There have been articles, there’s been talk, and now it’s time to get down to business. The 2018 Hyundai Mercury Prize is taking place tonight (20th September) as 12 shortlisted ‘Albums Of The Year’ go head to head as a winner is unveiled in all the lights and champagne West London has to offer. Lovely.
Seen as the definitive nod to the best music of the past 12 months, winners of years gone boy have done pretty alright for themselves. We’re talking Arctic Monkeys, The xx, Alt-J, Skepta, Sampha, James Blake, Young Fathers, Pulp – there’s bloody loads of them (well, 27 to be precise) and this year, another illustrious album is about to join a cracking club (and scoop some money too, which is always helpful).
Now we all know who should have been included in this year’s list, but some absolute faves are vying for the big prize – with the likes of Wolf Alice, Arctic Monkeys (them again), Lily Allen, Florence + The Machine, Everything Everything, King Krule, Nadine Shah and Jorja Smith joining Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, Everything Is Recorded, Novelist and Sons Of Kemet on this year’s shortlist.
With performances on the night coming from the majority of the shortlist (catch us surfing across tables during Wolf Alice), it’s just going to be a great Thursday night right?
As always, we’ll be on-hand to keep you updated through the night with this ‘ol Live Blog here – full of a lot of exclamation marks, a lot of random videos that we find when trawling through YouTube, what we’re up to when it comes to food and drink supplies and without question the most enthusiastic coverage of this year’s Mercury Prize. Guaranteed.
Oh and GIFs. We’ll probably use some of those…
See ya back here at 6pm (depending on traffic)
Until then – here’s that full shortlist again:
Arctic Monkeys – Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino
Everything Everything – A Fever Dream
Everything is Recorded – Everything is Recorded
Florence + The Machine – High As Hope
Jorja Smith – Lost & Found
King Krule – The Ooz
Lily Allen – No Shame
Nadine Shah – Holiday Destination
Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – Who Built The Moon?
Novelist – Novelist Guy
Sons of Kemet – Your Queen Is A Reptile
Wolf Alice – Visions Of A Life
