Nominees for 2015’s Mercury Prize announced

The Mercury Prize is amongst the most sought after musical accolades amongst British and Irish music artists today, as every year the award recognizes the single best album to have hit the shelves in the previous decade.

This year marks the 23^rd annual award of The Mercury Prize, with the nominees having been announced this morning live on BBC Radio 6 Music, courtesy of weekday morning host Lauren Laverne.

The list of nominees is one of the most eclectic ever, with British dance giants Aphex Twin, new school punk band Slaves, spoken word artist Ghostpoet and long time indie favourites Florence And The Machine all amongst the 12 who will be going up to replace Young Fathers as the most recent Mercury Prize winners.

Here is the full list of nominees:

Slaves – Are You Satisfied
Gaz Coombes – Matador
Soak – Before We Forgot How To Dream
Jamie XX – In Colour  Read our review of Jamie xx's recent show at Manchester Albert Hall
Benjamin Clementine – At Least For Now
Ghostpoet – Shedding Skin
Florence & The Machine – How Big How Blue How Beautiful
Eska - Eska
C Duncan – Architect
Róisín Murphy – Hairless Toy
Wolf Alice – My Love Is Cool
Aphex Twin – Syro



The date for the award ceremony that will see performances from a number of the nominees and a selection of other guests will be announced soon.

Words by Josh Plews
Photos courtesy of Jamie XX