aaamusic | On 13, Sep 2012

An important year for musical creativity and diversity is confirmed by the 12 Albums of the Year shortlisted for the 2012 Barclaycard Mercury Prize, announced on Wednesday 12 September.

“This year’s Barclaycard Mercury Prize shortlist showcases a wonderful variety of musical voices, emotions and ambitions”, says Simon Frith, Chair of Judges. “There are eight debut albums on the list and four albums from more established artists. The sheer range of music here celebrates the abiding ability of British musicians to find new ways to explore traditional themes of love and loss while making an exhilarating soundtrack for life in 2012.”

The 2012 Albums of the Year are:

Alt-J                             An Awesome Wave
Ben Howard                 Every Kingdom
Django Django             Django Django
Field Music                   Plumb
Jessie Ware                 Devotion
Lianne La Havas          Is Your Love Big Enough?       
Michael Kiwanuka        Home Again      
Plan B                           Ill Manors
Richard Hawley            Standing at the Sky’s Edge
Roller Trio                     Roller Trio
Sam Lee                       Ground of its Own
The Maccabees            Given to the Wild

The Barclaycard Mercury Prize celebrates a year in UK music. The shortlist, chosen from an entry of over 250 albums, was announced by Lauren Laverne. The Hospital Club in Covent Garden, the club for the creative industries, hosted the event. For the first time, the announcement will be the subject of a dedicated television programme, which will be broadcast on Channel 4 at 12.10am on the night of the event. The 30-minute show will be presented by Nick Grimshaw and feature performances and interviews.

This year will see the Prize introduce a new series of exclusive one-off gigs featuring the shortlisted artists being held ahead of the Awards Show on 1 November. Tickets for the events will be made available through competitions and a special ballot system developed in association with the Prize’s title partner, Barclaycard and The Ticket Factory. Entry to the gigs will be free, although a donation of £10 will need to be made to War Child in order to secure each pair of tickets.  Barclaycard will be matching all donations made using a Barclaycard. Fans can register for more information at: https://www.theticketfactory.com

The overall winner of the 2012 Prize will be announced at the Barclaycard Mercury Prize Awards Show at the Roundhouse on Thursday 1 November 2012.