Another year and another Mercury Prize shortlist for us to dive into. Before the Bastards argue amongst themselves about the actual 2024 Mercury Prize Shortlist, let’s shout about the albums we would nominate ourselves.
Using the same rules as the actual prize, here are the albums we would pick for the Picky Bastards Mecury Prize Shortlist 2024.
Sam Atkins: Sampha – Lahai
Sampha is a previous Mercury Prize winner, so maybe I should be focusing on some newer artists who deserve a spot, but Lahai is probably the British album of the last 12 months that I’ve enjoyed the most. This album is so detailed musically, lyrically and emotionally. It’s stacked with interesting and dynamic moments and showcases one of the country’s best musicians at his best. ‘Spirit 2.0’, ‘Suspended’, ‘Can’t Go Back’ and ‘Jonathan L. Seagull’ are all standouts but it’s the way this album comes together as a whole listening experience that makes it a must inclusion in this year’s shortlist for me. I can’t see him doing the double win, but Sampha 100% deserves to become a two time nominee this year.
Here us discuss Lahai on episode 70 of the podcast here.
Rick Larson: SPRINTS – Letter to Self
In an article last year, I lamented the Mercury Prize poohbahs’ cold shoulder to punk rock. The Dublin band SPRINTS and its debut full length Letter to Self will surely be nominated, no? The band hammers a number of musical motifs (hell, there is a straight Johnny Marr quote on ‘Can’t Get Enough of It’) on a trad punk foundation, building a solid, unshowy sound free of self-regard. I’m going out on a limb here to say that, notwithstanding the MP’s history, this will not only be nominated but will be a decent dark horse pick for the prize.
Hear us discuss SPRINTS on episode 72 of the Podcast.
Tom Burrows: Charli xcx – Brat
It’s the album of the summer – and probably the year for many outlets – so Brat should be a strong contender for this year’s Mercury Prize. Charli xcx has pushed against the boundaries of pop music for more than a decade now, and her latest feels like the natural culmination of these efforts. It strikes a fine balance between the experimental electronic production of long-time collaborator A.G. Cook, with strong, vulnerable songwriting – all the while being very Charli xcx. She was nominated for the prize for her less-developed lockdown album How I’m Feeling Now, so Brat should be a certainty for the list. If genre-defining albums like Brat aren’t on the shortlist, what’s it for?
James Spearing: Elka – Prism of Pleasure
Every year I make a point about the lack of electronic music making the shortlist. So it would be remiss of me not to include this year’s leading contender, Prism of Pleasure, Elkka’s debut album. Elkka effortlessly melds all-out bangers (‘Air Tight’) with mid-tempo euphoria (‘Crushhh’), sad ballads (‘FCKD It’), a whole load of love (‘Break All My Walls Down’), and lust (‘Your Skin’). It truly is the celebration of pleasure it sets out to be from its very title. I can’t think of a more enjoyable and emotional album from the last year. It more than delivers on the reputation Elkka had previously built up with a string of single releases, her skill as a live DJ and her experience as label boss releasing others’ albums. Judges, let this be the year you make the right choice once again, and let dance music take its rightful place back among the nominees.
Fran Slater: English Teacher – This Could Be Texas: In some ways, English Teacher feel like a shoo-in for a Mercury nomination. The album ticks the boxes that the judges seem to look for every year, being from an up and coming, exciting band who use post-punk as the basis for a genre blending album with something to say. There is always at least one such band on the list, and this year English Teacher deserve that spot. But they won’t just be there to make up numbers. This Could Be Texas is so good, so diverse and interesting, that it should be among the favourites to win.
Read our full review of the English Teacher album here.
Sam Atkins: Lucy Rose – This Ain’t The Way You Go Out
I’ve written a few times on this website how shocked I was to hear the latest album from Lucy Rose, but This Ain’t The Way You Go Out only continues to get better with every week that goes by. Blending genres, from jazz to folk to soul to pop, Lucy Rose has never sounded as confident and as open as she is on this record. Musically this album has Mercury Prize winner written all over it, and it’s hard to think of a British album I’ve enjoyed more in 2024 so far. Songs like ‘Whatever You Want’, ‘Over When It’s Over’ and ‘Sail Away’ develop so beautifully as they go on and I actually get pretty overwhelmed whenever I hear these moments on the album. Lucy Rose is probably who I’m rooting for the most to the win the prize this year so fingers crossed she can make the shortlist.
Read our full review of Lucy Rose’s album here
Tom Burrows: Yard Act – Where’s My Utopia?
If Yard Act’s debut album was deemed worthy of a Mercury nomination a couple of years ago, their second should be a shoo-in. Where’s My Utopia? is Yard Act 2.0 in full force, musically and lyrically. The subject matter has frontman James Smith turning his gaze from the political to the personal, shifting inward towards his own dreams and responsibilities – and often finding disharmony and guilt. Gorillaz producer Remi Kabaka Jr. deserves great credit for fleshing out the more interesting musical impulses of the band, creating a catchy, varied and hugely satisfying record. It’s one of my favourites from this year and should be on the list.
Read our full review of Where’s My Utopia? here
James Spearing: Fabiana Palladino – Fabiana Palladino
Another debut album from someone who has spent much of their time helping make music happen for other artists. Fabiana has made more than just an album here. It’s a personal homage to all the elements music she’s ever loved and studied in detail, in particular the songwriting, instrumentation and production styles of late 80s and early 90s RnB. And where she does veer into other styles, for example the chart-friendly soft rock of ‘Give Me Sign’ and ‘Shoulda’ it still fits perfectly with the aesthetic of the era she loves so deeply. In the best way possible, it’s like coming back many years later to an album you remember your parents playing non-stop when you were a kid. And while the nostalgia value hooks you in – I know it got me from the very first listen to ‘Stay With Me Through the Night’ – there is plenty more depth as she sets sultry, funky and laid-back moods by turn. These moods and eras feel out of step with the sensibilities of the Mercury judges to me, but you never know, it might just get the nomination it deserves.
Fran Slater: The Smile – Wall of Eyes: Regular readers will not be surprised to see me picking The Smile as one of my picks for this year’s Mercury Prize shortlist, but this is no mere Thom Yorke shaped tick box exercise on my part. Yes, I’m obsessed. But Wall of Eyes thoroughly deserves a nomination. The band have honed the sound they introduced on the more sprawling debut and have no presented a perfected, infectious, and enthralling set of songs that not many other bands can match in the last 12 months. Any album with ‘Teleharmonic’ on it would be a great Mercury winner.
Picky Bastards 