Arlo Parks has won the 2021 Mercury Prize for her critically acclaimed debut album Collapsed in Sunbeams.
The annual award is given to the nest album of the year by a British or Irish act. Twelve records are presented in the shortlist before the final winner is announced.
Parks struggled with her identity growing up; a self-confessed tomboy who was super sensitive and “uncool”, she says it was like “I’m a black kid who can’t dance for shit, listens to emo music and currently has a crush on some girl in my Spanish class.” By the time she reached 17, she shaved her head, figured out she was bisexual and produced an album’s worth of material.
Presenting the award, judge Annie MacManus said: “We chose an artist with a singular voice who uses lyrics of remarkable beauty to confront complex themes of mental health and sexuality, and connects deeply with her generation as she does so.”
In her acceptance speech at the awards ceremony in London, Parks said, “It took a lot of sacrifice and hard work to get here, and there were moments where I wasn’t sure I would make it though, so thank you very much.”
The prize tops off a recent sweep of wins for Arlo Parks, including GQ’s Breakthrough Music Artist award earlier this month. Parks also picked up the AIM (UK) Awards for Best Independent Album and UK Independent Breakthrough in August and the BRIT Award for Breakthrough Artist in May.
Other contenders for this year’s award included albums from Berwyn, Black Country New Road, Celeste, Floating Points and Pharaoh Sanders, Ghetts, Hannah Peel, Laura Mvula, Mogwai, Nubya Garcia, Sault and Wolf Alice.
Since it’s launch in 1992 winner of the prize have included Primal Scream, Suede, M People, Portishead, Pulp, Roni Size, Badly Drawn Boy, Dizzee Rascal, Antony and the Johnsons, Artic Monkeys, Young Fathers, Sampha, and many others. PJ Harvey is the only artist to have been awarded the prize twice.
Watch Arlo Parks performing at the Mercury Prize.
OIP Staff
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