Barclaycard Mercury Prize 2014: Damon Albarn, Royal Blood And FKA Twigs Nominated (FULL NOMINEES LIST)
Who's Been Nominated For This Year's Mercury Prize?
PA/The Huffington Post UK
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The 12 albums shortlisted for this year’s Barclaycard Mercury Prize 2014 have been announced, with Damon Albarn, Bombay Bicycle Club and Royal Blood all bagging themselves a nomination.
FKA twigs and Nick Mulvey have also been nominated for the prize, which honours albums recorded by British and Irish acts that have been released in the past 12 months, chosen by an independent panel of music industry experts and artists.
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Nominees Anna Calvi, Nick Mulvey and FKA twigs
Over half of the albums to have made the cut are debut releases, including Damon Albarn’s ‘Everyday Robots’, although he has previously been nominated for his releases with Blur, while another of his projects, Gorillaz, famously rejected their nomination in 2001.
Simon Frith, chairman of the judges, said: “This year's Barclaycard Mercury Prize shortlist confirms that these are fascinating times for UK music. There are seven outstanding debut albums here, and five records by more established artists, all pursuing exciting directions.”
"What most impressed the judges was the inventive passion with which musicians explore music and emotional possibilities, refusing to be pinned down by rules or genre."
Royal Blood and Damon Albarn have been named the joint favourites to follow in the footsteps of last year’s winner James Blake by bookies William Hill, with the odds for both acts being listed as 4/1.
Previous winners of the prize include acts as varied as Arctic Monkeys, Dizzee Rascal and PJ Harvey, who currently stands as the only artist to have ever won the award twice.
The 12 albums nominated for the Barclaycard Mercury Prize this year are as follows…
LONDON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 10: Nick Grimshaw attends the Barclaycard Mercury Prize nominations launch at The Hospital Club on September 10, 2014 in London, England. (Photo by Danny Martindale/WireImage) (credit:Danny Martindale via Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 10: Anna Calvi attends the Barclaycard Mercury Prize nominations launch at The Hospital Club on September 10, 2014 in London, England. (Photo by John Phillips/Getty Images) (credit:John Phillips via Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 10: Jack Steadman, Suren de Saram, Jamie MacColl, Ed Nash of Bombay Bicycle Clubattend the Barclaycard Mercury Prize nominations launch at The Hospital Club on September 10, 2014 in London, England. (Photo by John Phillips/Getty Images) (credit:John Phillips via Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 10: FKA Twigs attends the Barclaycard Mercury Prize nominations launch at The Hospital Club on September 10, 2014 in London, England. (Photo by John Phillips/Getty Images) (credit:John Phillips via Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 10: Alloysious Massaquoi, 'G' Hastings and Kayus Bankole of Young Fathers attend the Barclaycard Mercury Prize nominations launch at The Hospital Club on September 10, 2014 in London, England. (Photo by John Phillips/Getty Images) (credit:John Phillips via Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 10: East India Youth attends the Barclaycard Mercury Prize nominations launch at The Hospital Club on September 10, 2014 in London, England. (Photo by John Phillips/Getty Images) (credit:John Phillips via Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 10: Polar Blood attends the Barclaycard Mercury Prize nominations launch at The Hospital Club on September 10, 2014 in London, England. (Photo by John Phillips/Getty Images) (credit:John Phillips via Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 10: Nick Mulvey attends the Barclaycard Mercury Prize nominations launch at The Hospital Club on September 10, 2014 in London, England. (Photo by John Phillips/Getty Images) (credit:John Phillips via Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 10: Chris Illingworth, Nick Blacka and Rob Turner of GoGo Penguin attend the Barclaycard Mercury Prize nominations launch at The Hospital Club on September 10, 2014 in London, England. (Photo by John Phillips/Getty Images) (credit:John Phillips via Getty Images)