Mercury Music Prize Preview

**While most awards ceremonies act as a phenomenal PR stunt and a chance for bands and miscellaneous celebrities to get together for a piss-up, the Mercury Music Prize for British album of the year has managed to maintain respect and dignity within the flying-circus of modern pop music. Past winners of the prize have provided seminal albums which have defined the periods in which they were born. Dizzee Rascal became the first rapper to win the award with ‘Boy In Da Corner’ in 2003, before the mainstream metamorphosis of grime into the cheesy-pop offshoot it is today.**

Similarly, Franz Ferdinand’s self-titled debut won the prize in 2004. This preceded the deluge of indie bands which flooded the pop charts with enough interchangeable sing-alongs to make Rihanna look like Radiohead. While trip-hop and jungle did not suffer the diluting fates of grime and indie-pop, the prize’s recognition of Portishead’s ‘Dummy’ and Roni Size’ ‘New Levels’ in the mid-90s solidify their place in the canon of British music.

The prize celebrates its twentieth anniversary this year, yet a disappointing list of nominees threatens to damage the reputation of this cultural barometer. The Maccabees, Django Django and Field Music all produced solid but forgettable albums in 2012. Plan B’s ‘Ill Manors’ provided a sharp and powerful look into ‘David Cameron’s broken Britain’, yet his deliverance remains lacking and the production verges on cliché. Ben Howard, Michael Kiwanuka and Lianne La Havas all produced sensationally soulful records this year, yet these are sounds we have heard before and the Mercury Prize should not reward imitation. Similarly, Richard Hawley’s ‘Standing at the Sky’s Edge’ is yet another outstanding effort from the Steel city troubadour but his folk-tinged Britpop belongs to a bygone era. Special mention must go to Jessie Ware’s ‘Devotion’. With its intelligent production reminiscent of previous winners, The XX, and powerful vocals aplenty the album is a triumph. The same must be said for Roller Trio and their eponymous debut album. Their blend of visceral jazz and electronic soundscapes make them worthy contenders.

However, there can only be one winner on Wednesday. It seems that for the sake of the credibility of the Mercury Prize it must be ‘An Awesome Wave’, the debut album from Alt-J. No other album among this year’s nominees so challenges the development of pop music today. Swirling guitars, afrobeat rhythms and gorgeous harmonic vocals take us through this subtle masterpiece. With patient interludes mingled among standout singles, the tone of the album is consistent and the quality is high throughout. The band’s influences are wide-ranging, the electro-acoustic blend of Four Tet is alluded to, yet their sound remains something original- something immediately accessible yet constantly intriguing. Pop music needs Alt-J to bring about a new era of experimental guitar music and winning British music’s most prestigious prize will surely be the spark to bring about this change.