FEATURE:
The Digital Mixtape
PHOTO CREDIT: Diana Onfilm/Pexels
Songs from the Twenty Best Mercury Prize-Nominated Albums
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TOWARDS the end of the month…
IN THIS PHOTO: Ezra Collective with their 2023 Mercury Prize/PHOTO CREDIT: Jeff Spicer/Getty Images
we will find out which twelve albums have been shortlisted for this year’s Mercury Prize. Taking in the best from British and Irish artists, we are sure to see a mix of established talent and some newer acts. A mixture of genres. Last month, I predicted artists and albums that I feel will be in the shortlist. I hope that we see music from Scotland and Ireland in addition to England and Wales. Whereas the vast majority of Mercury Prize winners the past decade are either from or based in London, I wonder if that will change. I have predicted Nadine Shah’s Filthy Underneath will win. She is from the North East, though she now lives in London. Maybe we will see a new trend of the prize going outside of the capital. Even though I have compiled a playlist of shortlisted albums from the past, I am going to narrow it down for this playlist. Rather than it being quite sprawling and all-encompassing, I have narrowed down to the absolute best twenty shortlisted albums ever. Taking a song from each. It is a hard task consider the Mercury Prize has run for over thirty years now. I think, as with every year, we will see some surprises on the shortlist. Maybe a winner that you did not predict. In any case, ahead of us discovering which twelve albums will be shortlisted for the Mercury Prize 2024, I am going back and thinking about past shortlisted albums – rather than the ones that won the prize. Below is my selection of songs from the best twenty shortlisted albums. It will be fascinating to see which incredible albums from British and Irish artists…
MAKES the dozen.