Mercury Prize 2016 shortlist: Radiohead become most-nominated act in history as grime steps into the spotlight
The 1975, Laura Mvula, Michael Kiwanuka and David Bowie are also among the 12-album shortlist
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Your support makes all the difference.Radiohead have become the most shortlisted artist in Mercury Prize history after earning their fifth nomination for new album A Moon Shaped Pool.
Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood’s band, who are yet to win the coveted music award, is up against David Bowie’s final album Blackstar, released just days before his unexpected death in January.
Two overtly political grime albums have made the cut - Made in the Manor by Kano and Konnichiwa by Skepta - as well as the electronic Hopelessness by Anohni, a past winner when known as Antony and the Johnsons, who sings about her fierce grievances with Barack Obama’s US presidency.
Laura Mvula picks up her second nomination for sophomore album The Dreaming Room while Michael Kiwanuka also makes the shortlist with Love & Hate, his long-awaited follow-up to 2012’s nominated Home Again.
The 1975 will surely be a fan favourite, nominated for the first time with their number one album I Like It When You Sleep For You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware of It, while Radiohead, Kiwanuka and Bowie’s records also topped the charts. Seven albums on this year’s shortlist have achieved UK Top 10 success.
Notable snubs this year include PJ Harvey, who remains the only artist to have won the prize twice but misses out in 2016 for her latest album The Hope Six Demolition Project, and James Blake for the critically-acclaimed The Colour in Anything.
The Mercury Prize nominations in full:
Hopelessness by Anohni
The Bride by Bat for Lashes
Blackstar by David Bowie
Making Time by Jamie Woon
Made in the Manor by Kano
The Dreaming Room by Laura Mvula
Love & Hate by Michael Kiwanuka
A Moon Shaped Pool by Radiohead
Adore Life by Savages
Konnichiwa by Skepta
I Like It When You Sleep For You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware of It by The 1975
Channel the Spirits by The Comet is Coming
The rules have been revamped this year to include a general public vote. Music lovers will be able to vote for their favourite from the 12-album shortlist through an online poll, with the most popular joining five other finalists selected by the judges.
This year’s panel includes Jarvis Cocker, Naughty Boy, Kate Tempest, Jamie Cullum, Jessie Ware, Ellie Roswell of Wolf Alice and DJ Annie Mac, as well as critics and music industry experts.
The overall winner will be announced at a ceremony that will take place at London’s Hammersmith Apollo on 15 September. The six finalists will perform before a “special, one-off” collaboration to mark the prize’s 25th anniversary.
Benjamin Clementine won last year’s £25,000 prize with his stunning album At Least For Now with other past winners including Badly Drawn Boy, PJ Harvey, Pulp, Ms Dynamite, Arctic Monkeys, Alt J, James Blake and Young Fathers. The youngest winner was Dizzee Rascal with Boy in Da Corner in 2003.
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