Sam Fender, Pulp, CMAT and Wolf Alice among Mercury Prize nominees for 2025 - as full shortlist revealed

Sam Fender is among the artists in the running for this year's Mercury Prize as the ceremony heads to his home city - with Pulp also shortlisted for their big comeback, and Wolf Alice breaking a record.

Other acts announced by judges today include the genre-bending FKA Twigs, indie-pop star CMAT and post-punk band Fontaines DC, who are all up for the award for the second time.

Folk musician Martin Carthy is now believed to be the oldest ever nominee at 84 - and joins his daughter, Eliza Carthy, and late wife Norma Waterson, on the list of Mercury Prize shortlist alumni.

Other first-timers include Jacob Alon and Joe Webb, who are both nominated for debuts, as well as Emma-Jean Thackray, Pa Salieu and PinkPantheress.

This is a huge year for the event, which will take place outside London for the first time after more than 30 years - at Newcastle's Utilita Arena on 16 October.

Last year, it was noted by winners English Teacher that they were the first act from outside London to pick up the prize in 10 years. This year's nominees include artists from Leeds, Sheffield, Gloucestershire, Coventry and Kent, as well as the capital, and more acts from, Scotland, Wales and Ireland.

'Sam Fender shows what is possible'

Ahead of the show, a week-long fringe festival will take place across Newcastle, Gateshead, Sunderland, North Tyneside, South Tyneside, Durham and Northumberland to spotlight the North East's music scene.

One of the biggest stars to emerge from that scene in recent years is of course Sam Fender, from North Shields. The indie-rock singer-songwriter was first nominated for the Mercury Prize in 2022, for his second album, Seventeen Going Under, and returns to the shortlist this year with his third chart-topper, People Watching.

"The success of artists like Sam Fender shows what is possible for young musicians in our region," North East Mayor Kim McGuinness said earlier this year. "Hosting the Mercury Prize in the North East gives us the opportunity to showcase our home-grown talent."

Previous Mercury winners Pulp and Wolf Alice are both nominated for the fourth time.

For Wolf Alice, who first made the cut with their debut My Love Is Cool in 2015 and won with their second album Visions Of A Life in 2018 before a third nod for Blue Weekend in 2021, this latest recognition for The Clearing means that every single one of the four albums they have ever released has been in the running.

They previously held this accolade with Laura Mvula and Anna Calvi, who have been both nominated for all three of their studio albums.

Pulp were first nominated for their fourth album His'n'Hers in 1994 and won with Different Class, one of the most famous albums of the Britpop era, in 1996. A nomination for This Is Hardcore followed in 1998 - and now More, their first album in more than 20 years, has earned them a nod once again.

And CMAT returns for the second year in a row, after being nominated for her second album, Crazymad, For Me, in 2024, and now Euro-Country.

Speaking at the nominations launch, Alon, from Fife, in Scotland, told Sky News it means a great deal to see his hugely personal album In Limerence recognised by the Mercurys.

"I have this habit of yearning after things that aren't real, shielding my heart from real love and and chasing after fictional love. And I think growing up as a queer person, like, we're no stranger to that feeling.

"I'm just really grateful that these songs mean a lot of things to me. But there's a whole world of people that it might mean something different to."

They also said they were excited to see the event move to Newcastle. "There's just so much vibrancy everywhere, and it's nice to get a bit of spotlight on those different places. Maybe one day we'll end up in Fife. Who knows?"

'If I hadn't made Weirdo, I wouldn't be here'

Thackray, who finished her album, Weirdo, following the sudden death of her partner, said she set out to male music that "not just accepted, but celebrated, my neurodiversity and the things that make me a weirdo, things that made me feel othered and alone.

"Then I lost my partner. It was very sudden and horrible, and I just stopped doing anything for about six months. And then when I came back to music, it was because I remembered that if I was going to find myself anywhere, it would be in the music.

"Music is my purpose, it's always been my purpose. I've wanted to be an artist since I was a toddler. It's all I've ever wanted to be, all I've ever known, and I needed to sit and get back in touch with that. And I made a record that is really important to me, and if I hadn't have made it, I wouldn't be here."

Carthy said he had the best job in the world. "I say it again and again. There's nothing that comes near it."

Former Ivor Novello nominee Pa Salieu receives his Mercury nod for Afrikan Alien, released in November 2024 - just a few months after he was released from prison.

The rapper and singer was convicted in 2022 for his part in an attack which happened in 2018.

"I feel shocked, absolutely shocked," he said at the launch. "And happy, grateful. And I'm free."

The Mercury Prize launched in 1992, when Simply Red's Stars, U2's Achtung Baby, and The Jesus And Mary Chain's Honey's Dead were among the nominees - and Primal Scream's Screamadelica took the inaugural award.

It celebrates music by British and Irish acts and spans a huge range of different musical genres and artists throughout all stages of their careers, from newcomers to veterans.

As well as English Teacher, other recent winners include Michael Kiwanuka, Arlo Parks, Little Simz and Ezra Collective.

(c) Sky News 2025: Sam Fender, Pulp, CMAT and Wolf Alice among Mercury Prize nominees for 2025 - as full sho