Mercury Prize 2015

 

Hi guys!

It’s that time of year again: my compulsory annual power-rankings for the Mercury Prize. I would apologise for not having written since February…but I’m not going to, because it might be the topic of a future article…or not.

I do have my 2015 Review of Music to come late December, but for the meantime, I’ve listened to and analysed the 12 nominees for this year’s Mercury Prize.

This year seems to offer something similar to last year’s list, having taken a step back from the mainstream and focussed on trying to find artists who are trying to do something new which, in the end, is what the Mercury Prize tries to promote. Previous winners such as Klaxons and Portishead have found themselves at the forefront of a genre which then takes off. Whilst this didn’t occur after Talvin Singh won in 1999 for his eclectic mix of electronic and bhangra, there’s still something to be said for his creativity.

(Un)fortunately, electronica-bhangra doesn’t feature on this list, but there is quite a variety including soul, hip-hop, dream-pop, and many others, which should make this list somewhat interesting…

12. Roisin Murphy – Hairless Toys

I had to listen to this album quite a few times before I decided to place this bottom of my list this year. Last year, I put Young Father’s Dead in 12th place (below Royal Blood’s dreadful racket of an album) only to find that it won. In the end, I didn’t listen to this album as much, as it’s one of the longer ones, and didn’t figure for me first time, so I just left it.

Roisin Murphy’s Hairless Toys is, for lack of a better description, awkward. There are motifs that don’t hit the ear properly. There are lyrics that are just questionable. In Exploitation, Murphy repeats the line ‘Who’s exploiting who?’ to imply the sexual overtones, but instead sounds like a repeating advert against diamond mining in Sierra Leone. The word ‘exploit’ is a weird one to. Just try saying ‘exploit’, and annunciate. It doesn’t really tip off the tongue, does it? Well that’s what it sounded like, and it just made this album tough to appreciate.

Listen to: Evil Eyes

Odds: 14/1

11. ESKA – ESKA

ESKA is one of the more annoying albums on this list as it was never streamed on Spotify. It means the annoying large gaps between songs (especially long if WiFi is acting up), and sometimes even adverts. But even from what I’ve heard, this album seems to be a pretty standard attempt at creating a sort-of-world-music album and, well, not. Laura Mvula did the exact same thing in 2013 when she released Sing To The Moon (incidentally, that took 11th place as well on my 2013 list. Coincidence? Probably…).

I will confess, as a result of the while YouTube mess, this isn’t an album I’ve paid too much attention to, but from what I have heard, it is a little bit of a snoozer. Even with all of the instruments and effects and electronics implemented into this album, it just felt pretty dull, and so I’m not too convinced of its success this year.

Listen to: Shades Of Blue

Odds: 8/1

10. Florence and the Machine – How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful

Everyone loves a little bit of Florence. It’s hard not to. Florence Welch et al. have a gift when it comes to creating massive stadium rock tracks which, paired with some nifty epilepsy-causing light displays and big screens, can create a brilliant night. Her third record, How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful, contains some really great examples of Spectrum-like songs, such as intro Ship To Wreck and second song What Kind Of Man. These are excellent specimens, but what about the rest of the album?

The issue with Florence is that the minute you get past the massive rock ballads, what’s left? Whatever it is, it doesn’t sound much like Florence. But how can it, when the basic foundation of ‘Florence and the Machine’ is stadium anthems? It means that the slower, smaller songs, such as Delilah and Caught are nowhere near as interesting as they could be. What is interesting is that whilst these songs are not designed to rival the lead singles, it’s almost like they try to be as maximalist as the rest of Florence’s great records, with big choirs and grand pianos, but it just ends up feeling like a bit of an anti-climax. And that is a word Florence, of all people, doesn’t like to hear.

Listen to: What Kind Of Man

Odds: 20/1

9. Aphex Twin – Syro

After a 13-year LP hiatus, in which, apparently, the world dance music scene was left seemingly without purpose, given Aphex Twin’s almost godlike status in the dance music world, Richard D. James finally released Syro to rave reviews, with many considering this album to be one of the best of 2014, even with FKA twigs and East India Youth providing exquisite albums as part of this genre. So when I found out that this album was on this list, I had mixed feelings.

On the one hand, I knew that I had an opportunity to listen to a ‘great’ album which I had overlooked last year. On the other hand, I realised that this list might be a little more difficult than expected.

So when I put my headphones on for my first listen, I was so excited. But, really unfortunately, I couldn’t, and still cannot, think of why this album is supposed to be so good. During my first listen, as I walked from my flat to university, I realised about 40 minutes in that I had actually forgotten that Syro was even playing. That’s good when you are just looking for something to wash over you, but when you’re looking for a masterpiece, is background music really sufficient?

In the end, that’s what Syro is: background music. I won’t lie and say that it’s bad background music. This album is superbly arranged, and richly textured to create a beautiful atmosphere. But once the atmosphere has been created, then what? Well, not much in the case of Syro.

It does take skill to create an instrumental album with a story. Jon Hopkins succeeded with Immunity in 2013, and Fuck Buttons did create the best album ever written (see 50 Best Albums Ever post from January) with Tarot Sport in 2009. However, I’m not sure how much Aphex Twin has really achieved on this album.

Listen to: minipops 67

Odds: 12/1

8. Gaz Coombes – Matador

20 years after Britpop was in its prime, we’re currently in a phase where all of the bands have pretty much broken up, yet the frontmen are still trying to make something of themselves. Generally, it can go in one of two ways. On the one hand, they could go off and create Oasis-Mach-2-do-you-think-they’ll-notice-we’re-not-Oasis in the name of Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds. On the other, they can do a Damon Albarn and become a general Renaissance man of music, including creating Gorillaz, one of the most forward thinking bands of our generation.

So, what has Supergrass frontman Gaz Coombes been up to? Well, neither of those. His second solo album Matador isn’t quite a remake of the whole devil-may-care outlook of Supergrass, but it still isn’t that massive a transition. This album is a decent album that is easy to listen to. But is it anything special? I don’t think so. So when I see adverts all over the London Underground describing this as his ‘masterpiece’, I can’t help but feel a little cynical. Whilst songs such as The English Ruse are fast-paced and about as exciting as Coombes will get, there are a few snoozers on this album too. The Girl Who Fell To Earth has the capacity to be a great song, but instead is uninspired. The song is supposed to be a bit of a stab at technology taking over our lives. ‘Blinded by computer love’ he will sing. But didn’t Radiohead cover that via OK Computer over 18 years ago? Inspired much…

The link to the whole ‘matador’ theme is also somewhat disappointingly understated, via a single 85 second song right at the end (plus maybe the intro song Buffalo. But unless Spain has spontaneously altered its culture, or I am suffering from a lack of culture, buffaloes and matadors don’t mix…this could be awkward…). Coombes ends the album with ‘I’ll take the pain and the scars of war, ‘cos I’ll face the beast and fight like a matador’. In contrast, in For Free (Interlude), Kendrick Lamar said ‘I need forty acres and a mule not forty ounces and a pitbull, bullshit, matador, matador’ in reference to the iconic Uncle Sam as a matador against Kendrick, the bull, deceiving him like America deceives black men into the false idea of success.

Now that, Mr Coombes, is how you make a matador analogy.

Listen to: 20/20

Odds: 16/1

 

7. Wolf Alice – My Love Is Cool

As one of the bigger albums on this list, Wolf Alice have already garnered acclaim from reviewers and artists alike for their debut My Love Is Cool, and rightfully so. They have written a very well-structured album, which peaks and calms at the correct times, and it is also one of the easier albums to listen to here. Lead singer Ellie Rowsell is refreshingly versatile as well, ranging from the almost tense intro Turn To Dust, to the explosive climaxes in songs such as You’re A Germ. This makes her, and indeed the rest of the band, one of the biggest breakthrough artists of the year in the UK.

Whilst this album is overall very good, there are a couple of awkward moments. Take the third song Your Loves Whore. What’s with the random gaps? And main single You’re A Germ, suffers from lyrics such as

They won’t win the Mercury Prize though. It’s nothing to do with their album, which is a pretty solid effort, but because they are a bit of a walking cliche. They remind me a bit of a heavier London Grammar, whose 2013 album If You Wait, was pretty understated regarding its quality. That was a sound I haven’t heard before. Wolf Alice just seem like a bit of an amalgamation of every band with a female singer and guys playing the rest of the instruments. And in that respect, despite a good quality album, I would be very surprised if they come out as winners.

Listen to: Silk

Odds: 7/1

6. Ghostpoet – Shedding Skin

Obaro Ejimiwe is currently experiencing his second round of the Mercury Prize, after 2011 nomination for Peanut Butter Blues and Melancholy Jam. It’s not surprising, therefore, that both of these albums are pretty similar. It’s almost as if Ejimiwe has taken a bit of a Beach House post-Teen Dream approach to album writing in that ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ (except the first of their 2015 albums Depression Cherry, which is gorgeous).

Fundamentally, it means this album is pretty good. Opener Off Peak Dreams sounds eerily similar to the opener of Speech Debelle’s 2009 winner Speech Therapy, with its somewhat held-back approach to expressing the real message of the song. Ejimiwe also capitalises on his distinctive singing style, with its almost drowsy/’swag’ feel signified by the drones at the end of each phrase. It’s a really good style, which puts you at ease whilst listening to the album, but he does pull it off every single time.

At lease Ellie Rowsell rewards listeners with her impressive vocal range. Ejimiwe, as a ‘kind-of-hip-hop’ artist, probably doesn’t feel the need to display a range of that calibre. However, it would be nice to have seen him take a step back from this repeated sound.

Regardless of this factor, this is still an album worth listening to. Yes there are downpoints, as any album has, with songs such as the six-minute Be Right Back, Moving House, which never seems to end. But Ghostpoet has made use of his impressive production with his sparse electric guitars and backing vocalists, particularly on songs like Yes, I Helped You Pack, which does provide sufficient interest to keep this album turning over.

Odds: 8/1

5. Benjamin Clementine – At Least For Now

Baroque pop is something that isn’t really heard much nowadays. Sure, people say that good music is stuck back in the 60’s and that it’s been downhill since then, but when was the last time a new release really felt like it came from that kind of era. Tame Impala’s 2012 release Lonerism felt like a 70’s record, and dozens of artists, from Arctic Monkeys to Django Django, have tried to rip off The Beatles. But there’s something distinctly fake about all these records in reference to a proper era-album. Clementine, however, cuts straight through that. Whilst his music seems like a jazzed-up Belle and Sebastian, possibly one of the best baroque pop bands around, Clementine’s voice also harks back to a style almost derivative of Nina Simone.

Even the content is somewhat old-fashioned in that respect. In Adios, one of the many excellent songs from this record, he apologises for jumping into the train, ‘I waited but no one came’. Who sings about trains in today’s music? The idea of the train seems to be fundamentally vintage, and this style is very clearly translated out towards the rest of the album.

Unfortunately, this is precisely why he probably won’t win the Mercury Prize: no matter how good this album seems to be, it doesn’t have enough of a forward-thinking spirit. It would be awesome if this album inspired artists to bring back this kind of music from the depths of time, but the idea of a man singing at his piano with a glass of wine and cigarette smoke around isn’t currently the music scene’s cup of tea.

Listen to: Nemesis

Odds: 9/2

4. Slaves – Are You Satisfied?

Isn’t amazing how musicians are allowed to be cynical and angry about literally everything? They’re all Champagne Socialists, vegan, Buddhist, and believe all army funding should be redirected towards arts funding.

Okay, maybe that stereotype isn’t the most accurate, but when it comes to being angry about current affairs, Slaves have pretty much got it covered. But what is really good about this album is that despite all the crap, they’ve come out with a very solid punk-rock record. I like to think of them as similar to Royal Blood, except where Royal Blood just decided to make as much noise as possible, thus creating a pretty unbearable album, Slaves translate the ‘noise’ into something which, if removed, will not have created as solid an album.

More than anything else, this album is completely full of energy, courtesy of the endless stream of guitar distortion, the band’s roars-rather-than-singing and the general pace of the album. Whilst a couple of the songs closer to the end feel a little like filler, there isn’t a point in this album at which you are waiting for something to happen. This is amplified with songs such as intro Hunter, which manages to create excitement and build using just one riff. Another highlight of the album is outro Sugar Coated Bitter Truth, which, although not as noisy as the rest of the album, deserves credit in that it displays Slaves’ talent at not being a one-trick-pony, which is always the biggest worry regarding punk-rock. The genre needs bands that provide a bit of spice when all other bands sound the same. Slaves may be one of those bands.

Listen to: Hunter

Odds: 12/1

3. SOAK – Before We Forgot How To Dream

I think Tumblr would relate with this album…

Normally, that would be an insult on this blog, given my deep-rooted hatred of Tumblr as a breeding ground for exclusion, hatred and teenagers feigning depression in order to appear cool. SOAK does seem to try and fit the bill in this album of the ‘tormented teenager/myth of the artist’ who believes, like most of Tumblr, that in order to have feelings or opinions you must be damaged inside. Yes, this album may be oozing with more hormones than an alcoholic’s pituitary gland, but fundamentally it is a teenage album BY A TEENAGER.

This is probably why most of the reviewers credit her for being ‘wise beyond her year’, and having written profound, provocative, intelligent lyrics. The album opens with ‘the teenage heart is an unguided dart’. How Tumblr…but adults aren’t sick of it, so they will lap this stuff up until the cows come home. And if that wasn’t enough, just to prove how ‘deep’ this album is, the album cover and the music videos are all done in drab black and white, normally against a cold beach backdrop.

I do think it is a shame that the lyrics are the only things discussed about this album, because this album is pretty good going. It’s got all sorts of layers going on, and her somewhat distorted vocals compliment the harmonies beautifully. This, I believe, is where Bridie Monds-Watson is ‘wise beyond her years’. This is a really original album and a wonderful display of new talent which hopefully, in the coming years, will try and approach something more…not Tumblr.

Listen to: B a noBody

Odds: 12/1

 

2. C Duncan – Architect

As some of you may know, I moved to London a couple of months ago to study at UCL. The Mercury Prize nominations were announced about a month later, and suddenly, the walls of the London Underground were being covered with adverts for these albums. Gaz Coombes was quite a common one, his bewildered facial expression almost in awe at the review reading ‘masterpiece’. Benjamin Clementine had a simple blue and red advert with his album cover. Even Florence, Florence who has taken the world by storm, decided to join the game with an advert at Kings Cross St Pancras Station. But not C Duncan…

This was where the split between the nominees was seen. The BBC showed a statistic that sales of Eska’s album had risen by 2,965%. And this isn’t difficult to believe: an unknown album gets a nomination for (arguably) the most prestigious prize in British music, obviously the fan base will increase! And whilst C Duncan will have experience an increase in sales, it won’t be of 2,965%. Why? Because the only advert I saw for C Duncan’s album was a piece of paper on a little side street off Brick Lane (for my Mancunian friends, one of the main Curry Miles of London).

To be brutally honest, who is actually interested in a dream-pop album infused with classical training? Not Londoners, who seem to preserve the necessity of running around like headless chickens. Seriously, you’re in a rush at 7:30 am. Why didn’t you just get up earlier? Odd…

Despite this, C Duncan has obviously written an exquisite gem of an album. Edith Bowman called him an ‘architect of music’, in reference to the album title, and it’s true! Opener Say is calm and eases you into Duncan’s dreampop world. He Believes In Miracles is rich and layered, and provides a chink of the album’s optimism. And As Sleeping Stones, with it’s transforming harmonies and intertwining vocals, may be one of my highlights of 2015.

The album finally finishes with the effervescently beautiful I’ll Be Gone By Winter, somewhat reminiscent of Badly Drawn Boy’s Epitaph. Not only does it leave you satisfied that the album is complete, but it gives the impression that anything else would just be unnecessarily excessive. Frankly, C Duncan couldn’t have done anything more.

Odds: 20/1

1. Jamie xx – In Colour

There’s a brilliant moment about half-way through Jamie xx’s solo debut In Colour. Interlude Just Saying has just finished, and has returned the album to a form of relative calm. A motif echoes from a single synthesiser, and into the harmony, Oliver Sim sings. ‘You want to disappear in a crowd. Just a stranger in a room’. It is the first time that clear vocals are heard during the album, and it hits hard.

This album is full of these kind of moments; moments that make every song different. One of the main reasons why this album is better than all the others on this list is that Jamie xx hates filler. Every song has a role, even songs such as Hold Tight which, though it doesn’t feel like a song that makes progress, imagine listening to Loud Places immediately after Stranger in a Room without a break. Can you imagine? It’s not even worth thinking about…

In Colour is a suitable title for this album too. This album is full of vibrancy. Songs like Obvs and I Know There’s Gonna Be (Good Times) make you want to get up and dance (and his DJ set at Green Man Festival was glorious). This is a drastic contrast to SOAK (ultimately, in my opinion, the only person stopping Jamie xx from winning), who seems to gain enjoyment from taking vibrancy and eating it (or, more likely, just being very passive-aggressive towards it). Even the album cover can’t really get more vibrant than literally every single colour. And fortunately, an album as depressing in content as Before We Forgot How To Dream hasn’t won since Portishead’s Dummy in 1995.

This album, though, has had split reception. However, the people who don’t rate this album as first class are normally electronica fans. For the sake of bookkeeping, In Colour has been branded as ‘electronica’. But it isn’t really. Would Young Thug really contribute to an electronica album? This album is clearly far more forward-thinking and unique than any other album on this list, and thus if it doesn’t win, I will be asking questions.

Listen to: Sea Saw

Odds: 4/1