2012 Mercury Prize Nominees Announced

Published at 1:00 PM on September 12, 2012

By Ryan Bort

The nominees have been announced for the 2012 Barclaycard Mercury Prize.

The Mercury Prize is an award given annually for the best full-length album released in the U.K. The prize is awarded strictly based on the merits of the album’s music. Reputation, popularity and album sales are not taken into account, and several lesser-known artist have won the award in the past. Last year’s award went to PJ Harvey for Let England Shake, and in 2010 The xx won it for their self-titled debut.

Take a look at recently announced 2012 nominees below. The winner will be announced Nov. 1.

2012 Mercury Prize Nominees

Plan B – Ill Manors
Richard Hawley – Standing at the Sky’s Edge
Alt-J – An Awesome Wave
Django Django – Django Django
Jessie Ware – Devotion
The Maccabees – Given to the Wild
Michael Kiwanuka – Home Again
Lianne La Havas – Is Your Love Big Enough?
Ben Howard – Every Kingdom
Sam Lee – Ground of its Own
Field Music – Plumb
Roller Trio – Roller Trio