Mercury Prize 2010: Runners and Riders (Part 1)

In September last year I wrote a blog entry on the acts likely to be contesting this year's Mercury Prize, the 12-act shortlist for which is announced on Tuesday (20 July). Then, Speech Debelle had just picked up the award, in its 18th year, for her Speech Therapy debut. Now it's time to look ahead to next week, by going over the likely contenders for the 19th Mercury - many of whom were identified in my previous article.

Artist:The xx

Album:xx

Why: The London youngsters have made the unlikely transition from cautious critical darlings to commercial heavyweights, with an album that relies as much on space and silence as it does stirring sonics. Their rise to headliner status - two nights at London's Shepherd's Bush Empire were followed by a recent top-billing gig at the Roundhouse - has been astonishing, and they're probably the only band around who can have their audience singing along to an intro. They've lost a member along the way, but since negotiating said disturbance the band has become an unlikely unstoppable force, with appeal far beyond the indie scene. They must be considered favourites.

If the Mercury was the World Cup they'd be: Spain

Watch on YouTube:Islands, Basic Space, Crystalised

And if not them:These New Puritans have supported The xx, and their excellent second LP Hidden adheres to rules exclusively of the band's making. It's not an easy listen, but neither was xx the first time you heard it.

Artist:Wild Beasts

Album:Two Dancers

Why: The Kendal-formed four-piece's 2008 debut, Limbo, Panto, was a mini-masterpiece, but with their second long-player Wild Beasts have gone further - away from the indie middle ground and deeper into lyrical lustfulness that plays out to such a graphic extent that the songs of Two Dancers are as likely to prompt blushing as they are bopping. It's not all torn blouses and tattered trousers, though, and as immediate melodies sink deep into the listener the twin vocal powerhouses of Hayden Thorpe and Tom Fleming shine like never before. Theirs is an especially infectious recipe for leftfield success, and a Mercury nod is surely deserved. It's what the band needs, now, to properly take their wonderful music into the mainstream.

If the Mercury was the World Cup they'd be: Germany

Watch on YouTube:All the King's Men, Hooting & Howling, We Still Got the Taste Dancing on Our Tongues

And if not them: Similarly intelligent and immediate of impression, but equally under-appreciated beyond a limited listenership, are Field Music. The Sunderland band's double-disc (Measure) album is one of the critical hits of 2010 so far, and the judging panel made a mistake in 2007 by not shortlisting their Tones of Town LP.

Artist:Dizzee Rascal

Album:Tongue N' Cheek

Why: A winner in 2003 with his debut album Boy in da Corner, and one of the shortlisted 12 four years later with Maths + English, it's fair to say that Bow boy Dizzee is a Mercury favourite. But since hitting the top spot with Calvin Harris hook-up Dance Wiv Me in 2008 the man born Dylan Mills has also been a fixture on the charts. He's now had four number one singles, all of which feature on Tongue N' Cheek (albeit courtesy of its deluxe edition). A bona-fide pop star hasn't won the Mercury since Arctic Monkeys triumphed in 2006, but such is Dizzee's dominance of the domestic market that a second victory could be on the cards... Unless overcoming the he-REALLY-doesn't-need-the-exposure hurdle proves too much.

If the Mercury was the World Cup he'd be: Italy

Watch on YouTube:Dirtee Disco, Bonkers, Dance Wiv Me

And if not him: Switching sexes, and cities, how about Envy? The Manchester rapper's debut Set Yourself on Fire is one of the most confident and accomplished releases of its type heard by these ears for some time. Take Lady Sov', strip away all the nonsense and throw in some serious attitude: bingo, you've the makings of a star, surely?

Artist:Four Tet

Album:There is Love in You

Why: He's one of the most celebrated musicians on the British electronic scene, yet Four Tet (aka Kieran Hebden) has never enjoyed a Mercury shortlist berth before. There is Love in You is his fifth album proper, and continues the development of a hugely influential brand of texturally rich, senses-stimulating organic electro - call it folktronica if you must, but Hebden outgrew that tag several records ago. If anything, this release finds him adopting a more stripped-back, minimalist approach, ensuring immediacy while also enveloping the listener with his traditional warmth. Its mesmerising melodies are truly joyous.

If the Mercury was the World Cup he'd be: Uruguay

Watch on YouTube:Angel Echoes, Love Cry, Circling

And if not him:F*** Buttons' Tarot Sport is a monster of ever-building layers, beguiling the listener with shifts subtle but striking. But that name will almost certainly play against their chances.

Artist:Steve Mason

Album:Boys Outside

Why: The ex-Beta Band man's solo debut under his own name is one of those albums that takes its time to connect with the listener, but once it does all one wants to do is play it again, and again, and again. It's an electro-soul affair of utmost understatement, its cathartic revelations regarding the breakdown of a relationship cutting to the core but delivered in such a fashion that, unless attentions are maintained, these insights can be missed beneath the sumptuously melancholic backings. Despite success both critical and commercial, The Beta Band never appeared on a Mercury shortlist - but Boys Outside absolutely deserves a place amongst Britain's finest LPs of the last year.

If the Mercury was the World Cup he'd be: Ghana

Watch on YouTube:Lost and Found, All Come Down, I Let Her In

And if not him: It's not the same, at all, but another artist to release their latest album in the wake of a relationship's end is Corinne Bailey Rae. Her husband, Jason, died in 2008, and while there are few direct references to him in The Sea, it's nevertheless an album haunted by loss.

Artist:Laura Marling

Album:I Speak Because I Can

Why: Shortlisted for her debut album, Alas, I Cannot Swim, in 2008, Hampshire-born indie-folkster Laura Marling was widely tipped to scoop the prize at her first attempt. The Mercury went to Elbow, but there's no doubt Marling left her mark, and her second album is the cream of a bumper recent crop from the country's crossover folk crowd. Placed beside efforts from Noah and the Whale, Mumford & Sons and Stornoway it's inarguably the outstanding achievement, emanating a gentle grace and poetic prowess that's hard, still, to equate with the singer's tender age of 20. Heaven knows what she'll be capable of come her next record, which must be a Mercury winner should she again fall short in 2010.

If the Mercury was the World Cup she'd be: Brazil

Watch on YouTube:Rambling Man, Devil's Spoke, Goodbye England

And if not her: Marling's friend Johnny Flynn has a great second album under his belt, Been Listening every bit as wonderfully arranged as I Speak... but slightly less engaging due to its theatrical lyrical slants. It's a grower, though, and worth investigating by those moved by any of the current alt-folk favourites.

Part 2 of this feature can be read here.