The 2017 Albums of the Year are:
- alt-j - Relaxer
- Blossoms - Blossoms
- Dinosaur - Together, As One
- Ed Sheeran - Divide
- Glass Animals - How to be a Human Being
- J Hus - Common Sense
- Kate Tempest - Let Them Eat Chaos
- Loyle Carner - Yesterday’s Gone
- Sampha - Process
- Stormzy - Gang Signs & Prayer
- The Big Moon - Love in the 4th Dimension
- The xx - I See You
The Hyundai Mercury Prize ‘Albums of the Year’ celebrate and promote the best of UK music recognising artistic achievement across a range of contemporary music genres. The shortlist was chosen by an independent judging panel and was revealed at a Launch event, hosted by BBC Music’s Huw Stephens on 27 July 2017. It was also announced live by Tom Ravenscroft on Lauren Laverne’s show on BBC Radio 6 Music.
The judges said “This year’s Hyundai Mercury Prize shortlist celebrates the remarkable power of British music. What these artists have in common is an infectious pleasure in music making and an arresting sense of urgency about the music they make. They delight in exploring musical possibilities and refusing to be pinned down by genre conventions.”
The twelve 2017 Hyundai Mercury Prize judges are:
- Phil Alexander - Editor-in-Chief, Mojo and Q
- Clara Amfo - Broadcaster
- Jamie Cullum - Musician and Broadcaster
- Ella Eyre - Musician and Songwriter
- Harriet Gibsone - Music News Editor, The Guardian/TheGuardian.com
- Lianne La Havas - Musician and Songwriter
- Will Hodgkinson - Chief Rock & Pop Critic The Times
- MistaJam - DJ and Broadcaster
- Marcus Mumford - Musician and Songwriter
- Jeff Smith - Head of Music, 6 Music and Radio 2
- Jessie Ware - Musician and Songwriter
- Mike Walsh - Head of Music, Radio X.
The Chair of the judging panel is music executive, Tony Wadsworth CBE.
The 2017 Awards Show will take place on Thursday 14 September at the Eventim Apollo, Hammersmith. The event will feature live performances from many of the shortlisted artists and the evening will culminate in the announcement of the overall winner of the 2017 Hyundai Mercury Prize for ‘Album of the Year’.
The Prize’s broadcast partner, BBC Music, will be providing live television and radio coverage of the event on BBC Four and BBC Radio 6 Music. The BBC Four show will be featuring performances from the artists on the night, building up to moment the winner is announced live. Ahead of this, BBC Two will broadcast a 30 minute documentary previewing the shortlisted artists for the 2017 Prize, speaking to artists from the vanguard of grime, performance poetry and guitar rock, as well as past Mercury winners shortlisted again this year for the prestigious prize. BBC Radio 6 Music will also be broadcasting live on the night, building up to the moment the winner is announced and interviewing the recipient.
Hyundai Motor is very proud to support innovation in British music and will celebrate all the shortlisted artists as we build up to this year’s awards show.
The Prize’s digital music partner, Apple Music, will be promoting the Mercury Prize from the shortlist announcement through to the Awards Show in September. Apple Music will also help music fans discover new music with dedicated playlists featuring the shortlisted artists, albums and more.
Tickets for the 2017 Hyundai Mercury Prize Awards Show, featuring this year’s shortlisted artists, are on sale now from www.eventimapollo.com.
This year’s Hyundai Mercury Prize shortlist celebrates the remarkable power of British music. What these artists have in common is an infectious pleasure in music making and an arresting sense of urgency about the music they make. They delight in exploring musical possibilities and refusing to be pinned down by genre conventions