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Jul 26, 2018 By Christopher Roberts Photography by Koury Angelo (for Under the Radar) Everything Everything

This year’s Mercury Prize nominees have been announced and they include the latest albums by Wolf Alice, King Krule, Arctic Monkeys, Everything Everything, Noel Gallagher, Florence + the Machine, Lily Allen, Nadine Shah, Everything Is Recorded, and more. The full list is below.

Since 1992 the Mercury Prize has been awarded to the best British album of the year, meaning an album created by a citizen of the U.K. and Ireland. It’s become one of the biggest honors a British musician can receive and can also boost an album’s sales in the U.K., especially if it wins.

Some potential snubs this year include Let’s Eat Grandma, The Horrors, LUMP, Gruff Rhys, Shame, Superorganism, Gwenno, Gaz Coombes, Hookworms, Benjamin Clementine, Young Fathers, Baxter Dury, Girl Ray, Mount Kimbie, Tracyanne & Danny, Franz Ferdinand, Django Django, and no doubt others we’re not thinking of.

It’s mildly surprising that Lily Allen and Florence + the Machine were nominated, for while both their latest albums have been well-received, they have not been as well-reviewed as some of their previous albums (although Allen’s No Shame is considered a return to form after her last album, 2014’s poorly received Sheezus).

Wolf Alice and King Krule both charted well in our Top 100 Albums of 2017 list, so we’re likely rooting for one of them to win.

Last year Sampha won, the year before it was Skepta, and the year before that it was Benjamin Clementine. The Mercury Prize started out strong with Primal Scream’s Screamadelica winning in 1992 and Suede’s self-titled debut winning in 1993. There have been lots of great artists who have also won since, including PJ Harvey (the only artist to win it twice), Pulp, Elbow, Portishead, Franz Ferdinand, and others. Although they don’t always get it right and there have been some forgettable winners as well.

We’ll have to wait until the September 20th ceremony to see who the winner is.

Mercury Prize 2018 Nominees:

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

Read our 2017 interview with Wolf Alice on Visions of a Life.

Read our 2017 interview with King Krule on The OOZ.

Read our 2017 interview with Everything Everything on A Fever Dream.

Read our 2017 interview with Nadine Shah on Holiday Destination.

Read our interview with Noel Gallagher on Who Built the Moon?

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