In all the ceremony’s colourful, nearly 50-year history, there has never been a Brit Awards winner quite like Jacob Alon. Blessed with a gentle, gut-wrenching vocal that reaches out like an intimate missive from the heavens, and able to turn life’s bleakest moments into hauntingly gorgeous, finger-picked folk stories, the Scottish auteur’s name has already been spoken of in the lineage of some of music’s all-time cult greats: the next in line to Nick Drake, or Elliott Smith.
Cult heroes, however, rarely grab the gongs, which is where Alon’s tale takes a turn. Earlier this week, they were announced as 2026’s Brits Critics’ Choice Award recipient, beating chart-bothering balladeer Sienna Spiro and club-ready dance-pop singer Rose Gray. If Alon’s recent Mercury Prize shortlisting for last year’s stunning debut album, In Limerence, felt like worthy recognition from the alternative world, then this is a whole different ball game.
