the public with a welcome escape from the mundanities of lockdown . He said “BBC Wales is delighted to be working with Gŵyl 2021. We all need a blast of creativity, comedy and music right now and this unprecedented partnership with four brilliant Welsh festivals promises to be a real gem.”

Arlo Parks‘ performance at the festival comes on the back of a flurry of glowing commercial and critical successes over the last few months. The Londoner – who was awarded the BBC’s prestigious Introducing Artist of the Year prize for 2020 – saw her debut album Collapse in Sunbeams reach number 3 in the Official UK Albums Chart last month. Reviews for the LP were near-universally positive, with NME hailing the record as “a universal collection of stories that’ll provide solace for listeners of all ages and backgrounds for decades to come.”

As was the case for so many artists, Cate Le Bon was forced to sit through a frustrating succession of postponed live dates in 2020 – including a mammoth North American tour with former War On Drugs guitarist Kurt Vile. The Carmarthenshire-born indie-folk musician is expected to treat Gŵyl’s virtual festival-goers to some of the highlights of her five-album back catalogue; included her most recent offering, 2019’s acclaimed Reward. The singer-songwriter – who collaborated beautifully with compatriots Manic Street Preachers on their 2013 track 4 Lonely Roads – will line-up at Gŵyl alongside another of Welsh rock’s big hitters in Gruff Rhys. The musical partnership dates back to 2008, when Le Bon featured on Neon Neon’s single I Lust For You.

Other names on the eclectic Gŵyl roster include Suede and The Tears frontman Brett Anderson (appearing alongside conductor Charles Hazlewood and the Bristol-based Paraorchestra); 2019 Welsh Music Prize winners Adwaith; Romford-raised BBC Sound of 2021 nominee Berwyn; up-and-coming Neath rapper Luke RV; Wrexham indie-rockers Kidsmoke; harpist Catrin Finch; Cardiff hip-hop merchant Reuel Elijah; and Welsh Language Album of the Year winner Ani Glass. Glass’ 2020 debut LP Mirores – which features vocals in Welsh, English and Cornish – was praised by the Wales Arts Review as “a transcendental work of Welsh electronic music that showcases both mass appeal and artistic integrity.”

The BBC #SoundOf2021 longlist is here!

Get to know the artists tipped for big things next year ⬇️@alfietempleman@berwynberwyn_@breerunway@dutchavelli1@_girlinred_@greentea_peng@wiffygriffy@HolHumberstone@TheLathums@KING_SALIEU

Find out more: https://t.co/9xxxAGfdJV pic.twitter.com/WhDS6BDpaz

— BBC Radio 1 (@BBCR1) December 7, 2020

Since the inception of the ‘Sound of…’ prize back in 2003, the BBC’s adjudicating panellists have honed a soothsaying knack for uncovering future stars. Previous winners of the award include 50 Cent (2003); Keane (2004); Adele (2008); Jessie J (2011); and Haim (2013). All is not lost for the long-listed artists who fail to scoop the top prize though: previous ‘unsuccessful’ nominated acts include Dizzee Rascal (2003); Scissor Sisters (2004); Lady Gaga (2009); Marina and the Diamonds (2010); Azealia Banks (2012); Chvrches (2013); George Ezra (2014); Stormzy (2015); Dua Lipa (2016); and Billie Eilish (2018).

The Sound of 2020 award winner was Celeste, who has gone on to secure further gongs this year at the Brits, BET and NME awards. The Saltdean-raised vocalist saw off stiff competition from the likes of Yungblud and Arlo Parks to claim the prize last year; telling BBC News she was “thrilled and so excited” with the win.

The full list of acts long-listed for the Sound of 2021, which will be awarded in a ceremony on January 7th, is as follows:

Alfie Templeman. Multi-instrumentalist Alfie Templeman’s fourth EP, Happiness In Liquid Form, reached number 22 in the UK Indie charts earlier this year. The Bedfordshire product, who only turns 18 in January, has been praised by DIY for his “boundless enthusiasm” which “bursts out in indie songs equally informed by R&B and bedroom pop.”

Berwyn. Trinidad-born, Romford-raised singer and rapper Berwyn Du Bois also features on Amazon Music’s One To Watch list for 2021. His debut mixtape Demotape/Vega was hailed by Pilerats as a “potent, defining record” and “a message on how even the ones with the world pitted against them can succeed.”

Bree Runway. Hackney’s Bree Runway has been described by NME as “a versatile pop star-in-waiting“, with her November mixtape 2000and4Eva acclaimed by Clash as “a bold, dynamic and cohesive body of work“. The genre-bending artist, who has also been nominated for the Video of The Year award at this week’s MOBOs for her track Apeshit, has also spoken out powerfully on the issue of colourism.

Dutchavelli. Dutchavelli’s debut mixtape Dutch from the 5th stormed to number 8 in the UK Albums chart last month. The Birmingham-born rapper also scored two top 40 singles as a lead artist (Bando Diaries and Cool With Me, featuring fellow West Midlander M1llionz); while he and Stormzy also popped up on Tion Wayne’s top ten hit I Dunno in May.

Girl In Red. Norwegian indie pop merchant Girl In Red – also known as Marie Ulven – has been described by the New York Times as “one of the most astute and exciting singer-songwriters working in the world of guitar music, with a laser like melodic instinct that verges on the primal and lyrics that capture the sweat of real life.” The Scandinavian songstress recently scored a hit in the UK indie charts with her single Two Queens in a King Sized Bed.

Greentea Peng. South Londoner Greentea Peng – who featured on The Streets’ summer single I Wish You Loved You As Much As You Love Him – was celebrated in Wonderland magazine earlier this year for “preaching honesty, self-confidence, and hope in the future.” The singer – real name Aria Wells – recently announced a European tour which kicks off in Berlin next April.

Griff. Hertfordshire artist Sarah Griffiths (Griff) was nominated for an Ivor Novello Rising Star Award in July. The vocalist, whose 2019 debut single Mirror Talk was described by Vice as “vulnerable, emotional, sincere and empowering“, is set to gain a new audience with her single Love Is A Compass, which is used on Disney’s 2020 Christmas advert.

Holly Humberstone. Lincolnshire singer Holly Humberstone’s quietly intense, otherworldly vocals evoke the stylings of Lorde, Phoebe Brid and Lana Del Rey. Her 2020 debut EP Falling Asleep At The Wheel was praised by NME for its “staggering emotional clarity and gut-wrenching tales of pain and catharsis.”

Pa Salieu. Gambian-British rapper Pa Salieu’s debut mixtape Send Them to Coventry was described by Pitchfork as an “extraordinarily assured first offering from a young artist capable of surprising at every turn“, and an “invitation to a place and people unduly ignored.” Salieu’s unique fusion of West Midlands grime and African influences have seen him labelled a “compelling new voice” on the British music scene.

The Lathums. Wiganers The Lathums cite the rock and pop of the 50s and 60s as key musical influences, and fiercely resist being pigeon-holed as an indie band. In an interview with Far Out in October, frontman Alex Moore said “I just feel like we’re so different to everybody and we’re not like anybody else…We are a band and a guitar band but I don’t think there’s been anything like us.” Their EP compilation Memories We Make reached the top 20 in the UK Albums Chart this year, and the Lancashire outfit’s livestreamed gig at Blackpool Tower Circus this year saw them become the first act to play at the iconic venue since Madness in the 1990s.