Edinburgh band Young Fathers have been nominated for the Mercury Music Prize for their 2023 album Heavy Heavy, nine years after they won the same award for their acclaimed debut Dead.
One of the standout acts at this year’s Glastonbury Festival and viewed by many as one of the best live bands in the UK, the trio of Alloysious Massaquoi, Kayus Bankole and Graham Hastings are pitched against Arctic Monkeys, J Hus, Fred Again, Jesse Ware and Loyle Carner for British music’s most prestigious award.
Also included on the 12-strong shortlist are London nu-jazz luminaries Ezra Collective, contemporary Irish folk band Lankum, singers Olivia Dean and RAYE, and DJ/rapper Shygirl. Completing the list are leftfield indie-pop duo Jockstrap, nominated for debut album I Love You Jennifer B which contains a track titled Glasgow.
The early favourites to take the prize are last month’s Glastonbury headliners Arctic Monkeys. This is their fifth nomination, for their seventh album The Car, a feat matched only by Radiohead though famously the Oxford band have never actually won the award. Arctic Monkeys won for their 2006 debut Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not.
READ MORE: YOUNG FATHERS TALK FRIENDSHIP, HIP-HOP AND CIVIL WAR
Should Young Fathers win, however, they will match PJ Harvey’s feat of winning twice a decade apart.
Young Fathers are also one of the headline acts at this year’s Connect Festival, taking place at Ingliston near Edinburgh on August 25. Also on the bill are fellow nominees RAYE, Fred Again and Loyle Carner. Following that the trio embarks on a two-month tour of the US and Canada.
Among the panel of artists and industry experts choosing the shortlist are musicians Jamie Cullum and Anna Calvi (a three-time nominee herself), and composer and broadcaster Hannah Peel, fellow broadcasters Jamz Supernova and Mistajam, and head of BBC Radio 6 Music Jeff Smith.
The nomination list in full:
Arctic Monkeys: The Car
Ezra Collective: Where I'm Meant to Be
Fred Again: Actual Life 3 (January 1 - September 9 2022)
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
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