Pocket Guides 2023 - Part 3: Olivia Dean, RAYE, Shygirl, and Young Fathers

In the final part of three pocket guides, Matt Everitt profiles four of this year’s Mercury Award nominated albums, with bespoke & archive interviews as well as deep cuts.

The next album he covers in this series is by Olivia Dean. Although Messy is her debut, she's been releasing songs since 2018 breaking through with 2021’s five track Growth EP. This album is a collection smooth pop soul, organic instrumentation, gentle guitars, slick keyboard washes and occasional tinges of the gospel she was brought up on. Guests on the album include Leon Bridges and she's been tipped for great success by none other than Sir Elton John!

RAYE's My 21'st Century Blues is another hottly tipped debut from South London Brit School graduate, Rachel Agatha Keen. It's been a long time in it's gestation too, with her previous record label failing to recognise her talent as a performer and songwriter and refusing to let her release an album of her work. Having cut herself loose from that arrangement this album that she has now finally released is a killer, and it’s everything; confidently delivering on a wide range of styles.

Next it's Shygirl with her debut album Nymph. It's a seductive, playful and gloriously shame free album, but there's also a less brash side to the songs too. In contrast to earlier single & EP releases, Shygirl showcases more ethereal and fragile elements on this album.

Finally in this series, Matt profiles Young Fathers fourth album, Heavy Heavy. They won The Mercury Prize In 2014 for their debut album Dead and stylistically Heavy Heavy is more diverse than anything they've done before. More melodic than it's predecessors in places, and definitely more complex and ambitious in others they are tipped for a good chance of winning again in 2023.