Arctic Monkeys have claimed their fifth nomination for the Mercury prize for seventh album The Car, making them the joint most-nominated artists in the award’s history alongside Radiohead. While Thom Yorke and co have never won, the Sheffield band previously took home the gong for their debut album, Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not, in 2006.
This year’s shortlist features second-time Mercury nominations for four acts. J Hus is recognised for his third album, Beautiful and Brutal Yard – released on 14 July, the cutoff for this year’s submissions – following a nomination for his debut in 2017. Loyle Carner is up for his third album, Hugo, following recognition for his 2017 debut, and Young Fathers follow their 2014 win for debut Dead with a nod for Heavy Heavy. Jessie Ware receives her second nod, and first in 11 years, for her fifth record, That! Feels Good! “It means a lot,” said Ware. “It’s a prestigious award and recognition and I think I feel far more ready to receive it 11 years on. Being up for my debut was kind of amazing and overwhelming – I appreciated it then but I think I will really relish the moment this time.”
That! Feels Good! is a plush disco record with brass from London Afrobeats band Kokoroko, which the Guardian awarded five stars in April. “What it represents to me is empowerment, confidence, my development as an artist,” said Ware. “It’s me really finding my base in music, the artist that I didn’t even know I was aspiring to be, like I’ve found my feet fully. This album means everything because I feel so ingrained within every aspect of it.”
There are first-time nominations for returning artists: the jazz ensemble Ezra Collective with Where I’m Meant to Be, producer Fred Again with Actual Life 3 and Irish folk group Lankum with False Lankum – the Mercury’s infamous “token” folk nomination. The band’s Ian Lynch told the Guardian that they were “taking it all with a pinch of salt” but admitted he didn’t know much about the awards. “You don’t really see more left of field acts represented so I think any move towards opening up these kinds of events is going to be a positive,” he said.
Asked which of the group’s folk peers he would have liked to see nominated, Lynch said: “I’m resigned to the fact that any music I’m into isn’t going to be recognised by events like this. It’s outside of my cultural blinkers. I’m not even convinced that I wanted the Mercury awards to open up to the kinds of music I’m into. Music that operates outside of these mainstream musical worlds, it does it for a reason.”
Lynch said the success of False Lankum – which will see the band play the 1,800-capacity London Roundhouse in December – had been surprising. “It’s the most experimental album we’ve made and maybe not the most accessible, and it’s ironically been our most popular album so far.”
Four artists make their Mercury debut: avant garde duo Jockstrap with I Love You Jennifer B (although band member Georgia Ellery was recognised in 2021 for her work with Black Country, New Road), soulful singer Olivia Dean with Messy, producer Shygirl for Nymph and – perhaps the nomination that brings with it the most vindication – Raye for My 21st Century Blues.
Raye was released from her deal with Polydor in 2021 after she protested that the label had been preventing her from releasing a debut album, despite racking up a number of mainstream hits as a guest vocalist and solo artist. She finally self-released her debut in February, scoring a No 2 album and a No 1 single with Escapism (featuring 070 Shake).
Raye called her nomination “really special. I’ve been very vocal about the fact that I want to be an albums artist so to be recognised for my album, not just one song, is just nuts. It’s a lot of validation.”
She described the two years since she left Polydor as “really empowering. I’ve loved being independent. I thought I worked hard before, but the work rate is definitely serious, there are a lot of details and a ridiculous amount of work that goes into being an independent artist. But it is brilliant – for all the things that are a little bit harder, it makes up for it in having complete creative control, being able to decide what I think is best for myself as an artist without having to run it by no one.”
Raye and Ware experienced critical validation after taking control over their careers. What labels should take from that, said Ware, is to “allow female pop artists – or any pop artists – to have the space and time to grow and develop, and trust them. I think it’s easy for a woman to want to appease and I think I did that for a long part of my career. But I A&Rd the last two records, and apart from my debut, they’ve been my most critically acclaimed. Props to the label [EMI] for allowing me the space, but I think labels need to trust that we know what we’re doing.”
Raye echoed Ware: “It’s important to let artists lead and also to not put pressure on artists. We’re in a really different climate where music can’t be force-fed to people – it has to be natural, organic. And there’s no way to predict that, so then the priority should be the quality of the music, not creating music to sell but for the love of art.”
This year’s nominees are 50% male, 17% mixed gender acts and 33% female; 58% by artists of colour and 42% by white acts. The Mercury prize is open to British and Irish artists who released albums between 16 July 2022 and 14 July 2023.
A number of artists are notably absent from this year’s nominations – although artists and labels must choose to submit themselves for consideration. PJ Harvey is the only two-time Mercury winner in the prize’s 31-year history, yet her new album, I Inside the Old Year Dying, didn’t receive a nod.
Major pop acts such as Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith, Gorillaz, Tom Grennan, Arlo Parks, Lewis Capaldi and the 1975 were snubbed, as was Rina Sawayama, the British-Japanese pop star who successfully campaigned for foreign-born artists with UK passports or five years’ permanent residence in the UK to be recognised by the Mercury prize and the Brits, both run by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).
The rappers Potter Payper, Nines and Little Simz might wonder where their nominations are, as well as the returning Everything But the Girl, producers Overmono and James Holden, indie staples Noel Gallagher and Suede, former winner Anohni, the vanguard of British and Irish indie in Gilla Band, Dry Cleaning and Oliver Sim; as well as Dave Okumu & the 7 Generations for the opus I Came from Love, Gabriels’ acclaimed Angels & Queens and Sault, who had five eligible albums, all released on 1 November 2022, and were previously nominated in 2021.
As ever, there is no showing for metal. As well as the “token” folk nomination for Lankum, Ezra Collective receive the traditional lone “token” jazz nod.
This year’s Mercury prize judges are Kerrang! creative director Phil Alexander, musicians Anna Calvi and Jamie Cullum, broadcaster Sian Eleri, journalist Will Hodgkinson, broadcaster Mistajam, journalist Tshepo Mokoena, musician Hannah Peel, broadcaster Danielle Perry, BBC 6 Music and Radio 2 head of music Jeff Smith, music programming consultant Lea Stonhill and broadcaster and DJ Jamz Supernova.
This year’s Mercury prize ceremony will be held at the Eventim Apollo in Hammersmith, London, on 7 September.
2023 Mercury prize nominations
Arctic Monkeys – The Car
Ezra Collective – Where I’m Meant to Be
Fred Again – Actual Life 3
J Hus – Beautiful and Brutal Yard
Jessie Ware – That! Feels Good!
Jockstrap – I Love You Jennifer B
Lankum – False Lankum
Loyle Carner – Hugo
Olivia Dean – Messy
Raye – My 21st Century Blues
Shygirl – Nymph
Young Fathers – Heavy Heavy
