{drum roll}
It’s time for our annual alternative to the Mercury Music Prize, offering music lovers from around the world a selection of exceptional British & Irish albums.
This year’s longlist of over a hundred albums was compiled in conjunction with the DiS community here and I’d urge you to dive into these releases because having listened to all of them over the last month, there are so many brilliant, inventive and a few wonderfully challenging releases to delve into.
Rather than whittle down all of those albums to a shortlist with a public vote, I’ve compiled a list of 21 albums that with my few decades of editing this website, creates a list of albums for DiS diehards and intrigued onlookers to explore.
The list has a mixture of community favourites that have done well in various polls alongside records that only one user has ever posted about but it’s their album of the year (that’s the HALINA album - thanks @Roughyed, I really loved it and can see why the O o label picked it up after a self release!). I tried to get a mixture of albums together that come from different sonic worlds but all lean into the winds of the future, raise a fist to the binfire we’re living through or gently press their palm on your heart (often times some of the records do all the above!)
Before you pick which 3 albums you’re going to vote for, please take a moment to listen to all of the nominees on Spotify here or using this links to Bandcamp or YouTube. We only really create this list to send people on a journey of music discovery, so set yourself a few diary reminders to dive in to the ones you’re not familiar with.
Anna B Savage - in|FLUX (City Slang) | Bandcamp
Bdrmm - I Don’t Know (Rock Action) | Bandcamp
Big Joanie - Back Home (Daydream Library Series) | Bandcamp
Billy Nomates - CACTI (Invada Records) | Bandcamp
Craven Faults - Standers (The Leaf Label) | Bandcamp
Daniel Avery - Ultra Truth (Phantasy Sound) | Bandcamp
Dry Cleaning - Stumpwork (4AD) | Bandcamp
Gilla Band - Most Normal (Rough Trade) | Bandcamp
HALINA - The Game (O o) | Bandcamp
James Holden - Imagine This Is A High Dimensional Space Of All Possibilities (Border Community Recordings) | Bandcamp
Lanterns on the Lake - Versions of Us (Bella Union) | Bandcamp
Little Simz - No Thank You (AWAL) | YouTube
M(h)aol - Attachment Styles (TULLE) | Bandcamp
Mandy, Indiana - i’ve seen a way (Fire Talk) | Bandcamp
Martha - Please Don’t Take Me Back (Specialist Subject) | Bandcamp
Nabihah Iqbal - DREAMER (Ninja Tune) | Bandcamp
Overmono - Good Lies (XL Recordings) | Bandcamp
PVA - BLUSH (Ninja Tune) | Bandcamp
Richard Dawson - The Ruby Cord (Domino) | Bandcamp
Rozi Plain - Prize (Memphis Industries) | Bandcamp
The Golden Dregs - On Grace & Dignity (4AD) | Bandcamp
- Anna B Savage - in|FLUX
- Bdrmm - I Don’t Know
- Big Joanie - Back Home
- Billy Nomates - CACTI
- Craven Faults - Standers
- Daniel Avery - Ultra Truth
- Dry Cleaning - Stumpwork
- Gilla Band - Most Normal
- HALINA - The Game
- James Holden - Imagine This Is A High Dimensional Space Of All Possibilities
- Lanterns on the Lake - Versions of Us
- Little Simz - No Thank You
- M(h)aol - Attachment Styles
- Mandy, Indiana - i’ve seen a way
- Martha - Please Don’t Take Me Back
- Nabihah Iqbal - DREAMER
- Overmono - Good Lie
- PVA - BLUSH
- Richard Dawson - The Ruby Cord
- Rozi Plain - Prize
- The Golden Dregs - On Grace & Dignity
Notes
- Voting closes in 1 week at noon BST on Thursday 14th September 2023
- You can vote for up to 3 albums
- We will STOP THE COUNT if there’s clearly something untoward happening with voting (new users aren’t discouraged from voting but please do not create multiple accounts, we can see if you have done so using our tech)
- The Prize is promotion across the Drowned in Sound social channels and an IOU for a Fish & Chip supper (we still owe these to previous winners like Self Esteem)
- Eligibility was based on the same criteria as the Mercury prize
- Please take a moment to celebrate your favourites on the list in the comments below for anyone who might not know all or many of the albums
- share links to your favourite tracks below
