A Yankee Look At the 2022 Mercury Prize Nominee Albums Part 2

Hip-hop, pop, heartland rock, indie rock, and post-punk round out this year's nominees

Thanks for all of the messages and DM’s on last week’s review of the first half of this year’s Mercury Prize nominees! I have an easy ask of all of you that read these each week - if you have thoughts on the music featured, please leave a comment here. I honestly do appreciate everyone’s replies and DM’s on social media, but Substack is like everything else these days, and the algorithm (hiss!) favors comments and likes on their platform. My music newsletter doesn’t get a leg up because I’m the singer of Wilco or an indie-pop twin like Tegan and Sara’s Substack, so good old-fashioned interaction is how you can help spread the word on Check This Out!

If you missed Part 1, be sure to read it here!

Like last year, I am including reviews for some of these records from UK writing friends of the newsletter. This year, we have Matt McLister of Blinded By the Floodlights returning and introducing Karl Blakesley of New Music Weekly. Especially for albums on the list that I’m not into, I think it’s vital to offer the viewpoints of some passionate writers about a few of these nominated records. Matt and Karl also run independent review sites that consume a lot of time and energy, so please support their sites with reads!

Alright, let’s get into the rest of these nominees!

Kojey Radical - Reason to Smile

Kojey Radical is already four EPs into his grime hip hop career, but Reason to Smile sounds like someone ready to step into the spotlight. Mixing grime, neo-soul, jazz, and some classic hip-hop banging beats, Reason to Smile is a damn fine rap record that explores the universal theme of being a person of color fighting the uphill battle, no matter which western country it pertains to. With a wide array of producers, Kojey Radical does a phenomenal job of ensuring each of the fifteen songs here has its moment while also having a cohesive flow. New to me, but I’ll be working back through the earlier work, as this is one compelling record, and now one of my favorite hip-hop records of the year!

Little Simz - Sometimes I Might Be Introvert

One of the most phenomenal moves in music last year, “Introvert,” the lead song on North London rapper Little Simz’s equally outstanding album, Sometimes I Might Be Introvert, plays with the title, rolling in with shuffling snares, horns, and a choir fit for the summer’s biggest blockbuster. It’s the glorious entrance that an album like this deserves as Simz runs through her observations of inner turmoil and the chaos surrounding our modern times at a breakneck pace.

The Mercury Prize isn’t new to Little Simz, who was also nominated for her last Album, Grey Area, but if the prize is meant to document the current year, you’d be hard-pressed to find an album that dives into the complexities of the pandemic world.

For more, we turn to friend of the newsletter, Karl at New Music Weekly, who ranked Sometimes I Might Be Introvert as his second favorite album of 2021:

“Having transported listeners to the top of North London high rises where she grew up on her outstanding breakout third record, Grey Area, Simz now brings the listener into her world today on SIMBI, where she is found navigating an industry that isn’t built for a naturally shy person like herself. Where there is still the dazzling whirlwind of fierce lyricism and exciting eclectic sounds that made Grey Area such a success, here Simz also puts greater focus on the production and narrative too… This is my runner-up Album of the Year for 2021 by the slimmest of margins and right now I fully expect Simz to land her first Mercury Prize win for this record next year.”

“From now on, we need to stop talking about Little Simz as the best female rapper around and recognise her for what she is – one of the best working artists, man or woman, making music today. Period.”

There you have it. If Little Simz doesn’t win, I’ll be stunned.

Nova Twins - Supernova

It’s borderline jarring to go from Little Simz’s masterclass to the nu-metal irony of Supernova by Nova Twins. Supernova is like eating the worst imaginable early aughts two-course meal of “Lady Marmalade” and Limp Bizkit and then puking it up while watching Cribs and passing out on the couch. Released by Marshall Amplifiers’ record division, so you know it’s going to be good, this thing is full of Durstian lyrics like, “Get my fucking crowbar, Take you to the graveyard, Bitch, you think you’re so hard, I say when it’s over, I can love you psycho, I’m loaded like a rifle.”

Shame on me for thinking the grunge revival is stale cos this Millenium Simulation makes me wish the Y2K Bug would have wiped us all off the face of the earth.

Sam Fender - Seventeen Going Under

Seventeen Going Under is by no means a bad album. In fact, I wouldn’t turn down a ticket to see Sam Fender play a sold-out arena show. The issue is that Fender is so late to the Springsteen revival from the early last decade that it sounds as though he’s lifting from The War on Drugs. Along with their Philly brethren Kurt Vile, as well as Titus Andronicus, The Gaslight Anthem, The Killers, Japandroids, PUP, The Hold Steady, and on and on, we’ve heard this E-Street heartland rock variation so many times in the last decade-plus, that Fender doesn’t stand out to me. Again, it’s not that I don’t like what Fender is offering. I just have a hard time buying into the hype.

I want you to read Matt McLister’s review for his site, Blinded By the Floodlights, though, as he named it his favorite Album of 2021, and his passion for the record is infectious:

“Seventeen Going Under is reflective and honest for the most part, providing us with a record unique in today’s popular music landscape. The songs are chest pumping and emotional, full of soaring choruses and more subtle moments of beauty. There are radio anthems and alternative gems, with Sam taking inspiration from the likes of Bruce Springsteen, The War on Drugs and Mark Knopfler to produce a record which may have a classic influence, but still feels modern and unique.

The lyrics speak of Sam’s frustration growing up in a working-class British town and feeling left behind politically. There’s depth and substance throughout, factors that often let down his debut. Instead, it feels so much more complete and such is the quality on show, you can probably ask five people their favourite tracks and you’ll most likely be met with five different answers!”

Self Esteem - Prioritise Pleasure

Rebecca Taylor may have started as part of the indie-folk duo Slow Club, but she’s reinvented herself as Millenial Madonna on her two albums performing as Self Esteem. For the most part, it works, as Taylor explores sexuality, misogyny, and terrible relationships over bouncing pop beats. Ranked as the top critic’s pick for 2021 (at least in the UK, not sure how much pull Taylor has stateside at the moment), Prioritise Pleasure is one of these albums that has benefited because of a revisit for me. However, I still think the back half still drops off significantly.

From the local’s perspective, here’s Karl again, who ranked Prioritise Pleasure as his fourth favorite album from last year:

“All in all, there is no doubt this is a towering work from Taylor and it is absolutely no surprise to see it clean up in the Album of the Year polls, gain her a Brit Awards nomination and, most likely, earn her a Mercury Prize nod sometime next year. With Prioritise Pleasure, Taylor has crafted a daring and exciting pop masterpiece that has plenty of wit, words of encouragement and moments of sonic splendour. Most importantly though, this is an honest, unconventional pop record that says the things other modern pop artists might be too afraid to say – and for that, Rebecca Lucy Taylor deserves the highest of praise.”

Wet Leg - Wet Leg

Out of the twelve nominees this year, there is none bigger stateside than Wet Leg. Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers have come a long way from growing up on the Isle of Wight and have entirely dominated the alternative music scene this year by playing what seems to be every festival possible. For me, Wet Leg is a lot like Sam Fender in that we don’t have a terrible record here. It’s just that Wet Leg isn’t as revolutionary as the press excites. Like Bleached, Chastity Belt, Colleen Green, Bully, or Cherry Glazerr, the current female alt/indie rock scene has been phenomenal for years now, and Wet Leg is better billed as a worthy addition, instead of inventors. One of my top “let’s see what happens on the sophomore album” groups.

Yard Act - The Overload

“About ten years ago, we were doing post-punk when it wasn’t popular and maybe saw a bit of gateway out when IDLES opened the floodgates, with Shame and Fontaines DC the other big ones that came through. We kind of knew there was a scene for it again and probably thought, ‘Well, we can fucking do that, (even though) we know that not what we are.’ We’ve said it in a few other interviews. We definitely Trojan Horsed it, to get a bit of attention (off) the back of some of those groups but know we were gonna subvert it and move away from it as soon as we can. Which sounds quite cynical.”

-Yard Act singer James Smith, in an interview with Louder Than War

If you’re a longtime reader of the newsletter, you are well familiar that I think the UK post-punk scene is well beyond beating a dead horse at this point. While Yard Act may have been so cool by playing post-punk ten years ago, The Overload is another overhyped marble-mouthed record late to the party. If this quote is to be taken at face value, it also shows how disingenuous a debut Yard Act has released. If these fellas aren’t the ‘00s indie aping band on this record, then who are they?

Also, if we’re bringing up IDLES, Shame, and Fontaines DC, all of those bands’ newest records are better than The Overload, with Fontaines DC being snubbed on their third Mercury Prize nom for Skinty Fia. Being a Swede disqualifies you from a Mercury Prize, but who cares? I’ll be spinning the latest Viagra Boys’ record instead of these Leeds reprints.

So who is your pick for this year’s Mercury Prize? After thoroughly relistening some of these albums and exploring the new ones, my votes are for Little Simz, Gwenno, and Kojey Radical.

Love Nova Twins? Let’s talk about it! Let me know who you think deserves the prize the most below!