My predictions for this year’s Mercury Music Prize nominations
- Half-a-dozen similar-sounding and unchallenging “indie” acts, all signed to major labels.
- A couple of very mainstream pop singers.
- Token jazz and folk entries who have no chance of winning but are there to make the list look less beige than it really is
- As usual, no rock, metal or blues.
I may be pleasantly surprised, and be completely wrong. But somehow I think it’s unlikely. I can’t imagine something like Maschine or Steven Wilson making suitable soundtracks for the middle-class dinner parties which are clearly the award’s primary target market.
