Female acts dominate this year’s Mercury Prize shortlist with Beth Gibbons nominated almost 30 years after winning it with Portishead.
The singer, who won in 1995 with the trip-hop band’s debut Dummy, is nominated this year for Lives Outgrown – her first solo studio album of original songs.
The record was written over a decade and tackles issues of aging and loss. It was a huge critical and commercial hit on its release with one critic dubbing it “a dispatch from the darker moments of middle age” and another saying it was “a record to fall in love with”.
A win would bring her level with PJ Harvey – the only act to win it twice.
Head here for our in-depth analysis of every nominee, alongside all of the big surprises and snubs.
Nominated alongside Gibbons are Charli xcx for Brat, Streatham-born Cat Burns for Early Twenties, Corinne Bailey Rae for Black Rainbows and producer and DJ Nia Archives for Silence Is Loud.
The shortlist also features Scottish DJ and producer Barry Can't Swim for When Will We Land?, east London rapper Berwyn for his debut album Who Am I, Irish singer CMAT for Crazymad, for Me and corto.alto for Bad with Names.
Also nominated are English Teacher with This Could Be Texas and east London grime scene veteran Ghetts with On Purpose, with Purpose as well as the all-female rock band The Last Dinner Party who met while studying at Kings College London and are shortlisted for their debut Prelude to Ecstasy.
Eight out of the 12 acts are female equalling the record set in 2020 when the shortlist was dominated by women , while two thirds of the nominated records are debut releases.
The prize, which recognises the best album of the year, describes itself as the “music equivalent to the Booker Prize for literature and the Turner Prize for art”.
It is open to British and Irish acts who released an album between July 15 2023 and July 12 this year with the winner revealed at a ceremony in London in September.
Among the judges choosing the eventual winner are musician Jamie Cullum, DJ Jamz Supernova and Jeff Smith, the head of music at Radio 2 and 6 Music.
Previous winners include Little Simz, Skepta, Arctic Monkeys and The xx.
