Adele and PJ Harvey lead Mercury Prize nominations
Shortlist announced for prestigious annual music award
Surprise, surprise - chart queen Adele has made the shortlist for this year’s Mercury Prize, alongside acts PJ Harvey, Tinie Tempah and Elbow.
The nominees were announced today at the Hospital Club in London by Lauren Laverne, with Adele and PJ Harvey the joint favourites to take the music prize according to the bookies.
Also on the shortlist for the award, which honours the best album of the year, were female singers Anna Calvi and Katy B, bands Everything Everything and Metronomy, and relatively unknown pianist Gwilym Simcock.
Adele’s second album, 21, spent 16 of its first 17 weeks at number one and is the UK’s bestselling album of 2011 so far. PJ Harvey’s Let England Shake is her eighth studio album and peaked at number eight on the album chart when it was released earlier this year.
Surprise omissions from the list include the Arctic Monkeys and Wild Beasts, who both released well-received albums in the past 12 months.
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Last year’s winners were the XX with their self-titled debut release.
The winner will be announced on 6 September.
See the full list of nominees, and their odds of winning, below:
4/1 Adele - 21
4/1 PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
5/1 Elbow - Build a Rocket Boys!
5/1 Tinie Tempah - Disc-overy
6/1 Anna Calvi - Anna Calvi
6/1 Katy B - On a Mission
8/1 Metronomy - The English Riviera
8/1 Everything Everything - Man Alive
8/1 James Blake - James Blake
10/1 Ghostpoet - Peanut Butter Blues & Melancholy Jam
10/1 King Creosote and Jon Hopkins - Diamond Mine
10/1 Gwilym Simcock - Good Days at Schloss Elmau
