LONDON -- The Mercury Prize nominees were announced Friday - slowly - and they're as diverse as ever.
In a series of drip fed announcements spanning several hours, albums from the likes of Gaz Coombes, Florence and The Machine and Soak were revealed to be in the running for the annual prize, which recognises works from British and Irish artists released over the previous year.
This #MercuryPrize drip-feed is actually lasting longer than most gigs.— Luke Beardsworth (@LukeBeardsworth) October 16, 2015
The lineup was as diverse as ever, with everyone from glitchy electronic artist Aphex Twin to singer songwriter Benjamin Clementine and guitar rockers Slaves also in the running.
The full list of nominated albums includes:
Gaz Coombes - Matador
Soak - Before We Forget How To Dream
Jamie XX - In Colour
Benjamin Clementine - At Least For Now
Ghostpoet - Shedding Skin
Eska - Eska
C Duncan - Architect
Róisín Murphy - Hairless Toys
Wolf Alice - My Love Is Cool
Aphex Twin - Syro
Florence and the Machine - How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful
Slaves – Are You Satisfied
Hear tracks from the nominated albums here:
Jamie XX is 11/4 favourite to win, according to Betfair, with Wolf Alice ("backed from 12/1 to 4/1") and Florence & The Machine ("seeing some action at 12/2") also in the running.
Several of the artists were thrilled to receive a nod.
I'm only bloody #MercuryPrize nominated! Overwhelmed & off to pub for a few large gins! Thank you all for your msgs & support! Love X— Gaz Coombes (@GazCoombes) October 16, 2015
Made the Mercury prize shortlist. Life is crazy THANK YOU! pic.twitter.com/h3r9ijnMIP— SOAKASAURUS (@Soakofficial) October 16, 2015
We have been nominated for the Mercury prize. Wow. Thank you very much. xxx pic.twitter.com/jRPmbpyL19— Slaves (@Slaves) October 16, 2015
The Mercury Prize has been running since 1992 and is awarded to the best album of the year by a British or Irish artist. Each summer, a panel of musicians, journalists and industry experts receive over 200 albums for consideration, which they whittle down to a top 12.
Past winners include Primal Scream, Pulp and Roni Size. Young Fathers won last year, and James Blake the year before.
The winner will be announced Nov 20.