It's Been a Bad Year for British Albums but a Great Year for British Music

Let’s start with what we have to be thankful for. In a week in which the entire world, from Apple CEO Tim Cook to FKA Twigs, appeared to co-sign Sam Smith, let’s thank the Mercury Panel for a least putting some clear water between the world of critically celebrated music and this guy. Any chance of stopping his rise and the mediocrity he champions—Duffy without the sparkling personality, Barlow without the wry sense of humour—has surely passed us by, but at least this snub means he’s never going to get on Newsnight Review.

Otherwise the list is… fine. Not exciting, not controversial, just OK. But unlike last year, it’s difficult to put too much blame with the panel. Certainly it seems like they ignored a few of the more urgent records of the past year in favor of some bizarre safe choices. Instead of the lurching broken techno of Actress, we’re offered the lumpen A-Level rock of Royal Blood. Instead of the fuming political fury of Sleaford Mods, we’re given Anna Calvi’s second album (which seems a bit odd seen as Anna Calvi was on the panel in 2012. It’s just an observation, but it’s strange an album no one cared about at the time is on the shortlist, just after she made mates with everyone who voted on it.)

What is missing is one choice that really came from nowhere. 22-year-old producer Wen could have been a good shout, his record Signals felt like an aggressive, austere answer to the question where does grime go next? Sleaford are another obvious choice to show there’s some desire to show British culture biting back rather than rolling over.

But, bluntly, this hasn’t been a great year for British albums. In almost every field (pop - Beyoncé, charming folky songwriting - Mac De Marco, weird but accessible jazz - Chet Faker, leftfield hip-hop - Ratking, mainstream hip-hop - Schoolboy Q, dancehall - Popcaan, ambient - Kiasmos, great vibes - Todd Terje) the UK has been shown up by international artists.

FACT did a piece on who they thought should be on the list, and while there were some nice choices on there, it was all sort of interesting music for heads—not bold pieces that rub people the wrong way. Even in their list, they had to bend all sorts of rules the panel never would, including Band Camp EPs and PC Music collections that would not be considered by the panel, with it’s rigid HMV-era definition of an album. Compare the Mercury list to the Turner or Booker Prize list and it still seems as if British music seems overly comfortable.

Why this seems particularly strange is because this has actually been a standout year for British music, particularly new artists. Back in May, we wrote about our excitement for the likes of Sub Luna City, Fat White Family, Black Mack, Juce, Dornik, Ben Khan, and Real Lies—all new British artists whose music is bringing life back to homegrown scenes. Since then grime has had a joyous singles-led summer resurgence. The emergence of new singers like Laura Doggett proves we have songwriting capability that can challenge the US. Mista Silva and Fuse ODG have been at the forefront of an Afrobeats scene that’s overtaken a electronic underground that has been struggling with introversion and nerdish masculinity for too long. PC Music has sparked debate and delight with their inventive take on happy hardcore and bubblegum pop. Get Hot made us excited about loud music with screaming for the first time since we were teenagers. SOPHIE made a couple of tracks that somehow managed to capture the joy of turn-of-the-century pop garage while being something different entirely. Lil Silva, TEED, and Sampha have proven UK production is the envy of the world.

But none of them made albums. In fact, for a lot of those artists, the only reason to make an album would be to try and get the recognition of the Mercury panel, to have the legitimacy for the self-appointed gatekeepers of “proper” music. In the past, artists felt that was something they had to do. Dizzee Rascal, for example, not only made grime’s best album but also one of the genre’s first. In a world where you could become a hero off the back of 16-bars, it was a shrewd move to try and win over people who only listened to things they could buy in a jewel case.

Today it seems they’re less and less bothered with that kind of acclaim. And unlike the Turner prize, in which pretty much anything goes, the Mercury is ill-equipped to dealing with artists that aren’t interested in winning it. So the panel has to decide—does it want to ghettoise itself in the world of the officially released album and the sort of artist that attracts—or can it expand into a prize, into an award for contemporary music—be that show, album, song, soundtrack or any other format not yet thought of. British music needs that kind of award, and if Mercury are unable to offer it maybe someone else will.

Sam Wolfson is the Executive Editor of Noisey UK. He's on Twitter — @samwolfson

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