The winner is set to be announced on 22nd October at Newcastle’s Utilita Arena
The shortlist for this year’s Mercury Prize has been announced.
Nia Archives’ second album, ‘Emotional Junglist’, is among the 12 records in contention for the prestigious annual award, alongside Dave’s ‘The Boy Who Played the Harp’, and Kojey Radical’s ‘Don’t Look Down’.
Also nominated are Florence + The Machine with ‘Everybody Scream’, Paul McCartney’s ‘The Boys of Dungeon Lane’, RAYE’s ‘THIS MUSIC MAY CONTAIN HOPE’, Loyle Carner’s ‘Hopefully!’, Kae Tempest’s ‘Self Titled’, and Sam Fender’s ‘People Watching’. The winner will be announced on 22nd October at Newcastle’s Utilita Arena.
Check out the full list of 2026 shortlisted albums here.
Released on 24th July, Archives’ ‘Emotional Junglist’ LP — which features contributions from Sampha and Jorja Smith — made the cut-off deadline for the shortlist by one week (17th July). Check out the video for album single ‘Boys in Blue’ here.
The nomination marks Archives’ second Mercury Prize shortlist appearance, following her 2024 nod for debut album, ‘Silence Is Loud’. The project made history as the first jungle album to be nominated for the Mercury Prize in 26 years.
Last year’s Mercury saw nominations for FKA twigs, Pa Salieu and PinkPantheress, with the award ultimately going to English Teacher for their debut album ‘This Could Be Texas’.
Watch twigs perform her Mercury-nominated ‘Eusexua’ album live at the Mercury Prize 2025 here.
