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Charli XCX has been shortlisted for the Mercury Prize for the second time, as her latest album Brat continues to dominate 2024 pop discourse.
The full shortlist was announced on Thursday (25 July), unveiling the 12 albums selected by a panel of judges as the best of the past year.
Charli XCX’s sixth album is nominated alongside records by baroque pop band The Last Dinner Party, grime veteran Ghetts, rock band English Teacher and singer-songwriter Cat Burns.
Charli, born Charlotte Aitchison, was previously shortlisted in 2020 for her fourth album, How I’m Feeling Now.
This year’s Mercury Prize matches 2020 as the greatest gender balance in the award’s history, with eight out of 12 shortlisted acts being female or female-fronted.
Several nominees are first-timers, such as fast-rising Scottish electronic music producer Barry Can’t Swim, who released his debut When Will We Land? in October last year.
Producer and DJ Nia Archives is another first-timer thanks to her debut, Silence is Loud, as are Irish pop musician CMAT, Burns, English Teacher, and The Last Dinner Party.
Corinne Bailey Rae received her first Mercury Prize nomination in 14 years, thanks to her critically hailed fourth album, Black Rainbows, which was inspired by an exhibition on Black history that she visited in Chicago.
She was first shortlisted in 2010 for her second album, The Sea.
Beth Gibbons of Portishead fame also received her first solo nomination following her debut, Lives Outgrown, which was written over the course of a decade and tackles themes of motherhood, menopause and mortality. Portishead won the Mercury Prize in 1995 for their groundbreaking trip-hop debut, Dummy.
Rappers Ghetts and Berwyn both appeared on the shortlist in 2021, the former for his third studio album, Conflict of Interest, and the Trinidad-born Berwyn for his mixtape, Demotape/Vega.
Last year’s Mercury Prize went to British jazz quintet Ezra Collective for their second album, Where I’m Meant to Be.
Other recent winners include rapper Little Simz (2022), singer-songwriter Arlo Parks (2021), soul singer Michael Kiwanuka (2020) and rapper Dave (2019).
The full shortlist for the 2024 Mercury Prize is as follows:
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
Since its release on 7 June, Brat has generated one of the defining moods of 2024, capturing an attitude that rejects other TikTok-friendly trends such as “clean girl living” and instead embracing a messier, more hedonistic outlook.
“You’re just like that girl who is a little messy and likes to party and maybe says some dumb things some times,” Charli explained in a clip on TikTok.
“Who feels like herself but maybe also has a breakdown. But kind of like parties through it, is very honest, very blunt. A little bit volatile. Like, does dumb things. But it’s brat. You’re brat. That’s brat.”
The trend has been co-opted by new Democrat nominee Kamala Harris, as she looks to woo the cynical Gen Z vote with memes and TikToks ahead of the US election in November.
Charli endorsed the presidential candidate earlier this week, writing on X/Twitter: “Kamala IS Brat.”
Reviewing for The Independent,critic Helen Brown praised Charli XCX for untangling the contradictions of her “cult classic” status.
“BRAT is a hedonistic, ultraviolet collection of songs whose thumping – slightly disorienting – club beats more than succeed in their aim of ‘capturing a feeling of chaos’,” she wrote.
The Mercury Prize shortlist comes after it was confirmed that the usual live performance element of the annual ceremony had been scrapped in favour of “other extensive promotional activity”.
Shortlisted artists have, in previous years, performed songs from their shortlisted work in front of a live audience at the Hammersmith Apollo in London, ahead of the winner announcement.
The 2024 Mercury Prize judges are: Chair Jeff Smith; writer and broadcaster Danielle Perry; musician and radio presenter Jamie Cullum, 6 Music presenter and DJ Jamz Supernova; Radio 2 and 6 Music’s Head of Music, Jeff Smith; music programming consultant Lea Stonhill; songwriter and broadcaster Mistajam; Kerrang’s creative director Phil Alexander; Radio 1 presenter Sian Eleri; The Times’ critic Will Hodgkinson and music writer Sophie Williams.
The overall winner of the 2024 Mercury Prize will be announced in September.
