UKNY for September 5: 2021 Mercury Prize
Mercury Prize 2021 shortlisted albums (collage by Laura Fedele for WFUV)
The Mercury Prize is one of the most prestigious awards to be handed to artists and albums in Britain and Ireland, and like the Ivor Novello and the Brits, the Mercurys can alter a musician or band's trajectory, elevating emerging careers. This year's Mercury shortlist might be one of toughest to call, given the breadth and diversity of the selections, touching on multiple genres, from grime (Ghetts) to jazz with cumbia flourishes (Nubya Garcia) to post-punk jazz-klezmer hybrids (Black Country, New Road).
On tonight's "UKNY" at 11 p.m., a preview of all twelve artists and albums nominated ahead of the Mercury Prize ceremony (and concert) which takes place this Thursday, September 9, at London's Eventim Apollo — with an audience this year, unlike last year's lockdown-limited event, won by the thrice-nominated Michael Kiwanuka for KIWANUKA.
There are 10 first-time nominees this year and two artists nominated three times — Laura Mvula and Wolf Alice. Wolf Alice won the Mercury Prize in 2018 for their second album, Visions of a Life, and if they win this year, they will match PJ Harvey as the only two-time winners in Mercury history.
Northern Ireland's Hannah Peel, nominated for Fir Wave, is the only Irish nominee — there are no nominees this year from Ireland — and Trinidad-born, London-raised rapper Berwyn is the first non-citizen nominee to benefit from the Mercury Prize's new residency rules.
London's mostly anonymous collective SAULT are nominated, as are Scottish veterans Mogwai, for their 10th album. Newcomer Arlo Parks, not yet born when Mogwai released their first album in 1997, is another first-time nominee for her languid debut album, Collapsed in Sunbeams. BBC Sound of 2020 winner Celeste is on the shortlist with her debut too, as is the collaboration between Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders and the London Symphony Orchestra, a nine-movement work called Promises.
It's a Mercury Prize night on "UKNY," Sundays 11p.m.-midnight, streaming online and available in the Weekend Archives after broadcast.
Songs played:
1. SAULT, “Son Shine,” Untitled (Rise)
2. Arlo Parks, “Green Eyes,” Collapsed in Sunbeams
3. Mogwai, “Here We, Here We, Here We Go Forever,” As the Love Continues
4. Celeste, “Love is Back,” Not Your Muse
5. Ghetts feat. Moonchild Sanelly and Jaykae, “Mozambique (radio edit),” Conflict of Interest
6. Black Country, New Road, “Track X,” For the First Time
7. Nubya Garcia, “The Message Continues,” Source
8. Wolf Alice, “No Hard Feelings,” Blue Weekend
9. Laura Mvula, “Magical,” Pink Noise
10. Hannah Peel, “Emergence in Nature,” Fir Wave
11. Berwyn, “Glory,” Demotape/Vega
12. Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders and the London Symphony Orchestra, “Movement 4” and “Movement 5,” Promises
