Mercury Prize 2015: The 12 Albums NME Staff Want To See Shortlisted

Few things spark arguments in UK music quite like the Mercury Prize list. Only one album can win obviously. That’s fine. But how the hell did they not include Frigfinger’s seminal 12-hour dirgefest ‘Watch The Drone’? Why have they completely overlooked Swim Deep again? How come Arctic Monkeys’ ‘AM’ isn’t included, despite coming out in 2013?

This year we thought ‘enough, let’s just tell them what the shortlist should be in advance, then they’ll have no excuse’. The big reveal is Friday October 16. So here’s our writer’s individual shortlists – what’s yours?

Al Horner, acting deputy editor

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Foals – ‘What Went Down’
Dutch Uncles – ‘O Shudder’
Wolf Alice – ‘My Love Is Cool’
Jamie xx – ‘In Colour’
Krept and Konan – ‘The Long Way Home’
Everything Everything – ‘Get To Heaven’
Charli XCX – ‘Sucker’
Aphex Twin – ‘Syro’
Little Simz – ‘A Curious Tale of Trials + Persons’
Sleaford Mods – ‘Key Markets’
Laura Marling – ‘Short Movie’
JME – ‘Integrity>’

David Renshaw, news reporter

Jamie xx – ‘In Colour’
JME – ‘Integrity>’
LA Priest – ‘Inji’
Hudson Mohawke – ‘Lantern’
Andy Stott – ‘Faith In Strangers’
Richard Dawson – ‘Nothing Important’
Little Simz – ‘A Curious Tale of Trials + Persons’
Du Blonde – ‘Welcome Back To Milk’
Mumdance & Logos – ‘Proto’
Jam City – ‘Dream A Garden’
Jamie T – ‘Carry On The Grudge’
Julio Bashmore – ‘Knockin Boots’

Rhian Daly, assistant reviews editor

Wolf Alice – ‘My Love Is Cool’
The Maccabees – ‘Marks To Prove It’
Peace – ‘Happy People’
Drenge – ‘Undertow’
The Cribs – ‘For All My Sisters’
Charli XCX – ‘Sucker’
Laura Marling – ‘Short Movie’
The Libertines – ‘Anthems For Doomed Youth’
Superfood – ‘Don’t Say That’
Gengahr – ‘A Dream Outside’
LA Priest – ‘Inji’
Georgia – ‘Georgia’

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Lisa Wright, writer

The Maccabees – ‘Marks To Prove It’
Foals – ‘What Went Down’
Wolf Alice – ‘My Love Is Cool’
Alt-J – ‘This Is All Yours’
Blur – ‘The Magic Whip’
Sleaford Mods – ‘Key Markets’
LA Priest – ‘Inji’
Slaves – ‘Are You Satisfied?’
Georgia – ‘Georgia’
Jamie T – ‘Carry On The Grudge’
Mark Ronson – ‘Uptown Special’
Jamie xx – ‘In Colour’

Sam Richards, writer

Jamie xx – ‘In Colour’
Romare – ‘Projections’
Gengahr – ‘A Dream Outside’
Jam City – ‘Dream A Garden’
Young Fathers – ‘White Men Are Black Men Too’
Aphex Twin – ‘Syro’
Thom Yorke – ‘Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes’
Kindness – ‘Otherness’
Hudson Mohakwe – ‘Lantern’
LA Priest – ‘Inji’
Andy Stott – ‘Faith In Strangers’
Ultimate Painting – ‘Ultimate Painting’

Larry Bartleet, writer

Echo Lake ­– ‘Era’
The Maccabees – ‘Marks To Prove It’
Marika Hackman – ‘We Slept At Last’
Jamie xx – ‘In Colour’
East India Youth – ‘Culture Of Volume’
Drenge – ‘Undertow’
Four Tet – ‘Morning/Evening’
Laura Marling – ‘Short Movie’
Outfit – ‘Slowness’
Wolf Alice – ‘My Love Is Cool’
Ben Howard – ‘I Forget Where We Were’
Aphex Twin – ‘Syro’

Mark Beaumont, writer

Jamie T – ‘Carry On The Grudge’
Wolf Alice – ‘My Love Is Cool’
The Maccabees – ‘Marks To Prove It’
Foals – ‘What Went Down’
Frank Turner – ‘Positive Songs For Negative People’
Stornoway – ‘Bonxie’
Blur – ‘The Magic Whip’
Alt-J – ‘All This Is Yours’
Allo Darlin’ – ‘We Come From The Same Place’
Everything Everything – ‘Get To Heaven’
Muse – ‘Drones’
The Vaccines – ‘English Graffiti’

Luke Morgan Britton, news reporter

Jamie xx – ‘In Colour’
JME – ‘Integrity>’
Wolf Alice – ‘My Love Is Cool’
Dean Blunt – ‘Black Metal’
Sauna Youth – ‘Distractions’
Gwenno – ‘Y Dydd Olaf’
SBTRKT – ‘Wonder Where We Land’
The Twilight Sad – ‘Nobody Wants to Be Here and Nobody Wants to Leave’
Georgia – ‘Georgia’
Four Tet – ‘Morning/Evening’
LA Priest – ‘Inji’
Hudson Mohawke – ‘Lantern’

Dan Stubbs, commissioning editor

Dutch Uncles – ‘O Shudder’
Blur – ‘The Magic Whip’
Slaves – ‘Are You Satisfied?’
Wolf Alice – ‘My Love Is Cool’
The Maccabees – ‘Marks To Prove It’
Jamie XX – ‘In Colour’
Laura Marling – ‘Short Movie’
Georgia – ‘Georgia’
Foals – ‘What Went Down’
The Vaccines – ‘English Graffiti’
Du Blonde – ‘Welcome Back To Milk’
Charli XCX – ‘Sucker’

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