Scottish DJ and Charli XCX up for Mercury Prize Album of the Year

A Scottish DJ has been nominated for the Mercury Prize alongside Charli XCX and The Last Dinner Party.

Barry Can’t Swim’s album When Will We Land? has been shortlisted for the 2024 Mercury Prize Album of the Year award.

Boys singer Charli XCX, who was nominated for the prize in 2020 with her record How I’m Feeling Now, has made the list with her sixth studio album, Brat, which peaked at number two in the charts following its release last month.

Since then, the singer, real name Charlotte Aitchison, has spoken in interviews about what it means to be “Brat”, a concept widely discussed across social media, and told the Sidetracked podcast that it can include “a pack of cigs and a Bic lighter, and a strappy white top with no bra”.

Following the announcement that Kamala Harris would replace Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee for president, the artist posted to X, “Kamala IS brat” and the Biden-Harris campaign account changed its banner to Kamala HQ, using the same font and neon green background as the Brat album cover.

Indie outfit The Last Dinner Party, comprising Abigail Morris, Lizzie Mayland, Emily Roberts, Georgia Davies and Aurora Nishevci, have also been nominated for their debut offering Prelude To Ecstasy, which topped the charts following its release in February.

The group were named the winner of BBC Radio 1’s Sound of 2024 in January and have played a number of festivals this summer, including Glastonbury and TRNSMT.

Reacting to the news on Instagram, they said: “Shortlisted for a Mercury Prize?! Thank you!!! It is such an honour and we couldn’t be happier.”

Among the other acts in the running for the prize are Corinne Bailey Rae, who has returned with the album Black Rainbows, and Irish singer CMAT with her album Crazymad, For Me.

Reflecting on the nomination, Put Your Records On singer Bailey Rae, 45, told BBC News she had wondered if her album was “universal enough”.

“I think everybody’s stories need to be talked about in music and when I was first making this record I thought ‘is this universal enough?’, but of course it is,” she said.

“The stories of people’s triumph and hope and despair, the stories that are hidden, or the stories that are erased that need to be told.”

A slew of debut records have made the shortlist this year, including Early Twenties by singer Cat Burns and Silence Is Loud by jungle artist Nia Archives.

Mobo award winner Ghetts, who stars in Netflix series Supacell, has also been shortlisted for the record On Purpose, With Purpose.

Elsewhere, the record Who Am I by rapper BERWYN and Corto.alto’s Bad With Names are nominated, alongside English Teacher’s This Could Be Texas and Lives Outgrown by Portishead singer Beth Gibbons.

The 12 albums were announced on Thursday by radio presenter Tom Ravenscroft on BBC Radio 6 Music.

An independent judging panel that included jazz pianist Jamie Cullum and DJ Mistajam chose the shortlist.

The overall winner of the 2024 Mercury Prize will be revealed in September.