The nominations for the 2020 Mercury Prize have been revealed. Dua Lipa, Charli XCX, and Stormzy are among the artists leading the competition for the prestigious £25,000 prize. Michael Kiwanuka, Porridge Radio, and Georgia are also part of the shortlist. Check out the full list of nominations below.
The shortlist was selected by an esteemed panel of industry professionals, including radio presenter Annie Mac, Supergrass’ Gaz Coombes, as well as new judges Anna Calvi and Gemma Cairney.
“In these difficult and uncertain times the Hyundai Mercury Prize is proud to celebrate the remarkable power of music to inspire and exhilarate,” the judges said in a statement. “The albums on the 2020 shortlist showcase a great diversity of sounds, styles, ambitions and experience. What these albums share is an irresistible urgency, a belief that their music matters more than ever.”
The winner of last year’s coveted award was Dave for his album Psychodrama.
METZ have announced their fourth studio album, Atlas Vending, set for release on October 9 via Sub Pop. The Toronto punk trio, consisting of guitarist/vocalist Alex Edkins, drummer Hayden Menzies, and bassist Chris Slorachalso, also unveiled the first single from the album, ‘A Boat to Drown In’, along with a music video directed by Tony Wolski. Check it out below, and scroll for the album’s artwork and tracklist.
Containing 10 tracks, the new album was recorded at Machines with Magnets in Rhode Island and was co-produced by Ben Greenberg (Uniform) and engineered and and mixed by Seth Manchester (Daughters, Lingua Ignota, The Body). As METZ’s Alex Edkins explains, the new album is “about leaving a bad situation behind. About overcoming obstacles that once held you back, rising above, and looking to a better future. The title refers to immersing yourself fully into what you love and using it as a sanctuary from negativity and a catalyst for change.”
He added: “Our goal is to remain in flux, to grow in a natural and gradual way. We’ve always been wary to not overthink or intellectualize the music we love but also not satisfied until we’ve accomplished something that pushes us forward.”
Speaking of the new song and video in particular, director Tony Wolski said in a press release: “The song has a beautiful, crushing numbness to it that we wanted to mirror in the visual. So we chose to romanticize our main character’s descent into her delusions of love and togetherness. At a time when everyone’s simultaneously coping with some sort of isolation, a story about loneliness—and the mania that comes with it—seems appropriate to tell.”
Atlas Vending follows from the band’s 2017’s album Strange Peace. Last year, they released a compilation of B-Sides and rarities called Automat.
Atlas Vending Cover Artwork:
Atlas Vending Tracklist:
1. Pulse
2. Blind Youth Industrial Park
3. The Mirror
4. No Ceiling
5. Hail Taxi
6. Draw Us In
7. Sugar Pill
8. Framed by the Comet’s Tail
9. Parasite
10. A Boat to Drown In
Back in May, it was announced that Fiona Apple would be one of the songwriters to contribute to Apple TV’s new musical comedy series Central Park, created by Josh Gad, Bob’s Burgers’ Loren Bouchard, and Nora Smith. Ahead of tomorrow’s (July 24) finale, A Fish Called Snakehead, a new Fiona Apple-penned track has been shared called ‘New York Doesn’t Like Your Face’. Check it out below.
The track was co-written by Apple’s friend and collaborator David Lucky, and is sung by one of the characters on the show, Ashley, voiced by the six-time Tony winner Audra McDonald. The full soundtrack for Central Park will also be released tomorrow, including contributions from Cyndi Lauper, Meghan Trainor, Sara Bareilles, Aimee Mann, Andy Hamilton, and more.
Back in April, Apple released her much-anticipated, critically lauded album Fetch the Bolt Cutters. Last month, she pledged to donate all of the proceeds from the use of her tracks ‘Shameika’ and ‘Heavy Balloon’ in film and TV to charity.
Following her breakout 2019 single ‘Moral of the Story’, California indie pop artist Ashe has released her latest single, the catchy yet emotionally stirring ‘Save Myself’. Check it out below.
Though recorded after ‘Moral of the Story’, the two singles are closely related. “I look at ‘Save Myself’ as the precursor to ‘Moral of the Story’ instead of the follow up,” Ashe explained in a press release. “People say there are five stages of grief; I wrote ‘Moral of the Story’ in the fifth stage of grieving my relationship: acceptance. ‘Save Myself’ (although, written post ‘Moral’) is about my second stage: anger.”
She added: “It means the world to have a chance to express the anger I felt in a healthy way, because whether we like it or not, our anger demands to be felt and let out.”
Last year, Ashe released two FINNEAS-produced EPs: Moral of the Story: Chapter 1 & 2. Back in June, she released a new version of ‘Moral of the Story’ featuring ex-One Direction member Niall Horan.
J. Cole has shared two new songs, ‘The Climb Back’ and ‘Lion King on Ice’. The tracks appear on a new single called Lewis Street, and will be featured on the North Carolina rapper’s upcoming album The Fall Off. Check them out below.
‘The Climb Back’ was produced solely by Cole, while ‘Lion King on Ice’ features co-production from ‘MIDDLECHILD’ collaborator jetsonmade and T-Minus. The Fall Off will be the long-awaited follow-up to 2018’s KOD. No release date has yet been announced. “Taking my time, still finishing,” Cole wrote on Instagram.
The rapper has been busy since releasing KOD. Last year, he spearheaded the latest installment in the Dreamville collaborative series, Revenge of the Dreamers III, which featured Kendrick Lamar, Vince Staples, J.I.D, Young Nudy, DaBaby, EarthGang, Smino, T.I., and more. Last month, he released the surprise single ‘Snow on tha Bluff’, in which he appeared to take aim at Noname, who responded with her own track.
At just 22 years old, indie singer-songwriter Samia has already developed a knack for writing sharp, self-aware songs that can be as witty as they are evocative. Her latest series of singles, taken from her upcoming album The Baby, showcase her impressive versatility as an artist: ‘Fit N’ Full’ is a driving, infectious indie rock tune that satirizes diet culture (“Phasing out of this old fairy tale/ Apple cider vinegar and kale”), while ‘Is There Something in the Movies?’ is easily one of the most heart-wrenching acoustic ballads of the year, anchored by a spine-tingling performance from Samia that soars with emotion against a lone finger-picked guitar. A song about feeling disenchanted with the entertainment industry, it’s accompanied by an equally moving video starring none other than Maya Hawke and Charlie Plummer. And today, Samia has served up not one but two new singles: ‘Big Wheel’ playfully captures the feeling of having too many people to deal with and too many complicated thoughts to even attempt to lay them all out, while ‘Stellate’ slows things down for a more intimate look at relationships and communication. Following a busy 2019 opening for the likes of Hippo Campus (whose Jake Luppen and Nathan Stoker helped produce the record) and Soccer Mommy, it’s safe to say this year will be an even bigger one for Samia.
We caught up with Samia for this edition of our Artist Spotlight series, where we showcase up-and-coming artists and give them a chance to talk a bit about their music.
What’s your earliest musical memory?
singing in the car with my dad!!
What are some artists you look up to?
Father John Misty, Lana Del Rey, Angel Olsen, Okay Kaya, Brittany Howard, Mark Kozelek, Elliot Smith, my friends!!
Could you talk about your new single ‘Big Wheel’? Was there a specific feeling you were trying to evoke?
It was an opportunity for me to express problems I had with people I cared about buried in a laundry list of gratitude. I’m horrible at confrontation so I was trying to find a way to voice frustrations without sounding unappreciative of those relationships.
‘Is There Something in the Movies?’ takes on quite a different approach, what was it like writing and recording that track?
That song came out all at once. I played it begrudgingly for my friends on tour thinking they’d hate it but they were really encouraging so I just kept playing it! We tried a more climactic iteration of it while we were touring but I ended up missing the intimacy of the acoustic version so we settled on that.
Could you talk about shooting the video for the single? What was it like working with Maya Hawke and Charlie Plummer?
They were very sweet for being in that video and are both amazing actors so it was an honor to have them. I wanted to use the video to support and highlight the lunacy of the song and the role I played in that story. Worked on it with my friend Matt Hixon and he was responsible for bringing all those ideas to life visually!
What about the video for ‘Fit N’ Full’? What was the inspiration behind it?
I was just messing around shooting camcorder videos with my friend Muriel Margaret on a day off in Virginia Beach and we wanted to do something with the footage. We sent it to Marty Macpherson and he strung it together conceptually based on his interpretation of the song!
How do these tracks relate to the album as a whole?
They’re kinda representative of either end of the emotional spectrum of the album. Fit N Full is written from the perspective of the most falsely confident version of myself and Movies is probably the most honestly vulnerable and pleading.
Perfume Genius was the musical guest on last night’s (July 21) remote edition of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon! Mike Hadreas and his band performed the tracks ‘On the Floor’ and ‘Jason’, from his most recent album, Set My Heart on Fire Immediately. The latter was part of a web exclusive. Watch the performances below.
Preceded by lead single ‘Describe’, Set My Heart on Fire Immediately, which landed on our Best Albums of 2020 (So Far) list, came out in May. Last month, Perfume Genius released a cover of Mazzy Star’s classic 1993 single ‘Fade Into You’. Check out our recent deep dive into that track here.
The Avalanches have shared two new songs: ‘Wherever You Go’ featuring Jamie xx, Neneh Cherry, and Australian artist CLYPSO, and ‘Reflecting Light’ featuring Sananda Maitreya and British folk artist Vashti Bunyan. Check them out below.
Featuring Mick Jones of the Clash on drums, ‘Wherever You Go’ is built around a sample of 1977’s The Voyager Golden Record. “Why do we send music to the stars?” The Avalanches wrote in a statement. “Is it because we want our voices to live forever? How else should we become pure spirits, singing forever in the dark?”
‘Reflecting Light’, on the other hand, borrows a sample from Vashti Bunyan’s 1970 track ‘Glow Worms’. “What are these sounds that haunt our lives… floating in the static and the noise all around us, just beyond our grasp?” they said about the track. “Are they radio waves, hallucinations? Voices from the past?”
The tracks serve as the latest preview of the electronic group’s upcoming album, which will be the follow-up to 2016’s Wildflower. Previously, the Avalanches shared the collaborative singles ‘Running Red Lights’ with Rivers Cuomo and Pink Siifu and ‘We Will Always Love You’ with Blood Orange.
Lydia Loveless has announced a new album called Daughter. The album, her first on her new label Honey, You’re Gonna Be Late, is set for release on September 25. She also shared a video for her new single ‘Love is Not Enough’. Check it out below, along with the album’s tracklist and artwork.
“The song is a response to the old-fashioned idea that love is all you need as opposed to understanding, or give and take,” Lydia Loveless explained in a statement. “On a larger scale, it’s about people who say things like ‘love trumps hate’ and take zero action to make it true. It’s not enough to ‘feel’ the emotion of love to make things work whether it’s in your own personal relationships or the way you interact with the world.”
Lydia Loveless’ last album, Real, came out four years ago.
Daughter Tracklist:
1. Dead Writer
2. Love Is Not Enough
3. Wringer
4. Can’t Think
5. Say My Name
6. Never
7. Daughter
8. When You’re Gone
9. September
10. Don’t Bother Mountain
We all love our homes to be just so, but do you know what your personal style and taste in the home says about you? Are you well-travelled? Creative? Relaxed and calm? These are all personality traits that can well and truly come across in the way you decorate your space.
“Home is where the heart is”, and if you express yourself by decorating your home, there’s a reason why the saying resonates with people. You’ll always return to your home – it’s a place of comfort and safety, and it’s meant to represent who you are, not a trend that comes and goes.
Whether it’s intentional or not, find out what your home might be saying about you…
Bringing the outside, in
If you’re one to litter your home with beautiful plants and flowers, you’re more than likely to be a lover of the outdoors and someone who enjoys spending time in nature. There are so many benefits to introducing plants into your home – not only do they look good and add evoke a sense of peace and tranquillity, but they help to purify the air in your home too.
The literature lover
Do most of your rooms house an eclectic choice of books and novels? No matter what genre they are, if your home is adorned with books you’re likely to be a lover of literature. You’re also likely to enjoy a deep conversation about a number of different topics, and it’s also a sign that you’re very open-minded. You’ll also have a willingness to try new things and explore new ideas.
All the well-travelled vibes
Are your shelves carefully decorated with memories of your travels across the world? Then you’re not only likely an avid traveller, but people who spruce their homes up with decorative items, tend to be very ambitious. These people want to show their home at its best, and know that it’s these little things that make a big impression.
Every neutral shade of the rainbow
Often if your home is carefully decorated with neutral tones, whether that’s on the wall or in the form of cushions and other soft furnishings, you’re likely to have a calm nature and enjoy the slower, much simpler life.
A vibrant colour palette
Is your front door a bright colour? Maybe you love hanging paintings around the home and decorating with bold wallpaper? If your home boasts a vibrant colour palette, then you’re likely to be a creative soul. According to Pantone, pink or lavender is youthful and spirited and Laurie Pressman, VP of the Pantone Colour Institute said that “someone who paints their front door a vibrant pink or yellow is making a statement that life should be fun”. Will you be getting your brightest pot of paint out now?
No matter what your personality traits may be, make sure your home says the right thing about you. Whether you’re organised and love that everything fits neatly into your fitted wardrobes, or you’re messier but it’s a true reflection of who you are, it’s important that you do you!
