With the Mercury Prize approaching next month, Undertone takes a look at the twelve nominees. Which make for the most complete, artistically masterful album? And, more importantly, which one will be chosen to win?
The Mercury Prize 2024 is coming. Exactly when and how is less certain. The award is approaching its 34th edition and a period of turmoil after Freenow ended a sponsorship deal and organisers were unable to find a replacement in time. As a result, this year will lack the usual televised award ceremony, although there will be a private ceremony and, in the words of the organisers, “other extensive promotional activity”. At the time of writing, a date of the awarding is still to be announced, but it usually happens in September. That promotional activity may prove crucial for many of this year’s artists. The Mercury Prize continues to be the UK and Ireland’s most prestigious prize awarding albums on artistic merit alone, and all but two of the 12 albums shortlisted have failed to sustain more than a week in the UK album charts (the exceptions being The Last Dinner Party’s Prelude to Ecstasy and, of course, Charli xcx’s smash hit BRAT). Make no mistake, winning matters: James Blake saw a 2,500% increase in sales on Amazon when his masterpiece Overgrown – largely ignored on release – took the glass trophy in 2013. A £25,000 pot of prize money further sweetens the deal. Below is an overview of this year’s twelve hopefuls, ordered by my own personal preference, starting with my least favourite. As ever, the shortlist is eclectic in every way, covering artists on both sides of the Irish Sea and including genres from jazz to grime, folk to dance music. Will Charli xcx, pop’s white-hot star of the moment, take her expected victory, or perhaps critically acclaimed experimental albums from Beth Gibbons or Corinne Bailey Rae could woo the judges? Keep an eye out, and the result will be announced at some point over the next few weeks. Probably.
12. early twenties by Cat Burns
What’s it like? Cat Burns saw her career take off in 2022 with go, which went viral on TikTok – the ticket to pop stardom that getting a play on national radio used to be. Two years after the success of that understated pop track comes the ambitious 17-track debut album early twenties, which is about – you guessed it – Burns living through her early twenties. The album’s unadorned title hints at the onslaught of uninspired clichés to be found throughout this patience-testing hour of pop. Often it feels like Burns is just ticking off Gen Z buzzwords in the hopes of relatability. Song titles read people pleaser, low self esteem, know that you’re not alone and the wincingly saccharine live more & love more, a song which as facile as its title suggests. this is what happens‘ chorus is typical of the level of insight into the struggle of being in your early twenties: “This is what happens when you’re anxious / So damn anxious / I’m so anxious / All the time”. Why young people are so anxious, and any concrete ways to deal with the mental health crisis, are beyond early twenties‘ scope. A pop album about this period of life is, on paper, right up my street, but Burns’ stubbornly one-dimensional lyrics make the record hard for me to love. When it comes to turning youthful troubles into music, there are countless of Burns’ contemporaries simply doing it better – start with Olivia Rodrigo, Chappell Roan and of course fellow nominee Charli xcx.
What’s the highlights? Jodie, I will admit, is a very pretty love song, and one instance where Burns’ direct lyrics come across as charming rather than lazy.
Will it win? No. Granted, early twenties has received much more positive reviews than the one I have given, but nonetheless it’s hard to see these relatively safe and unimaginative songs competing with the genuinely boundary-pushing records listed below.
11. When Will We Land? by Barry Can’t Swim
What’s it like? Edinburgh dance music producer Barry Can’t Swim (real name Joshua Mannie) has been steadily making a name for himself since the release of October’s When Will We Land?, plus recent hit single Kimbara, his funkiest and most irresistibly danceable track (sadly not included on this album). When Will We Land? artfully transitions from one mood to the next, starting with the minimalist piano of the title track before gently easing us into every dancefloor banger. Sunsleeper is one such banger, and exemplifies Mannie’s knack for choosing creative, global sources for his samples – this one is pulled from a recording of stirring Galician folk music. There’s also plenty of jazz-leaning offerings, such as the languid Sonder or bluesy How It Feels. It’s all silky smooth and immaculately mixed almost to a fault – When Will We Land? doesn’t feel nearly as daring as fellow dance nominee BRAT, or the work of Mannie’s contemporaries for that matter, such as the hypnotic beats of Floating Points or the rousing melodies of Fred Again.
What’s the highlights? Sunsleeper and Dance of the Crab are the record’s brightest moments of summer bliss, although the former is let down by a characteristically bland keyboard solo. Of the calmer moments, Hot It Feels is the sweetest.
Will it win? It’s very unlikely, particularly when Charli xcx’s BRAT – a dance album that took over the world this summer – is also a contender. A nomination and nothing more is exactly what an album of When Will We Land?’s quality deserves.
10. On Purpose, With Purpose by Ghetts
What’s it like? A newly anointed veteran of the grime scene, a genre about as old as he is, Ghetts his still waiting for his masterpiece, something to be uttered in the same sentences as Stormzy’s Gang Signs & Prayer or indeed Dave’s 2019 Mercury Prize winner Psychodrama. Sprawling 65-minute opus On Purpose, With Purpose is about as close as he’s come. There’s creative beatmaking on display on the Afrobeats-infused Tumbi and indescribably groovy Double Standards, plus thoughtful, eloquent lyrics on racism, inequality and the hypocrisy of today’s elites. Ghetts is a master and harnessing his rage into neat rhymes and intricate beats, never letting his evident passion for his subject matter detract from the groove. That said, for a man so justifiably enraged by the injustices he raps about, there’s a curious lack of cathartic bangers on the 18-strong tracklist, and often his impeccable self-control can feel more like a limitation than an asset. Nonetheless, On Purpose, With Purpose is as thoughtful and meticulous as its album suggests, a deserved choice for 2024’s Mercury Prize-nominated rap album.
What’s the highlight? Double Standards is the biggest hit and highlight, a darkly funky reflection on hypocrisy in today’s discussions on conflict in Gaza and Ukraine among other things and is graced with a typically stunning chorus from Sampha, one of the finest vocalists in today’s pop. Mount Rushmore features headline-grabbing verses from grime giants Kano and Wretch 32 while R&B-tinged Mine is amongst the catchiest of the deep cuts.
Will the win? Unlikely. In the wake of Psychodrama’s win, it will be hard for judges to claim On Purpose, With Purpose matches that records level of exceptional complexity and nuance. There are simply better albums in the list with stronger highlights.
9. Bad With Names by corto.alto
What’s it like? This year’s Mercury Prize jazz offering comes from corto.alto – also known as Liam Shortall – who is the hottest act to come out of Glasgow’s burgeoning jazz scene in years. For a relative newbie to the scene, Bad With Names is remarkably sonically layered, graced with generous helpings of luscious strings and numerous impressive instrumental soloists (Shortall himself is a trombonist). Each song is invariably well-polished and the raw jazz musicianship on display is impressive, although sometime Shortall’s compositions can feel underwritten. Mechanisms, for example, is commendable for its daring shift to full-throttle orchestral metal music, but all the flashy drum fills and dramatic strings can’t hide the fact that whole song is really just a single adequate enough bass riff. Too often, improvised solos are used as a way to eschew the songwriting duties your average rock band would be expected to deliver, and as a result the hooks can feel thin on the ground. Nonetheless, it’s a standout record in what has perhaps been a fallow year for UK jazz in the wake of Ezra Collective’s extraordinary success in 2023.
What’s the highlights? Slope is the undoubted highlight, which pairs a lumpy tuba bassline with an earthy saxophone lead in much the same way that produced so many memorable tracks for corto.alto’s now-disbanded peers Sons of Kemet. Latency also displays some of Shortall’s finest compositional work, crafting a two-part trumpet melody to near perfection.
Will it win? No. Ezra Collective flew the flag for jazz as victors last year, and Bad With Names compares unfavourably with that band’s knack for party-starting anthems, as well as their unique mass appeal for a modern jazz act.
8. Silence Is Loud by Nia Archives
What’s it like? It could be argued that Bradford’s Nia Archives singlehandedly revived the genre of jungle music in the mainstream with April’s hit record Silence Is Loud. Over a fast-paced 35 minutes she succeeds in refashioning her subgenre of dance music – born in late night raves in 90s Britain – for a wider audience, with lyrics about estranged family relationships and the resurfacing of old traumas. Front and centre, though, is not Nia Archives’ words but her propulsive drum beats and relentlessly hooky melodies. It’s a formula for success that starts to feel tired in the record’s closing stages, but it’s certainly a formula that no one else in modern pop is even attempting. For originality alone, Silence Is Loud more than deserves its place on the Mercury Prize list.
What’s the highlights? Unfinished Business has Nia Archives’ most hard-hitting drum groove, a four-to-the-floor kick drum blasting joyously through every chorus, whilst Cards On the Table is a successful melding of summery acoustic guitar pop with a classic jungle beat.
Will it win? It seems too early in Nia Archives’ career for a Mercury Prize win, and whilst Silence Is Loud continues to be popular, it probably won’t go down as a ‘classic’. Don’t write her off future repeat nominations in future editions of the prize, though.
7. Crazymad, For Me by CMAT
What’s it like? It’s been a pivotal year in the career of Irish singer-songwriter CMAT, who spent the summer storming around increasingly large festival stages in an impressive range of sparkly leotards and rhinestoned cowboy boots. Underpinning it all is the bulletproof material of last October’s Crazymad, For Me, an album that refined her endearing mix of comic self-deprecation (track nine is titled I… Hate Who I Am When I’m Horny) and emotive, stadium-filling vocals. Her croon is well-suited to the record’s country undertones, soaring on breezy opener California and roaring on the Proud Mary-style finale of Rent. Lyrically, the pop culture references come thick and fast and can occasionally come at the expense of creative songwriting, like on plodding Vincent Kompany, but for the most part CMAT’s unrestrained zaniness is Crazymad, For Me’s biggest strength.
What’s the highlights? Since its release Stay for Something has become CMAT’s go-to gig closer, and for good reason – it’s a timeless-sounding country rock hit that milks her awe-inspiring vocal ability for all it’s worth. It’s the best song on the album, but don’t miss Have Fun!’s lovably quirky piano riff or the catchy, world-weary chorus on Whatever’s Inconvenient.
Will it win? CMAT has very much been on the ascendancy this year, but there’s a sense that a Mercury Prize may be a step too far. Crazymad, For Me is a good album, but it’s more a vehicle for festival-primed singalongs than it is an artistically well-rounded work of music.
6. This Could Be Texas by English Teacher
What’s it like? Leeds’ English Teacher are the band of the moment when it comes to the slightly snobby world of critically acclaimed indie rock thanks to their debut This Could Be Texas, a record which is steadily amassing a cult following. They’re not quite carving out their own niche – flagship signal The World’s Biggest Paving Slab is mostly just a rehash of what worked so well for Wet Leg a few years ago – but they’re better at this brand of irreverent art rock than most. They’re at their best when delving into intricate overlapping layers of guitars, or in state-of-the-nation poetry: “can a river stop its banks from bursting? / Blame the council, not the rain,” Lily Fontaine sings on Broken Biscuits. There’s plenty of versatility on show too, the razor-sharp punk precision of R&B swiftly followed by the sunny pop of Daffodils, a song which gaily skips along like spring itself. Granted, not all the experiments come off – the autotune on Best Tears of Your Life feels heavy-handed – but This Could Be Texas shows English Teacher to be a band more creative and technically gifted than most, relishing their time in the spotlight.
What’s the highlights? R&B, about the notion that Fontaine ought to be writing R&B songs simply due to the colour of her skin, is English Teacher at their most gloriously chaotic and fiery. Try Nearly Daffodils for a more optimistic mood, or Not Everybody Gets to Go to Space for some witty and thought-provoking commentary of the space exploration quests of Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and the like.
Will it win? Probably not. This Could Be Texas’s highlights are sensational, but the duds – particularly in the record’s last few tracks – should prevent English Teacher from taking the prize.
5. WHO AM I by BERWYN
What’s it like? Trinidad-born London rapper BERWYN’s third album, WHO AM I only just squeaked into the nominations, released a matter of days before the Mercury Prize shortlist was announced. It’s easy to see why the album received the fast-track treatment – WHO AM I is a vivid dissection of what it means to be an immigrant, specifically in a Black immigrant, in a country that, for much of his life, didn’t recognise Berwyn Du Bois’ right to live there. The album crackles with a deep sense of injustice and a tireless call for empathy amidst a faceless immigration system devoid of it. Sharp, foul-mouthed poetry is matched by moving, restless accompaniments. The title track operates with a sinister hip-hop thump, while elsewhere jazzy piano inflections reveal BERWYN’s softer side elsewhere, especially on NEIGHBOURS. There will be plenty other rap albums this year with more impactful hit singles, but staying away from the easy commercial success of a catchy hook about sex and money is WHO AM I’s biggest strength. The result is an album that will fall short of the charts but educate listeners on the brutality reality of moving to London at nine years old. It’s the album we need right now, and a shrewd choice from the Mercury Prize judges.
What’s the highlights? WHO AM I’s best song isn’t really a song at all, but a spoken poem presented in DEAR IMMIGRATION, a letter Du Bois drafted after being stopped by officers as he travelled home from a gig in the Netherlands. It is a piece that matches rage with artistry that powerfully counters the increasing calls for immigration crackdowns in the UK: far from a lazy benefits scrounger, in DEAR IMMIGRATION Du Bois proves himself as, like all immigrants, a human with complex fears, hopes and dreams, not simply a statistic.
Will it win? It’s certainly one of the contenders and received an instant warm reception from critics. Damien Morris of the Guardian went as far as to say that it “should be on the national curriculum”. The Mercury Prize is ostensibly a politics-free organisation, but there’s a chance the recent UK riots may push the judges towards a more politically minded album such as this one.
4. Prelude to Ecstasy by The Last Dinner Party
What’s it like? When the Last Dinner Party’s debut album came out they were easily the most talked-about new band in the country. Their debut single, Nothing Matters, had been an instant hit, and their subsequent rocketing to pop stardom happened so suddenly – a support slot for the Rolling Stones in Hyde Park, a rapid deal with music industry giants Island Records – that many accused them (probably unfairly) of being industry plants, fueled by nepotism. Luckily, the eventual album was so good that it didn’t really matter any more whether they were plants or not – great music is great music. The band are known for their florid Regency-era dress sense, and that ostentatious USP can be heard in the music too, through the orchestral, knowingly over-the-top intro track or the breathtaking operatic vocals on Gjuha, a track that nods to keyboardist Aurora Nishevci’s Albanian heritage. There’s also plenty of the musical creativity that helped the band stand out so clearly in the first place: willfully reckless time signature switches (Caesar on a TV Screen), moments of aggressive hard rock (My Lady of Mercy) paired with soft spoken intimacy (Beautiful Boy). After all the hype over four uniformly excellent singles, Prelude to Ecstasy perhaps inevitably feels more like a compilation of decent songs than a neatly packaged album, but there’s no doubt grander artistic statements await in the years to come for this in form quintet.
What’s the highlights? Nothing Matters is unmissable – deservedly one of the biggest smashes of the year, with its rousing, attention-grabbingly explicit chorus and no-expense-spared finale which features, as all great rock songs must, a screechy guitar solo and a fanfare of trumpets. Elsewhere, thrilling My Lady of Mercy shows TLDP at their gnarliest, whilst Caesar on a TV Screen is most typical of the band’s unique appeal – a few groove switches, a beefy strings section and lyrics like “I’m falling like the leaves on Leningrad”.
Will it win? It’s an outside contender, and the obsessive fans alone are unlikely to see the album across the line, even if some of those obsessives happen to be the critics themselves. Prelude to Ecstasy is a great debut, but The Last Dinner Party have an even better album in them.
3. Black Rainbows by Corinne Bailey Rae
What’s it like? Of all the albums on this year’s Mercury Prize list, Corinne Bailey Rae’s Black Rainbows is by far the hardest to describe. Rae was supposed to be an uncomplicated R&B singer, soundtracking coffee shops and whimsical YouTube vlogs with the easy listening of Put Your Records On and Like a Star – pleasant enough, but hardly something aiming to be amongst the 12 most artistically impressive records of the year. Black Rainbows is many things, but it’s not R&B and it’s certainly not easy listening. Inspired by a visit to an exhibition on Black history at the Stony Island Arts Bank in Chicago, Black Rainbows is a tough listen both lyrically and sonically. Lyrically, it is unflinching in its depiction of racism and, insightfully, the way the trauma of slavery echoes down generations. “They killed you / They hid your broken bones in a public place,” Rae screams in spine-tingling highlight Erasure, whilst at other times she is more cryptic with lines like “We long to arc our arm through history / To unpick every thread”. Sonically, Black Rainbows is even more extraordinary. Erasure and New York Transit Queen are deafening, twisted visions of classic American rock ‘n’ roll while, in a testament to Rae’s extraordinary versatility, Peach Velvet Sky is akin to an operatic solo with a solo piano accompaniment. It ends, naturally, with a descent into psychedelic Alice Coltrane-style Afrofuturist spiritual jazz. Love or hate all Black Rainbows’ unceasing weirdness, it can’t be denied that every lyric, every last note, comes pregnant with meaning. You won’t forget it in a hurry.
What’s the highlights? Aforementioned Erasure is a tour de force – crushingly loud and intense at its beginning, before somehow finding new levels of loudness and intensity at its ending. Peach Velvet Sky is by contrast heavenly in its delicate piano playing and beautiful poetry, whilst He Will Follow You With His Eyes is the record’s most remarkable artistic statement – a soulful pastiche of colourism in the beauty industry, before the song dissolves into something else completely. It must be listened to be believed.
Will it win? Black Rainbows is my tip for this year’s winner, and probably the strongest challenger to BRAT. Rae has spent the months after its release increasing the album’s notoriety by performing a UK and Europe tour entirely devoted to playing the record from front to back without pauses – quite a task given the extreme instrumental changes. The extraordinary artistic reinvention marked by Black Rainbows would be well deserving of a shiny new Mercury Prize trophy.
2. Lives Outgrown by Beth Gibbons
What’s it like? At 59 years old, Beth Gibbons is this year’s oldest nominee by some margin, having already made a name for herself as frontwoman of alternative rock band Portishead. The yearning vocals that helped make that band’s debut album Dummy such a classic are also to be found on Gibbons’ remarkable first solo album, Lives Outgrown, which finally arrived in May, 11 years after it was first announced. It is, even by the high standards of Gibbons’ lauded career, a truly special record. Few releases in 2024 can claim to match the intensity of Lives Outgrown’s soundworld – spaced-out acoustic guitars make way for earthy strings and discordant horns, all over a rich bed of remarkably snare drum-free percussion. Lyrically, it’s just as fascinating, reflecting on ageing, motherhood and, above all, Gibbons’ ruminations on her own mortality. The effect is utterly dismal, but Lives Outgrown can be beautiful too. It’s a testament to Gibbons’ ability to create such a grim-sounding atmosphere in Lives Outgrown that when the beauty does come in the form of wispy flute solos or a plaintive vocal melody, it only feels like another layer to a greater tragedy.
What’s the highlights? Floating On a Moment is one of the best songs of the year, a haunting meditation on mortality with an otherworldly chorus and genius bass riff. The masterstroke is the inclusion of a children’s choir singing “[we’re] all going to nowhere”, lending the track a devastating sense of lost innocence. Oceans is similarly atmospheric and has some of the album’s most spine-tingling strings passages, whilst Whispering Love is an enchanting moment of sun-dappled calm at the album’s close, complete with a serene flute melody and birdsong.
Will it win? It’s a strong contender, although it’s possible that Gibbons having already won the prize with Portishead’s Dummy in 1995 won’t help her case. It certainly has the universal critical acclaim required of a Mercury Prize winner. Pitchfork’s Ben Cardew called Gibbons “a singular talent reborn in surprisingly spiky glory” while the Guardian’s Alexis Petridis summarised it in a five-star review as “occasionally challenging, frequently beautiful and invariably gripping”.
1. BRAT by Charli xcx
What’s it like? Charli xcx’s BRAT is easily the most commercially successful album on the list, but even that is understating this album’s mass appeal – discounting the success-by-default enjoyed by Taylor Swift’s most recent album, BRAT has been arguably the most popular album in the world this summer. It is, indisputably, a classic album, and one that marks the arrival of Charli xcx firmly into the global pop mainstream after years of being considered too musically leftfield to complete with the likes of Dua Lipa and Ed Sheeran in the charts. And yet, BRAT makes no attempt to pander to mainstream tastes, and if anything indulges further into Charli’s penchant for wall-shaking dance concoctions than previous albums. There are pulse-raising hits – 360, Von dutch, Apple – but also thoughtful reflections on her own insecurities and the pitfalls of being admired, and admiring others, too much. The media hype has centred around the hit singles, the viral TikTok dance moves and the imperative to live a ‘brat summer’, but BRAT is equally introspective, artful and innovative. It will be considered one of the decade’s landmark pop albums in years to come.
What’s the highlights? Von dutch is the definition of a pop banger: a good bassline repeated ad nauseum, an eminently singable hook and lyrics like “it’s okay to just admit that you’re jealous of me”. It’s route one pop, and enormous fun. Talk talk, Apple and Mean Girls are just as much fun, B2b is an inspired piece of pure dance music and Girl, so confusing is an arch examination of what it is to be a woman today. And that’s ignoring the hit lead single 360 or its spikier sister track 365. In other words, every song is a highlight.
Will it win? It really ought to. I don’t think it’s a perfect album, but there are plenty of others who do. The internet’s most famous music critic, Anthony Fantano, awarded the album his first perfect 10/10 score for three years. The risk for BRAT fans is that the judges decide to make a point of the prize’s deliberate blindness to commercial success (which the Brit awards take care of). A cautionary tale comes from M People’s victory in 1994, where they triumphed controversially over defining bands of the era like Paul Weller, Blur and Pulp. If BRAT doesn’t win the Mercury Prize, expect the complaints to be instant and vociferous.
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