The Mercury Prize took to their Instagram to announce the news whilst counting down until next week’s event.

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The prize will be rewarded to the winner chosen from the shortlist of 12 nominees and the album which garnered their nomination and inclusion. Along with the winner announcement, the ceremony will also include short films by SAULT and Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders & the LSO which concern their albums. The event’s website provides the following description for the Mercury Prize. “The Hyundai Mercury Prize promotes the best of UK and Irish music and the artists who produce it. This is done through the celebration of the 12 ‘Albums of the Year’, recognising artistic achievement across a range of contemporary music genres. It is the music equivalent to the Booker Prize for literature and the Turner Prize for art. The main objectives of the Prize are to recognise and celebrate artistic achievement, provide a snapshot of the year in music and to help introduce new albums from a range of music genres to a wider audience.”

The celebrated DJ and industry figure will take the stage at London’s Eventim Apollo on 9th September 2021 to hand the prestigious award to the winner of this year’s prize.  The former BBC Radio 1 DJ will be joined by fellow BBC broadcaster Lauren Laverne who will be responsible for hosting this year’s event. Mac has spoken on her involvement within this year’s ceremony and expresses the hard decision to choose a winner from the shortlist full of high calibre albums. “This year’s Hyundai Mercury Prize shortlist highlights how remarkably creative and diverse British music is at the moment. Choosing one overall winner from these 12 outstanding albums will be a tough challenge for the judging team. I’m looking forward to announcing our decision at the Awards Show.”

Mac will also be joining the judging panel; the award’s panel are comprised of top industry experts and professionals as well as last year’s winner Michael Kiwanuka who won the Mercury prize for his third studio album Kiwanuka. Joining the singer-songwriter on the judging panel includes famed musician Jamie Cullum and three-time Mercury prize nominee Anna Calvi. Heading the judging panel is the head of Music at stations 6 Music and Radio 2, Jeff Smith who is also the chair of the judging committee. Also included within the respected list of music professionals is Broadcaster and DJ Danielle Perry, presenter and writer Gemma Cairney, Music consultant Mike Walsh, Lanterns on the Lake band-member Hazel Wilde, editorial director for Vice.com Tshepo Mokoena, creative director for Kerrang! and contributing editor of Mojo Phil Alexander and Will Hodgkinson, known as the top rock and pop critic for The Times.

The judges for this year’s event have provided the following statement concerning their involvement in the process. “It is testament to the strength of British music that, during a year which saw musicians face the toughest challenges of their lives, so many remarkable albums came out nonetheless. There was an embarrassment of riches for this year’s Hyundai Mercury Prize judges to choose from, but the final twelve show how diverse, vibrant and far-reaching British music continues to be. Choosing one winner out of twelve albums that bring so much hope for the future will be a challenge indeed.”

The twelve shortlisted albums for the 2021 Mercury prize include Collapsed in Sunbeams by Alro Parks, DEMOTAPE/VEGA released by BERWYN, For the First Time by Black Country, New Road, Celeste’s album Not Your Muse, Promises by Floating Points, Pharaoh Sanders & The London Symphony Orchestra, Conflict of Interest by Ghetts, Fir Wave released by Hannah Peel, Pink Noise by Laura Mvula, As the Love Continues by Mogwai, SOURCE by Nubya Garcia, Untitled (Rise) released by SAULT and Blue Weekend by Wolf Alice.

Radio coverage will be available via the event’s partner, fans will be able to listen to the ceremony on BBC four and BBC radio 6 music. The featured segments will include live performances from the nominees and will countdown live to the event’s winner. From 9 pm until 10:15 pm BBC Four will feature Hyundai Mercury Prize 2021 Live: Album of the Year and Tom Ravenscroft will host the coverage entitled The Mercury Prize on BBC Radio 6 Music via BBC Radio 6 Music from 8 pm until 12 am. Two days before the event BBC Radio 6 Music will also provide a nostalgic look back at past winners entitled The Mercury Prize: Winners’ Playlist from 4 am until 5 am. BBC Sounds will also include the station’s programme as well as information regarding this year’s shortlist.

The 21-year-old singer won double accolades including the UK Independent Breakthrough award in association with YouTube and Best Independent Album in association with Spotify for Collapsed in Sunbeams, her debut release. The “Black Dog” singer also won at last year’s ceremony; Parks took away the One to Watch award during the 2020 event. The artist is no stranger to accolades and acclaim, during this year’s Brit Awards Park won the Best New Artist award. in 2020 she also won the BBC Introducing Artist of the Year and was shortlisted for the Hottest Record of the Year for “Black Dog”.

Parks had this to say concerning her multiple wins at the 2021 AIM Independent Music Award event. The singer describes her gratitude to her fans and expresses joy for her music’s importance during these recent uncertain times. “I want to say a big big thank you to my fans, to my team, I’m grateful to be growing every day as an independent artist and this period has been so difficult, so chaotic and so confusing, so to be able to bring people light in this time of need has been really special.”

Parks was not the only artist to win two awards at this year’s ceremony, ENNY also won more than one award. The multitalented English artist took home the Best Independent Track award in association with Facebook for her 2020 single “Peng Black Girls” and the One to Watch prize in association with BBC Music Introducing. The 26-year-old singer has also spoken about her double win. “Very very very unexpected, especially how early on everything has started happening, so I’m just really filled with a lot of gratitude. Wanna big up my team and everyone that’s been a part of this journey so far. Thank you!”

Other winners from this year’s event include Jayda G who won International Breakthrough in association with Deezer, Fontaines D.C. who won Best (Difficult) Second Album in association with BBC Radio 6 music for their album A Hero’s Death. The Best Independent Remix in association with Soundcloud was awarded to the Eikka Remix of the Ela Minus track “megapunk“, the Best Independent Video in association with Vevo was prized to Wesley Joseph for 2021 track “Thrilla”, the UK indie label Forever Living Originals won the Best Independent Label award in association with Integral, another UK label Strut Records also won at this year’s event, they won the Best Small Label award in association with Believe. The quintet Working Men’s Club won the Best Creative Packaging award for their release Working Men’s Club, the PPL Award for most played new independent artist was bestowed to singer and producer Lauv, multi-talented artist Ben Böhmer took home the Best Live (Streamed) Act in association with On Air.

The award ceremonies do not just celebrate new talent but also honour influential artists, British producer and rapper Tricky scored the prestigious Pioneer Award in association with Fuga, legendary dub producer Adrian Sherwood was awarded the Innovator Award in association with Amazon Music and the Outstanding Contribution to Music in association with Merlin was taken home by Joan Armatrading CBE, Armatrading is a triple Grammy award nominee and highly acclaimed artist with a career spanning over 50 years. The Indie Champion award in association with MCPS was given to industry favourites Love Record Stores and Bandcamp and lastly, the Diversity Champion prize was given to Paulette Long OBE, an iconic figure within the music industry known for her work within musical education.

Arlo Parks will be returning to an awards stage next month for the Mercury Prize ceremony, Parks is nominated for her debut album Collapsed in Sunbeams. The singer will be performing at this year’s event alongside the ceremony’s other nominees, Parks will perform one of the shortlisted album’s tracks within the ceremony which will be broadcasted on various BBC channels.

The Scottish singer took to her social media channels to post a statement outlining the reasons for the termination of the tour.

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In the statement the ‘Suddenly I See’ singer related her fears to a previous incident involving hearing loss during her 2018 tour whilst thanking her fans for their continued support. Within the statement the singer also announces her unfortunate withdrawal from her US tour dates with Hall and Oats, the rescheduled tour saw the singer recruited to support legendary pop duo. The outfit responsible for such hits as ‘Maneater’ and ‘I Can’t Go for That |(No Can Do)’ will still be hitting this road this summer under the name Daryl Hall + John Oates, joined by with special guests Squeeze.

Tunstall has stated that she previously experienced hearing issues a decade prior, the artist’s left ear incurred high-frequency issues. Tunstall has stated that she then developed tinnitus, a hearing-loss condition, that includes symptoms such as ringing, roaring and humming sounds in the ears. The condition is said to affect 15-20% of people, the issue has also been described as a permanent ailment among people diagnosed.

Earlier in the year, the singer addressed her fears on the threat of hearing loss, the singer attributed her concerns to her underuse of ear protection whilst listening to loud music. The 46-year-old singer provided the following description of her relationship with live music and her subsequent issues with tinnitus. “I’d never been particularly careful about my hearing over the years, especially as a clubber through my 20s and cranking the volume up on bad monitors at my early gigs, The kicker is, I still have the tinnitus, even in a deaf ear, I’ve adapted really well and can still perform and record, but if I could do it all again, I would definitely make sure I was going for regular hearing checks from a young age.”

KT Tunstall first rose to fan with the release of her 2005 single, ‘Black Horse and the Cherry Tree’. The track landed at number 28 within the UK singles charts and was the lead single from the singer’s debut studio album, ‘Eye to the Telescope’ released in 2004, the album was later re-released under Relentless Records in 2005. The track was performed live in 2004 on the popular TV show, ‘Later… with Jools Holland’, the solo performance garnered public attention for the singer and showcased the artist’s original talents. Tunstall was soon winning awards and being nominated for various accolades, such nominations include the 2005 Mercury Prize and the Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance in 2007.

Tunstall has also been nominated for various awards at the Brit award ceremonies, in 2006 the singer was nominated for the categories Best British Live Acts and BRIT Award for Best Breakthrough Act. Tunstall would go on to win multiple Brit Awards in 2006 for two categories, Best British Female Artist and the European Border Breakers Award. The multitalented singer has also worked within the film industry, Tunstall has written soundtracks for a variety of films. She has penned the score and music for such films as ‘The Kid’, the Disney sports biographical drama ‘Million Dollar Arm’ and ‘Tinker Bell and the Legend of the NeverBeast’. Tunstall also wrote two pieces of music for the Blockbuster film ‘Bad Moms’, entitled ‘Band Moms (Suite)‘ and ‘Enough Is Enough (Suite)’.

Exposure to loud music is an issue in which the World Health Organisation wish to address and have provided guidance regarding prevention and care. Such precautions suggested include carefully controlled settings of volume levels on phones and other mobile devices and noise-cancelling headphones. The World Health Organisation has also suggested safety measures for live music such as wearable ear protection.

Awarding the album four stars, in their review, NME stated, “The Tottenham rapper’s comeback is a diverse-sounding, assured success, a muscular record that conveys global ambition, drawing on a dizzying collection of sounds and influences”, and added on to say it “sounds like a record from a rapper with gallons of creative juice in the tank.” 

The rapper’s tour will begin in Manchester on November 23rd.

The Warehouse Project announced headlining acts, including Skepta, as well as Disclosure, Flume, Nina Kraviz and Aphex Twin at the Mayfield Depot for their 2019 shows. The organisers of the show have relocated to a new venue capable of holding a capacity of 10,000. It is said to be up to three times the size of Manchester’s 02 Apollo.

His tour dates for November are listed below:

23/11/19 – Warehouse Project, Manchester
26/11/ – O2 Academy, Birmingham
27/11/ – Jam Park, Dublin
28/11/ – O2 Academy, Glasgow
29/11 – Olympia, London

In 2016, Skepta won the Mercury Prize Award for his fourth album, the critically acclaimed ‘Konnichiwa’, pipping the late David Bowie and Radiohead to the spot. In claiming the £25,000 award, the ‘Greaze Mode’ rapper said, “I’m just so thankful. I’ve been trying to do this music stuff and work it out for so long”. He became the second artist to win the award after Dizzee Rascal’s win back in 2003, with grime artist Kano also nominated for the prize.

He added further by saying he wanted to do, “Something positive, something to help other people feel as happy and as free as me,” and that, “We’re doing a project right now, actually, building a studio in my old estate to help the young kids do music.”

The nominations have been revealed for this years Mercury Prize for Best British Album.

Long considered one of British music’s most prestigious awards, the Mercury Prize – sponsored and presented by Barclaycard – has been awarded annually since 1992 for the best album by a UK artist.

As ever, the nominees list for 2013 is dominated by young, often indie, artists – though one exception lies in the inclusion of David Bowie’s 24^th album, ‘The Next Day’, which was heralded as a sharp return to form for the glam-rock icon.

Nearly half of the nominees are debut efforts, with Nottingham singer-songwriter Jake Bugg’s self-titled debut receiving recognition, along with Birmingham soul musician Laura Mvula’s, ‘Sing to the Moon’, and ‘Silence Yourself’, the first release from all-female post-punk quartet Savages.

Clifton artist Jake Bugg’s saw his debut nominated.

Electronic music has fared especially well this year, with nominations given to James Blake’s sophomore album ‘Overgrown’ (marking his second nomination in as many albums), as well as to ‘Settle’ the debut album by sibling duo Disclosure, electronica artist John Hopkins’ fourth release, ‘Immunity’, and to ‘Home’, the debut effort from drum-and-bass quartet Rudimental.

Hampshire indie-folk songstress Laura Marling’s ‘Once I Was An Eagle’ also made the shortlist, giving an impressive record of three of her four albums receiving nominations. Fellow indie-folkers, Ireland’s Villagers also have reason to celebrate, with both their albums to date now having received nominations.

Laura Marling received her third nomination.

Two of the more established bands on the list also see their second nomination – Oxford indie quintet Foals’ third album, ‘Holy Fire’, and, the most recent release to appear on the shortlist, renowned Sheffield rockers Arctic Monkeys – who won the award with their debut back in 2006 –  with their fifth release, ‘AM’.

The judging panel – consisting of musicians, journalists and other music professionals – selected the nominees from 220 candidates submitted to them.

Although the list is just about varied enough to satisfy most, there are some notable emissions which will divide the crowds – bookies favourite London Grammar failed to make the list despite their favourable odds. Scottish alt-rock giants Biffy Clyro, who cracked the list with their fifth album in 2009, failed to repeat the accolade with their 2013 sixth effort, ‘Opposites’, as did the much anticipated debut, ‘180’ from London indie-rockers Palma Violets. And, as ever, hard rock and metal gets the middle finger from Mercury, with not a trace to be seen, despite several potential candidates – notably ‘13’ the triumphant return from British metal titans Black Sabbath.

The awards ceremony will take place on October 30^th, at the Roundhouse Theatre in London.

Below is the full list of nominees:

• Arctic Monkeys – ‘AM’
• David Bowie – ‘The Next Day’
• Disclosure – ‘Settle’
• Foals – ‘Holy Fire’
• James Blake – ‘Overgrown’
• Jake Bugg – ‘Jake Bugg’
• Jon Hopkins – ‘Immunity’
• Laura Marling – ‘Once I Was An Eagle’
• Laura Mvula – ‘Sing To The Moon’
• Rudimental – ‘Home’
• Savages – ‘Silence Yourself’
• Villagers – ‘{Awayland}’