CMAT, the Irish singer-songwriter, has earned a nomination for the 2024 Mercury Prize for her sophomore album, Crazymad, for Me. Her genre-bending style of country-pop-indie music has amassed a substantial fanbase in the UK and Ireland, with well-known tunes such as I Wanna Be a Cowboy, Baby!, Where Are Your Kids Tonight? with John Grant, and Stay for Something to her credit. This is a successive nomination after her 2023 Choice Music Prize win for her debut album If My Wife New I’d Be Dead.
She is joined in the nominations by Charli XCX with her sixth album, Brat. Known for its vivid green aesthetics that even caught the attention of the US Presidential race, this is the Hertfordshire-based musician’s second nomination, having received one for her album, How I’m Feeling Now, during the lockdown in 2020.
There are four nominees, including her, who have been acknowledged by the Mercury Prize in the past, a scheme that annually honours albums by British and Irish artists. The list also includes Trinidad-born, London-based rapper Berwyn for his debut album Who Am I; Corinne Bailey Rae, the songwriter from Leeds, for her fourth psychedelic piece Black Rainbows; and Ghetts, the London rapper, for his fourth album On Purpose, With Purpose.
Beth Gibbons, winner of the 1995 Mercury prize with Portishead’s debut album, Dummy, bridges the nominated musicians with their inaugural albums and the seasoned nominees. She is acclaimed for her initial solo album, Lives Outgrown.
The Mercury Prize’s list of first-time nominees, including CMAT and Gibbons, encompasses an extensive array of musical styles. Nia Archives, the Bradford Jungle producer with Silence Is Loud; Cat Burns, the London songwriter with Early Twenties; Leeds indie group English Teacher with This Could Be Texas; Edinburgh dance producer Barry Can’t Swim with When Will We Land?; London’s baroque-pop band, the Last Dinner Party, which is the UK’s most buzzing new band of the year, with Prelude to Ecstasy. The Glasgow composer corto.alto has been given Mercury’s infamous “token” jazz nomination for Bad With Names. Sadly, the prize’s historic token nods to folk did not play a part, and rock and metal were once again omitted from the list.
In 2005, the award saw its peak with nine first-time contenders, the winner emerging as Antony and the Johnsons (currently identified as Anohni and the Johnsons) for their sophomore album, I Am a Bird Now. This year’s tally counted eight out of 12 nominations being women or groups with female participants, matching the 2020 prize record for forward-thinking representation of genders.
Artists willingly participate for the prize, hence it’s challenging to identify those who might have felt overlooked or decided not to participate. Notable acts who might have felt overlooked include the Smile, a side project of Radiohead, for their follow-up album, Wall of Eyes; the revered dance duo Pet Shop Boys for their re-emergent album Nonetheless; Blur for The Ballad of Darren; AG Cook, a collaborator of Charli xcx, for the producer’s magnum opus Britpop; Sheffield’s heavy metal group Bring Me the Horizon, for their septenary album Post Human: Nex Gen; Sampha, the 2017 Mercury winner, for Lahai; British-Albanian pop sensation Dua Lipa, for her tertiary album Radical Optimism; jazz performer Shabaka for his premiere solo Perceive Its Beauty, Acknowledge Its Grace; folk icon Linda Thompson, for Proxy Music; lyricist Rachel Chinouriri for her premiere album What a Devastating Turn of Events; avant-garde band Still House Plants for If I Don’t Make It, I Love U; dance ensemble Mount Kimbie, for The Sunset Violent; and post-punk band Yard Act for Where’s My Utopia?
The Mercury highlights the noteworthy contributions of both promising newcomers and prolific artists. This year’s panel consists of Danielle Perry, a broadcaster and writer; musician and presenter for Radio 2, Jamie Cullum; BBC 6 Music’s DJ and presenter Jamz Supernova; Jeff Smith, head of music for BBC Radio 2 and 6 Music; music programming consultant Lea Stonhill; DJ, lyricist and broadcaster Mistajam; BBC Radio 1’s presenter and DJ Sian Eleri; and journalists Phil Alexander, Sophie Williams, and Will Hodgkinson.
This year’s Mercury prize has not been able to secure a sponsor, hence no traditional live winner’s presentation ceremony, which usually features performances from all the nominees and is broadcast on the BBC. Instead, the winner’s announcement will take place in September, with details of the revelation yet to be decided.
The nominees for the 2024 Mercury prize are:
– Barry Can’t Swim with “When Will We Land?”
– Berwyn with “Who Am I”
– Beth Gibbons with “Lives Outgrown”
– Cat Burns with “Early Twenties”
– Charli xcx with “Brat”
– CMAT comes with “Crazymad, for Me”
– Corinne Bailey Rae with “Black Rainbows”
– corto.alto with “Bad With Names”
– English Teacher’s “This Could Be Texas”
The tracklist includes ‘On Purpose, With Purpose’ by Ghetts and ‘Silence Is Loud’ by Nia Archives. ‘Prelude to Ecstasy’ is by The Last Dinner Party. At the Electric Picnic 2024, CMAT, Lankum, and Bambie Thug have been recently incorporated into the list of performers.