Mercury profiles

6 Music gives you the lowdown on the 12 nominees shortlisted for the Mercury Prize

22 July 2008 - The final twelve artists in the running for the Mercury Prize have been announced and check out 6 Music's profiles of them below.

ADELE, 19

Biography: Born in 1988, Adele has stormed into our consciousness with her debut album 19 and number one hit single Chasing Pavements. Dubbed as the next Amy Winehouse when she was just 19, the London-based singer songwriter has influences of Etta James and Jill Scott. Adele began to make an impression in 2006 when she opened for Jack Penate and later signed with XL recordings after she appeared on Later With Jools Holland. She has since won the BBC’s Critics’ Choice award.

Current William Hill odds: 8/1


BRITISH SEA POWER, Do You Like Rock Music?

Biography: Hailing from Brighton, the quartet have been likened to Joy Division and Arcade Fire. Formed in 2000 they had released two singles Fear Of Drowning and Remember Me by 2001. Their acclaimed debut album, The Decline Of British Sea Power hit us in 2003 with Open Season in 2005, and their most recent contribution, Do You Like Rock Music?, earlier this year. The new album was made in the Czech Republic, Canada and Fort Tregantle in Cornwall.

At the nominations: The band were very happy with the news, despite their manager hiding it from them, with Wood saying: "It's a pretty big thing to get nominated for, we're very chuffed with it."

They were pleased to see Elbow on the list, having played with them in Germany, and Noble went on to say: "It's a mixed bag, I haven't heard of a lot of it but then I never normally do.  It's a good thing that you can check out these other artists you've never heard of and discover some new music."

Current William Hill odds: 8/1


BURIAL, Untrue

Biography: The mysterious dubstep producer released his self-titled debut in 2006 which was voted The Wire’s Album Of The Year and received critical praise from Mixmag and Pitchfork. The anonymous Londoner’s follow up album, Untrue, hit stores in 2007 and was reviewed even more favourably than its predecessor.

What they say: "Burial is currently uncontactable."

Current William Hill odds: 6/1


ELBOW, The Seldom Seen Kid

Biography: Their debut album Asleep In The Back was a Mercury Prize nominee in 2001.  Active since 1990, the band have had some trouble with labels in the past and were dropped by Universal in 1998 before releasing an album. They went on to sign with the indie label V2 and ten years on, are back with the major label Polydor, owned by Universal. Elbow just released their commended fourth studio album, The Seldom Seen Kid, in March with Grounds For Divorce and One Day Like This released as singles.

What they say: Frontman, and 6 Music presenter, Guy Garvey called us to share his reaction: "I think it’s a really strong list - it's great that there's so much top music coming out of this country at the moment. I think a lot of it is down to how quickley and cheaply you can make music these days. There's no way without the kind of technology that’s available we'd have been able to make The Seldom Seen Kid ourselves because we were effectively unsigned when we made that record.

Current William Hill odds: 6/1


ESTELLE, Shine

Biography: The female UK MC Estelle sprang from performing in London clubs with the likes of Roots Manuva. Her solo debut album, The 18^th Day, came out in 2004 but she has been making waves this year with her new album Shine, released in April of this year. The track American Boy features the American rapper Kanye West and went to number one in various singles charts across the world.

What they say: It is something Estelle has been dreaming about for some time: "I didn't even think about it but I'm really happy.  It's something you watch every year of your career, especially as a serious artist, you watch it like, 'one day', and it's kinda like that day now.  All I've got to do is hope I win it."

Current William Hill odds: 8/1


LAURA MARLING, Alas I Cannot Swim

Biography: Reading songstress Laura Marling was first noticed when she was 16 years and began to gain a Myspace following. With quirky folk songs, a unique voice and her guitar she has toured extensively with her debut album Alas I Cannot Swim.  The album was produced by Noah And The Whale’s frontman Charlie Fink and released with a multimedia Songbox package.

At the nominations: Laura thinks the Mercury's are a British institution we can be proud of: "They always have such a broad range of music, it makes you very patriotic. I like Elbow's album, and Radiohead's album is obviously amazing, so that's quite daunting. "

Current William Hill odds: 8/1

NEON NEON, Stainless Style

Biography: Neon Neon formed when Super Furry Animal’s Gruff Rhys and hip-hop producer Boom Bip came together for the side project in 2005. There is a distinct ‘80s new wave influence to their dance inflected songs. Their debut album Stainless Style was released in March on Lex Records and is a concept album about the car designer John DeLorean - the man who's car was made famous in the Back To The Future film.  The band have since played a heap of festivals - including their Other Stage appearance at Glastonbury 2008.

At the nominations: Both members were chuffed with Boom Bip telling 6 Music: "It feels very genuine because it feels that the process of being nominated seems very legitimate.  

"It's people who love music and to be nominated for something like that, that doesn't have all the hype around it.  It's like actual people voting so it's much more rewarding in that way than any other prizes."

Current William Hill odds: 10/1


PORTICO QUARTET, Knee Deep In The North Sea

Biography: Their first album, Knee Deep In The North Sea, hit stores in 2007. The jazz quartet originate from London and their sound consists of a soprano and alto saxophone, double bass, and various percussion instruments.

At the nominations: Double bassist Milo Fitzpatrick told 6 Music: "It was such a surprise, we kind of knew that it might be up for grabs in that jazz section and we knew we might have a chance but you never really think it, so when it did come about we were like ace, wicked – amazed."

Although officially there is no jazz section, they don't mind if they are the token jazz act, as percussionist Duncan Bellamy explained: "If you’re being very logical about it you can look at the previous years and see that they’ve always had that band there.

"Polar Bear, a couple of years ago, Basquiat Strings.  But we’ve got as much chance as anybody else.  There’s a really high standard of music throughout."

Current William Hill odds: 10/1


RACHEL UNTHANK & THE WINTERSET, The Bairns

Biography: The Northumbrian quartet’s debut titled Cruel Sister was extremely well-received and praised for their eerie acoustic ballads. Crowned Mojo’s Folk Album Of The Year in 2005 they delivered their follow up, The Bairns, in August 2007 - which received four and five star reviews across the board.

At the nominations: 6 Music caught up with Rachel Unthank, who was surprised that Duffy wasn't shortlisted.

Unthank said: "I think she's got an amazing voice but then so has Adele, I think they're in a similar category of having classically wonderful voices.  I guess some people got it instead of Duffy because there are a few people around at the moment that are like her."

Current William Hill odds: 10/1


RADIOHEAD, In Rainbows

Biography: Radiohead caused an upheaval in the music industry when they decided to release their new album In Rainbows as a download, for which fans could decide on their own price. Thom Yorke’s haunting vocals feature are once again showcased in their recent singles Jigsaw Falling Into Place and Nude. Since releasing their eighth record, Radiohead have embarked on a massive tour of the UK, Europe, Japan and America.

Current William Hill odds: 5/1


ROBERT PLANT & ALISON KRAUSS, Raising Sand

Biography: The former Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant and bluegrass icon Alison Krauss are up for their 2007 Grammy winning record Raising Sand. The juxtaposition of rock god and country singer was once deemed an unlikely pairing but the results have been successful as critics congratulated the fruits of their labour.

Current William Hill odds: 6/1


THE LAST SHADOW PUPPETS, The Age Of The Understatement

Biography: The Last Shadow Puppets is a collaborative side project of Arctic Monkeys’ frontman Alex Turner and The Rascals’ singer Miles Kane, inspired by the music of Scott Walker. Their first album, The Age of Understatement, is described on the band's website as, “12 full-blooded songs, bold and brassy”. They met when the Arctic Monkeys toured with Kane's previous band, The Little Flames.

What they say: “We started out writing these songs together just for our own pleasure, so now it’s quite overwhelming for the album to be nominated for the Mercury Music Prize. It’s an honour to be nominated, we’re really excited and looking forward to the night.”

Current William Hill odds: 5/1
 
Check out the BBC's Mercury Prize official site

Georgie Rogers