News

Hyundai Mercury Prize shortlist revealed

• 1st Aug 2017

The 2017 Hyundai Mercury Prize ‘Albums of the Year’ were announced on
Thursday 27 July.

The 2017 Albums of the Year are:
alt-j * Relaxer*
Blossoms *Blossoms*
Dinosaur *Together, As One*
Ed Sheeran *Divide*
Glass Animals *How to be a Human Being*
J Hus *Common Sense*
Kate Tempest *Let Them Eat Chaos*
Loyle Carner *Yesterday’s Gone*
Sampha *Process*
Stormzy *Gang Signs & Prayer*
The Big Moon *Love in the 4th Dimension*
The xx *I See You*

The Hyundai Mercury Prize ‘Albums of the Year’ celebrate and promote the
best of UK music recognising artistic achievement across a range of contemporary music genres. The shortlist was chosen by an independent judging panel and was revealed at a
launch event, hosted by BBC Music’s Huw Stephens on 27 July 2017. It was
also announced live by Tom Ravenscroft on Lauren Laverne’s show on BBC
Radio 6 Music.

The judges said “This year’s Hyundai Mercury Prize shortlist celebrates the
remarkable power of British music. What these artists have in common is an
infectious pleasure in music making and an arresting sense of urgency about
the music they make. They delight in exploring musical possibilities and
refusing to be pinned down by genre conventions.”

The twelve 2017 Hyundai Mercury Prize judges are:
Phil Alexander – Editor-in-Chief, Mojo and Q;
Clara Amfo – Broadcaster;
Jamie Cullum – Musician and Broadcaster;
Ella Eyre – Musician and Songwriter;
Harriet Gibsone – Music News Editor, The Guardian/TheGuardian.com;
Lianne La Havas – Musician and Songwriter;
Will Hodgkinson – Chief Rock & Pop Critic The Times;
MistaJam – DJ and Broadcaster;
Marcus Mumford – Musician and Songwriter;
Jeff Smith – Head of Music, 6 Music and Radio 2;
Jessie Ware – Musician and Songwriter;
and Mike Walsh – Head of Music, Radio X.

The Chair of the judging panel is the music executive, Tony Wadsworth CBE.

The 2017 Awards Show will take place on Thursday 14 September at the Eventim Apollo, Hammersmith.

The event will feature live performances from many of the shortlisted artists and the evening will culminate in the announcement of the overall winner of the 2017 Hyundai Mercury Prize for ‘Album of the Year’.

The Prize’s broadcast partner, BBC Music, will be providing live television and radio coverage of the event on BBC Four and BBC Radio 6 Music. The BBC Four show will be featuring performances from the artists on the night, building up to moment the winner is announced live. Ahead of this, BBC Two will broadcast a 30-minute documentary reviewing the shortlisted artists for the 2017 Prize, speaking to artists from the vanguard of grime, performance poetry and guitar rock, as well as past Mercury winners shortlisted again this year for the prestigious prize. BBC Radio 6 Music will also be broadcasting live on the night, building up to the moment the winner is announced and interviewing the recipient.