Mercury Prize nominees 2018: Who has made the list and who is favourite to win?

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Rick Pearson26 July 2018

The 27th year of the Mercury prize has no clear favourite — but plenty of talking points.

The grown-up crooning on Arctic MonkeysTranquility Base Hotel & Casino is a world away from the spiky street poetry of their debut, Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not, which won the Mercury in 2006.

Will Alex Turner and co follow PJ Harvey in becoming double Mercury winners? Not this time, I think.

What’s the story with Noel Gallagher being nominated? Actually, his latest album is a vast improvement on his plodding post-Oasis output. Ditto Lily Allen, whose warts-and-all No Shame sets divorce and deceit to sparkling pop melodies.

No Mercury list would be complete, of course, without the token jazz oddity. This year, that honour belongs to Sons of Kemet for their explorative third album Your Queen Is A Reptile. It won’t win — the jazz band never does — but it’s a riot of a listen.

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Richard Russell, the owner of XL Records who discovered Adele, makes the list for his collaborative effort Everything Is Recorded. It’s beautifully produced and features cameos from last year’s winner Sampha, but the judges would be brave indeed to give the prize to a music mogul.

And what of Florence? Twice the bridesmaid, never the bride, she certainly has a winner of a voice, but Nadine Shah has penned the better album. The post-punk Holiday Destination tackles the treatment of refugees and the “fascist in the White House”. Harvey’s second winner Let England Shake covered similar ground; I think Shah is this year’s dark horse.

And then there’s Novelist. The Londoner’s debut, Novelist Guy, is full of razor-sharp wit and hard-won wisdom. Were he to follow Skepta and pick up the gong, it would be richly deserved.

The Mercury prize 2018 nominees in full:

Arctic Monkeys — Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino
Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds — Who Built the Moon
Lily Allen — No Shame
Sons of Kemet — Your Queen is a Reptile
Richard Russell — Everything Is Recorded    
Florence & The Machine — High as Hope
Nadine Shah — Holiday Destination
Novelist — Novelist Guy
Jorja Smith — Lost & Found
Wolf Alice — Visions of a Life
King Krule — The Ooz
Everything Everything — A Fever Dream

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