The Mercury Music Prize has justifiably been the subject of much discussion and conflict over the years. Claiming to reward the best British album of the year on merit alone, the nominations can be slightly perplexing.
For instance, the inclusion this year of Adele's best selling album, '21' sits rather awkwardly against other competitors for what is widely considered to be the most coveted of awards. Not just because it has sold a lot of records. In most people's mind, the point of the prize is to reward an exceptional album outside of the mainstream. Not one that fills the silence pleasantly enough in family homes throughout the country. It's fair to say it's the type of album never likely to win, but then why include it amongst the nominations in the first place?
More often than not, the result of The Mercury Prize is met with a shrug of the shoulders and largely ignored by even the biggest champion of alternative music. 2005 and 2009's decisions to respectively deem Anthony and the Johnsons and Speeche Debelle worthy winners being very noteable examples of this.
Other years, the integrity of the award has been brought into question. When M People's 'Elegant Slumming' was chosen in favour of Pulp, Blur and Suede in 1994, many were heavily critical. Needless to say, Melody Maker and NME were up in arms(!) The subsequent years saw excellent albums by Portishead and Pulp rewarded, and with it came renewed respect for the prize.
Frustrating then, that as recently as 2007 the prize was given to The Klaxons. Surely the most undeserving winner of all. A gimmicky, 'blink-and-you'll-miss-them' passing fad of a band. Something that should have been obvious to even the most susceptible of folk.
This year saw strong nominations. Ghostpoet's lyrical and relevant take on contemporary London life for the underclass; 'Peanut Butter Blues and Melancholy Jam,' should have been a strong contender. The inventive and svelte sound of Metronomy's 'The English Riviera' another worthy nomination.
It is rare that the frontrunner takes home the award, but this year the judges made the right choice. PJ Harvey's Let England Shake is the sort of record that is rarely made anymore. In an age of music being available at the click of a button, it requires patience and dedication to sit down and listen to an album through in its entirety, without being distracted by whatever else may be on your itunes. 'Let England Shake' demands this in the most pleasurable of ways. For something that deals so heavily in themes of war and death, it is remarkable how accessible a record it is. It's testament to the quality of the song-writing. You can very readily hear the craft and invention that went into the creation. Far from being just a collection of songs, it's idiosyncratic nature makes it a very complete piece of work.
For all the failings of The Mercury Music Prize in the past, it was nice to see that this year, an artist received truly deserved adulation.
