Charli xcx has crowned the so-called summer of Brat – the name of her sixth album album, whose lurid green aesthetic has even reached the US presidential race – with a nomination for this year’s Mercury prize. It is the Hertfordshire musician’s second nod, following one in 2020 for her lockdown album, How I’m Feeling Now. She is one of four musicians nominated this year to have been previously recognised by the UK music industry’s flagship prize for albums by British and Irish artists, alongside Trinidad-born, London-raised rapper Berwyn , for his debut album Who Am I (following a nod for his mixtape Demotape/Vega in 2021); Leeds songwriter Corinne Bailey Rae , for her fourth album, the psychedelic opus Black Rainbows ; and London rapper Ghetts , for his fourth album On Purpose, With Purpose .
Standing between the stalwart nominees and the artists on their debut albums is Beth Gibbons. She won the prize in 1995 as a member of Portishead, for their debut album, Dummy , and receives a nod this year for her acclaimed debut solo album, Lives Outgrown . Including Gibbons, the eight first-time nominees span a wide range of genres: Bradford jungle producer Nia Archives for Silence Is Loud ; Dublin indie-pop songwriter CMAT , with Crazymad, for Me ; London songwriter Cat Burns for Early Twenties ; Edinburgh dance producer Barry Can’t Swim for When Will We Land?; Leeds indie band English Teacher for This Could Be Texas; and the most hyped new UK band of the year, London�.