Leaves begin to wilt, the world continues spinning, Liam Gallagher gets in yet another Twitter scrap – in many ways, September always stays the same. But the Mercury Prize keeps on bringing the fire.
Returning for 2019 with another cracking bunch of albums and artists all vying for British music’s most coveted prize, the best and brightest (well, most of ’em) will descend on London’s Eventim Apollo tonight for a corker of a night. There’ll be live performances, enough alcohol to fill the English channel and your favourite pop magazine (that’s us) making a fool out of ourselves. We wouldn’t have it any other way.
After Wolf Alice scooped last year’s prize (we had a good night after that), twelve more acts are chasing 2019’s gong, looking to follow up on previous winners including Arctic Monkeys, The xx, alt-J, Skepta, Young Fathers, Sampha and – y’know – ‘more’. It’s kinda a big deal…
And let’s be honest, Dearest Reader, there are some well-loved members of this parish amongst them. From The 1975 (heard of ’em?), Foals, IDLES, Fontaines D.C., Slowthai, Dave and Little Simz to storming records from Anna Calvi, Black Midi, Nao, Cate Le Bon and Seed Ensemble, there’s one hell of a strong field in play. Things could get tense, some bread rolls may get thrown, warm ‘the authorities’ in advance.
As always, we’ll be there to get to the bottom of all important matters. We’re talking shady selections, the volume and flavours of crisps, and if we can get away with pretending to be Adam Hann, given he’s not showing up. Anything for a free meal.
There’ll be a ‘Live Blog’ running throughout the evening, as well as assorted daftness on our Twitter account. Some might call our commentary ‘definitive’. Others may pray we don’t start on about jazz and Ferrero Rocher again.
We’re live right bloody now, so keep up with all the updates below (even the ones you never knew you needed – and also the ones you don’t need to be fair…)
The 1975 – A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships
Fontaines D.C – Dogrel
Seed Ensemble – Driftglass
Foals – Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost – Part 1
Little Simz – Grey Area
Anna Calvi – Hunter
IDLES – Joy As An Act Of Resistance
Slowthai – Nothing Great About Britain
Dave – Psychodrama
Cate Le Bon – Reward
Nao – Saturn
Black Midi – Schlagenheim
Words: Jamie Muir
