The prestigious Mercury Awards have announced their shortlist of nominees for this year's prize. Among the artists who have albums in the running for the 2015 prize are Jamie xx with his In Colour album, Aphex Twin's Syro, Slaves Are you Satisfied? and Florence & The Machine's How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful.
The annual prize is one of the most coveted music awards in the UK. It is selected by top members of the music industry and music critics, who vote on their favorite album of the past 12 months. That is why some of these albums will appear to be a bit old, but have made the cutoff for this award.
The winner will be selected on Nov. 20. All albums are chosen from UK and Irish LPs released between Sept. 9, 2014 and Sept. 25, 2015. The winner receives beyond the prestige of the prize, a physical trophy and a nice check for £20,000.
The prize began back in 1992. Past winners have included James Blake Overgrown in 2013, Alt-J An Awesome Wave in 2012 The xx xx in 2010, Arctic Monkeys Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not in 2006 and Portishead's Dummy in 1995.
See the complete list of 12 nominees below via the Mercury Prize.
Aphex Twin - Syro
Jamie xx - In Colour
Róisín Murphy - Hairless Toys
Ghostpoet - Shedding Skin
Wolf Alice - My Love Is Cool
C Duncan - Architect
Slaves - Are You Satisfied?
ESKA - ESKA
Florence and the Machine - How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful
Benjamin Clementine - At Least For Now
SOAK - Before We Forgot How to Dream
Gaz Coombes - Matador
