Mercury Prize: Last News

English Teacher and Lambrini Girls making the Top Five. Check it out below.The new findings have been shared by European Talent Exchange, previously ESNS Exchange, and show the rising popularity of bands across the UK and European live scene.

Mumford & Sons revealed that they paid the producer of their debut album “on credit” because no one at the time wanted to sign them.The folk-rock band’s Marcus Mumford and Ben Lovett appeared as guests on The Chris Moyles Show on Radio X and opened up about the creation of their 2009 debut album ‘Sigh No More’ and how they were about to get it produced.Released on October 2 2009, ‘Sigh No More’ entered the UK Albums Chart at Number 11 and peaked at Number Two on February 2011. In 2010, the LP was shortlisted for the Mercury Prize.

Ezra Collective have been announced as the runners-up to the BBC Sound Of 2025 shortlist.The list looks to highlight the acts with “the best chance of mainstream success” in the next 12 months, and is chosen by a panel of 180 music industry experts.The longlist was first shared late last year and contained names like Kneecap, Confidence Man, Mk.gee and NME 100 2023 alumni Doechii.This Monday (January 6) saw the BBC begin a day-by-day countdown of the top five Sound Of 2025 artists. Leeds band, Mercury Prize winners and former NME Cover Stars English Teacher came in at Number Five before 2025 BRIT Rising Star winner Myles Smith took the Number Four position.Yesterday, third place was confirmed as going to festival favourite and Scottish electronic producer and DJ, Barry Can’t Swim.Now, it has been announced that London-based jazz quintet Ezra Collective have secured the Number Two slot on the 2025 list.The milestone accomplishment comes on the heels of a massive couple of years for the band.

The Zutons have shared their cover of seminal Amy Winehouse track ‘Black To Black’.Their dedication to the late singer is a full circle moment, given she famously covered their 2006 song ‘Valerie’ and popularised it so much the band later joked that everyone thought she wrote it.“We’ve always been proud of how Amy made ‘Valerie’ her own, and to have the opportunity to honour her in this way feels really special,” the band said of the new song. “This version of ‘Back To Black’ has taken on a life of its own, and we’re excited to share it with everyone.”The newly released cover originated from a Live Lounge performance that saw them perform their own version of ‘Valerie’ alongside another Winehouse classic.

When Lily Fontaine was 14 years old, she went to The Ritz to watch The Kooks. Like many excited teenagers, she queued for an hour beforehand to get as close to the stage as possible.

RAYE has been confirmed as the latest headliner lined up for All Points East 2025. Find ticket details below.The multi-award-winning singer-songwriter will be headining to the Victoria Park site on August 23, where she’ll top the bill for next year’s edition of All Points East.It comes following the release of last year’s debut album ‘My 21st Century Blues’, which has seen her nominated for the 2023 Mercury Prize, take home a record number of awards at the 2024 BRIT Awards, nominated for two trophies at the 2025 Grammys, and win Best UK & Ireland Act at this year’s MTV EMAs.She is the third headliner announced for next year’s All Points East line-up, following on from confirmation that Barry Can’t Swim and The Maccabees will be performing on August 22 and 24, respectively.Multi-Brit award winner and Grammy nominee, @raye, is your next All Points East headliner ✨Next summer, the South London singer-songwriter will be bringing her unique blend of R&B, soul, dance and jazz to London’s Victoria Park, with a full lineup to be announced! This is… pic.twitter.com/AzgvSfvYF6— All Points East (@allpointseastuk) November 12, 2024“London…we are headlining All Points East festival – Saturday 23 August 2025,” RAYE wrote on Instagram Stories, confirming the news this morning.

The Last Dinner Party covered a Lana Del Rey classic at the Hammersmith Apollo.During the final night of their three-night Hammersmith Apollo residency on October 19, the band performed a rousing cover of ‘Ride’ from 2012’s ‘Born To Die – The Paradise Edition’, as well as a rendition of Chris Isaak’s ‘Wicked Game’ earlier in the night.It comes after the band recently released ‘Prelude To Ecstasy: Acoustics and Covers’, which they previewed with their version of Sparks’ ‘This Town Ain’t Big Enough For The Both Of Us’, and elsewhere on their UK tour have performed ‘Nothing Matters’ in Simlish.Check out fan-shot footage of ‘Ride’ their cover below.The Last Dinner Party reminding us that Ride is indeed the best “big” Lana song pic.twitter.com/NpkK0Oyd2x— Poppie Platt (@poppieplatt) October 19, 2024the last dinner party covering ‘ride’ by lana del rey in london…. don’t talk to me pic.twitter.com/3sM8SxWhmV— amika (@paprikamusix) October 21, 2024‘Burn Alive’‘Caesar on a TV Screen’‘Second Best’‘Beautiful Boy’‘Wicked Game’ (Chris Isaak cover)‘On Your Side’‘Gjuha’‘Sinner’‘Portrait of a Dead Girl’‘The Feminine Urge’‘Mirror’‘Big Dog’‘My Lady of Mercy’Encore:‘The Killer’‘Ride’ (Lana Del Rey cover)‘Nothing Matters’Queen‘s Brian May was in attendance at one of their other Eventim Apollo gigs last week (October 16), and went on to share post of himself with former NME cover stars, dubbing them “the new British Rock Royalty“.Elsewhere, the band recently spoke to NME at the 2024 Mercury Prize, and discussed their approach to building a “sense of community” among their fans.

Queen‘s Brian May has shared praise for The Last Dinner Party – see what the rock legend had to say below.On Wednesday night (October 16), May shared a post of himself with former NME cover stars The Last Dinner Party backstage at the latter’s concert at the Eventim Apollo in London.He wrote: “I got to meet the new British Rock Royalty tonight – The Last Dinner Party – and they completely smashed it tonight at the Eventim Apollo. What a great show! What a joy!!! Thanks Emily for inviting me.

The Beatles have been named as the ultimate British group by BBC Radio 2 listeners, beating the likes of Queen, The Rolling Stones and Girls Aloud.

Gruff Rhys’ with ‘Sadness Sets Me Free’, and Skindred with their ‘Smile’ album, which peaked at Number Two on the UK album charts and saw them crowned the winner of best alternative act at the 2024 MOBO Awards.“Thanks to my mum and my dad – as a young black kid growing up, they constantly told me I could do anything and be anything,” L E M F R E C K said, accepting the award at the Millennium Centre in Cardiff.“This one goes to my community in Newport. If I didn’t see Benji [Webbe of Skindred] doing it first, I’m telling you now, I would not be able to do this, so I’d like to thank him,” he added.

Fontaines D.C. have announced a huge show at Wythenshawe Park in Manchester for summer 2025, where they will be joined by Kneecap and English Teacher.The Irish band will headline the outdoor show on Friday August 15, 2025, with a total capacity of 26,000 fans. Tickets for the one-off event go on general sale at 9am on October 4 and you can get yours here.They will be joined on the massive line-up by Belfast hip-hop trio Kneecap, who have recently been promoting their self-titled biopic, which has been longlisted for an Oscar, and been hailed by NME in a five-star review as “not only one of the standout films of 2024, but arguably one of the best music biopics of all time”.Manchester.We’re playing a big show in Wythenshawe Park next August.

English Teacher have extended their 2024 UK tour, announcing another show in London. Find ticket details below.The rising Leeds band first shared details of their upcoming tour dates in April, confirming a five-date run, commencing with a headline show at the O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire in London on November 12.From there, further dates included shows in Manchester, Glasgow, Newcastle and Bristol.Now, having sold out the first night of the upcoming tour, Lily Fontaine and co have confirmed that they are adding a second London gig to the schedule.

English Teacher‘s debut album ‘This Could Be Texas‘ has re-entered the UK Top 40 following their Mercury Prize win.The Leeds four-piece recently snagged the prestigious music prize at the ceremony held earlier this month at Abbey Road Studios.They warded off competition from the likes of Charli XCX, CMAT, Ghetts, The Last Dinner Party, Corinne Bailey Rae, Beth Gibbons, Barry Can’t Swim and more with their debut album, ‘This Could Be Texas’.Now, UK record labels association the BPI has reported an increased demand for the record. The BPI (which also organises the Mercury Prize) claimed that ‘This Could Be Texas’ gained a 1,073 per cent increase in sales in the week after the ceremony – its best chart performance since it was released in April this year.Other albums by Mercury Prize nominees BERWYN, Corinne Bailey Rae and corto.alto also saw sales increases of over 100 per cent.NME spoke to the band shortly after their win, where they said they would “continue to be honest” about their struggles as a band.“It was never a conscious [choice] to be like ‘We’re going to be one of those bands that does that’,” frontwoman Lily Fontaine explained.

Supergrass are teasing an upcoming announcement with fans, according to a new post.The British band, fronted by Gaz Coombes, shared a cryptic new post across their social media channels this morning (September 13), suggesting to fans that a new announcement is on the way.Posted at 9am BST, the post simply shared artwork of the band’s logo in red, alongside next Monday’s date, September 16. In the caption, the band simply wrote: “Sign up now”, alongside a link to their website’s homepage.Upon clicking the link, the page prompts fans to sign up for future updates, and asks them to input both their email address and the country they live in.

CMAT has spoken to NME about how so much new music is breaking through to an audience who have been “starved for an alternative perspective”.The Irish singer-songwriter caught up with NME on the red carpet for this year’s Mercury Prize where she was shortlisted for her 2023 album ‘Crazymad, For Me’, and faced stiff competition from the likes of Charli XCX, The Last Dinner Party, Ghetts, Corinne Bailey Rae, Beth Gibbons, Barry Can’t Swim and more.However, at the Abbey Road ceremony last Thursday (September 5) it was Leeds band and former NME Cover stars English Teacher who won. The victory made them the first non-London winners of the award in a decade.Ahead of their victory, CMAT – real name Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson – reflected on the number of debut albums that had made the shortlist this year, and explained how it mirrored the demands from fans in 2024.“There is a lot of really creative stuff happening because it feels harder than ever to be a musical act in the first place,” she said.

Former Cover stars The Last Dinner Party have spoken to NME at the 2024 Mercury Prize, and recalled how they managed to build a “sense of community” with their fans.The London band released their acclaimed debut record, ‘Prelude To Ecstasy’ back in February. It subsequently became the biggest UK Number One debut album in nine years, and named by NME as one of the 10 best debut albums of 2024 so far.It was also shortlisted for this year’s Mercury Prize, alongside albums from Charli XCX, CMAT, Ghetts, Corinne Bailey Rae, Beth Gibbons, Barry Can’t Swim and more.

A. G. Cook and Finn Keane – two of the producers behind Charli XCX’s ‘Brat’ – have spoken to NME about what it was like to work on the album, as well as revealing the thing that sets her apart from everyone else.The two worked alongside Charli and her fiancé – producer, soloist and The 1975 member George Daniel – to create the hit album, which has become a cultural phenomenon since its release back in June.Even ahead of its release, the simple lime green artwork became a meme, and fans on social media quickly embraced the record’s hedonistic aesthetic and attitude.

English Teacher have spoken to NME about their historic win at the 2024 Mercury Prize, sharing how still strive to use their platform to help fight for a fairer world for artists across the UK.The Leeds band and former NME Cover stars – comprised of vocalist Lily Fontaine, guitarist Lewis Whiting, drummer Douglas Frost, and bassist Nicholas Eden – got fans talking when they took home the victory last night (September 5) for their acclaimed debut ‘This Could Be Texas’ – beating off tough competition from the likes of Charli XCX, CMAT, Ghetts, The Last Dinner Party, Corinne Bailey Rae, Beth Gibbons, Barry Can’t Swim and more.Theirs was the first Mercury Prize win by a non-London act since Edinburgh’s Young Fathers won in 2014.Speaking to NME at the Abbey Roads Studio ceremony, the band opened up about how they were not expecting such high praise for the album, as well as recalling what the victory meant to them.“The response to the album has been incredible, we did not expect it at all. We were actually very worried about it and expecting the opposite, so it’s been surreal,” explained Frost.

English Teacher have won the Mercury Prize 2024 for their acclaimed debut album ‘This Could Be Texas‘.The Leeds four-piece were among the favourites to win in tonight’s ceremony (September 5), behind Charli XCX with ‘Brat’. The Last Dinner Party were also considered to be one of the front-runners with their album, ‘Prelude To Ecstasy‘.The band members embraced Jamz Supernova, who handed them the award at the iconic Abbey Road studios in London.

English Teacher being announced as this year’s Mercury Prize winners.Comprised of vocalist Lily Fontaine, guitarist Lewis Whiting, drummer Douglas Frost, and bassist Nicholas Eden, the former NME cover stars‘ acclaimed debut ‘This Could Be Texas’ was shortlisted alongside records by the likes of Charli XCX, CMAT, Ghetts, The Last Dinner Party, Corinne Bailey Rae, Beth Gibbons, Barry Can’t Swim and more.Today (September 5), the Leeds four-piece were announced as this year’s winners. While announcing their victory, guest presenter, 6 Music’s Jamz Supernova, said: “In the end, though, we did agree that ‘This Could Be Texas’ by English Teacher stands out for its originality and character.

Ezra Collective have shared new single ‘Streets Is Calling’ and spoken to NME about the importance of social activism and Damon Albarn’s influence on the group following drummer Femi Koleoso’s stint in Gorillaz.Last year, the London quintet became the first jazz act to walk away with the prestigious Mercury Prize. What has followed has been a whirlwind of acclaim and further accolades.