- Title: Wolf Alice, Arlo Parks and Ghetts among Mercury Prize nominees
- Date: 22nd July 2021
- Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (JULY 22, 2021) (REUTERS) ***WARNING: CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** BRITISH SINGER-SONGWRITER, ARLO PARKS POSING FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS AT HYUNDAI MERCURY PRIZE ALBUM OF THE YEAR EVENT VARIOUS OF BRITISH SINGER-SONGWRITER, LAURA MVULA POSING FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS VARIOUS OF BRITISH SINGER-SONGWRITER, CELESTE SPEAKING TO MEDIA PARKS SPEAKING TO MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (English) SINGER-SONGWRITER, ARLO PARKS, ASKED WHAT THE MERCURY PRIZE NOMINATION MEANS TO HER, SAYING: "I mean, to me, it's almost a sign that I can be completely myself and make music that I love and that it has connected on kind of a widespread level. And also, for some reason, it makes me feel it makes me feel like dreams come true and in the least cheesy way possible, because I remember being 15 and being on my dad's computer, being like, oh I wonder who was nominated this year. And now my name is on that list." PARKS SPEAKING TO MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (English) SINGER-SONGWRITER, ARLO PARKS, SPEAKING ABOUT HOW LOCKDOWN WAS FOR HER, SAYING: "It's been mixed, I think, because, you know, inspiration comes from being out in the world. And when you don't have that, it can feel a bit stagnant. But having the time is definitely a blessing." VARIOUS OF MVULA SPEAKING TO MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (English) SINGER-SONGWRITER, LAURA MVULA, SPEAKING ABOUT HER MERCURY PRIZE NOMINATION, SAYING: "I'm just so grateful because I work so hard and not that I work hard for these accolades or moments, but it really helps when, to get the validation or acknowledgement from peers and people I respect. So I'm just chuffed to bits, I am." MVULA SPEAKING TO MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (English) SINGER-SONGWRITER, LAURA MVULA, ASKED ABOUT PERFORMING LIVE AGAIN, SAYING: "I'm so starved of like the feeling that I get from, selfishly, just sharing it in the flesh with people, so it's good to just be back in the room again until I have a, make a genuine connection with the music. Otherwise, it's just a body of work that lives in the small space in my head, which is not healthy. So I'm buzzing to like get out." VARIOUS OF BRITISH RAPPER AND SONGWRITER, GHETTS SPEAKING TO MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (English) RAPPER AND SONGWRITER, GHETTS, SPEAKING ABOUT HELPING OUT UP-AND-COMING ARTISTS, SAYING: "I feel like I'm somebody that had a helping hand. And what people don't understand man, it's not, it's not, it's not a thing where you have to guard your spot with your life or not. If you're really good at what you do, you're always going to be OK. And it's good to give somebody a helping hand because they're the children of today are the adults of tomorrow, man, you know what I'm saying and I kind of just like helping people." BLACK COUNTRY, NEW ROAD MEMBER TYLER HYDE SPEAKING TO MEDIA / BAND MEMBER LEWIS EVANS SPEAKING TO MEDIA EVANS AND HYDE SPEAKING TO MEDIA VARIOUS OF NORTHERN IRISH MUSICIAN AND PRODUCER, HANNAH PEEL POSING FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS (SOUNDBITE) (English) MUSICIAN AND PRODUCER, HANNAH PEEL, SAYING: "To imagine all those, you know, as particularly in electronic music, the female pioneers that have been lost through generations and that weren't recognised when they were alive. To have a record like this recognised is just incredible. And I think it's really important for inspiring more generations to come." PEEL SPEAKING TO MEDIA BRITISH MUSICIAN, NUBYA GARCIA SPEAKING TO MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (English) MUSICIAN, NUBYA GARCIA, ASKED WHAT A MERCURY PRIZE NOMINATION MEANS TO HER, SAYING: "It feels like a really beautiful acknowledgement of something that is a huge part of me and my life and my story. And I think, It's wonderful to be acknowledged and kind of bring more people to the album. You know, we didn't have an opportunity to do that of touring yet, and I'm just counting down the days that we can get to do that. So this is this is a really beautiful leg on the journey of this record. And like, I guess my career." GARCIA SPEAKING TO MEDIA TRINIDAD-BORN, LONDON-BASED RAPPER AND SONGWRITER, BERWYN SPEAKING TO MEDIA
- Embargoed: 5th August 2021 14:21
- Keywords: Album of the Year Arlo Parks Celeste Ghetts Hannah Peel Laura Mvula Mercury Prize Nubya Garcia Wolf Alice music nominations
- Location: UNKNOWN FILMING LOCATIONS / LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
- City: UNKNOWN FILMING LOCATIONS / LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
- Country: United Kingdom
- Topics: Arts/Culture/Entertainment,Europe,Music
- Reuters ID: LVA005EMXBQKT
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Singer-songwriters Arlo Parks and Celeste, rapper Ghetts and past winner Wolf Alice are among the 12 acts in the running for this year's Mercury Prize, organisers of the British music award announced on Thursday (July 22).
First handed out to rockers Primal Scream in 1992, the annual 25,000-pound ($34,385) prize shortlists 12 albums released by British and Irish acts in the United Kingdom in the past year.
Considered less mainstream than the annual BRIT Awards, it is open to all music genres.
In the running for album of the year are Parks' debut "Collapsed in Sunbeams," composer Hannah Peel's "Fir Wave," and "Promises," electronic music artist Floating Points' collaboration with Pharoah Sanders and The London Symphony Orchestra.
Speaking about her nomination, Parks said it felt like a "dream come true".
"To me, it's almost a sign that I can be completely myself and make music that I love and that it has connected on kind of a widespread level," she told Reuters at the announcement event.
Jazz musician Nubya Garcia is nominated for debut album "Source," as are rappers Ghetts for "Conflict of Interest" and Berwyn for his debut mixtape "Demotape/Vega."
Rock bands Mogwai and Black Country, New Road are nominated for "As The Love Continues" and debut album "For the First Time" respectively. Wolf Alice, who won the Mercury Prize in 2018, are nominated for their chart-topping record "Blue Weekend."
Singer-songwriters Celeste's chart-topping debut "Not Your Muse" and Laura Mvula's "Pink Noise," as well as elusive music collective Sault's "Untitled (Rise)," complete the list.
"I work so hard and not that I work hard for these accolades or moments, but it really helps... to get the validation or acknowledgement from peers and people I respect," said Mvula, adding that she was "chuffed to bits" with her album's nomination.
This judging panel for the 2021 prize, which will be handed out on Sept. 9 at an awards show in London, includes last year's winner Michael Kiwanuka, musician Jamie Cullum, singer Anna Calvi and DJ Annie Mac.
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