25 h. ago Scotland at the Mercury Music Prize: Here are all 18 Scottish acts to have been nominated since 1992

In 33 years it’s perhaps surprising how few Scots have been nominated for one of the biggest prizes in British music.

Politics

31 h. ago Mercury Prize 2025: All of the nominees with gigs lined up for Scotland

2025 Mercury Prize nominees CMAT, Wolf Alice, Emma-Jean Thackray, Martin Carthy and Fife's very own Jacob Alon all have gigs coming up in Scotland.

Politics

48 h. ago Mercury Prize announces 12 best albums of the year with Sam Fender man to beat

The Mercury Prize 12 Albums of the Year have been unveiled and with the ceremony being held in Newcastle for the first time, Geordie Sam Fender is the one to beat

Politics

52 h. ago Mercury Prize Shortlist 2025: The full list of nominees including Pulp, CMAT and Scottish musician Jacob Alon

Fife musician Jacob Alon’s debut album has been nominated for the 2025 Mercury Prize alongside records from Pulp, CMAT, Wolf Alice and more.

Politics

53 h. ago Rock acts Fontaines DC, Sam Fender and Wolf Alice shortlisted for the 2025 Mercury Prize

An Irish act could win for the first time in Mercury Prize history, with both Fontaines DC and pop singer CMAT shortlisted, while North Shields singer-songwriter Fender will be hoping for a homecoming triumph as the ceremony takes place in Newcastle

Politics

54 h. ago Mercury Prize nominations in full as huge 90s band make comeback

The Mercury Prize Awards return next month, with a host of stars up for the award during the awards ceremony at the Utilita Arena in Newcastle on October 16

Politics

54 h. ago Pulp, CMAT and Sam Fender among artists nominated for 2025 Mercury Prize

Britpop band Pulp previously won the prize in 1996 for Different Class.

Politics

54 h. ago Cmat, Pulp and PinkPantheress among Mercury prize shortlist light on new names

Only two debut albums – including the ‘token’ jazz release – feature among this year’s list of nominations for the coveted UK and Irish music prizeA raft of familiar names fill this year’s list of Mercury prize nominations, with only two debuts among the 12 shortlisted albums. In Limerence, the first full-length by the Scottish folk songwriter Jacob Alon, and Hamstrings and Hurricanes, the first by Welsh jazz musician Joe Webb, will compete with the likes of Pulp’s comeback album More, folk godfather Martin Carthy’s Transform Me Then Into a Fish and the album with the UK’s biggest opening week of the year so far, People Watching by Sam Fender.The list is split 50/50 between male and female or mixed acts. The solo female artists on the list tend to the iconoclastic: Irish pop star Cmat’s acclaimed third album Euro-Country, Leeds jazz musician Emma-Jean Thackray’s Weirdo, FKA twigs’ Eusexua and PinkPantheress’s mixtape Fancy That. As for bands, as well as Pulp, the Irish band Fontaine...

Politics

6 d. ago Greta goes punk! Swedish activist has ditched trademark anoraks and plaits for trendy bangs, protest tees and hanging out with Bob Vylan and Sam Fender

Ahead of Thunberg's departure from Spain for Gaza, the 22-year-old was seen wearing a Fontaines D.C. football shirt - and was praised by punk rap duo Bob Vylan.

Events

6 d. ago Stevie Nicks and Lindsay Buckingham fuel new reunion speculation with cryptic post

Former bandmates and lovers announced rerelease of their 1973 album in July

Politics

8 d. ago Bruce Springsteen to release fabled electric version of 1982 album Nebraska

Studio versions of the stark, home-recorded album have never been issued, but will appear alongside new Springsteen biopicOne of the great lost albums in rock history is to finally see the light of day, as Bruce Springsteen announces the release of the electric version of his 1982 album Nebraska.The original was famously recorded in the bedroom of his New Jersey home, unaccompanied, on a four-track tape recorder rather than a multitrack studio setup. Springsteen attempted to work the songs up into more fleshed-out versions but felt the studio versions lacked the ghostly drama of the originals, and – to some confusion in his fanbase and record label – insisted on releasing the stark four-track takes. Continue reading...

Politics

8 d. ago Blue are BACK! Noughties boy band announce comeback 25 years after forming

 Blue have announced their comeback.

Politics

8 d. ago Sam Fender’s arena tour gives huge cash boost to UK’s grassroot venues

Sam Fender’s 2024 arena tour raised more than £100,000 for grassroots music venues.

Politics

8 d. ago Sam Fender’s tour raised £100,000 to boost grassroots music venues

Almost 40 venues in England, Scotland and Wales have benefitted from the funding.

Economics

9 d. ago BREAKING: Ed Sheeran announces huge arena tour – with just two UK dates

Ed Sheeran has announced he's hitting the road again with his latest album, Play, but the British icon will only play two dates in his home country

Politics

1 week ago Kneecap performance a special moment, says Electric Picnic boss

Melvin Benn also highlighted the performances of Chappell Roan and Hozier at Ireland’s largest music festival as ‘insanely good’

Politics

1 week ago Rihanna fans gutted as huge music update turns out not to be a new album announcement

Rihanna's fans were left disgruntled when she shared a heartfelt post about her experience of being in the music industry over the past 20 years but shied away from one key announcement

Culture

2 w. ago Sabrina Carpenter: Man’s Best Friend review – smut and stunning craft from pop’s best in show

(Island Records) The controversy-courting star is in perfect alignment with producer Jack Antonoff, on detailed and utterly delightful tracks that make her previous hit album seem rudimentary in comparisonIn June, Sabrina Carpenter announced her seventh album, Man’s Best Friend; its artwork depicts Carpenter on her hands and knees, an unseen man grasping a handful of her hair. It instantly caused an uproar online – most notably among Carpenter’s young fans, who weren’t on Tumblr in 2015, or weren’t aware of the way the Sun newspaper wrote about Madonna every day of the 1990s and 2000s, and therefore didn’t realise that discourse around whether pop stars should or shouldn’t be allowed to sexualise themselves is older than pop music itself, and almost always inane.Anyone hitting play on Man’s Best Friend in search of another barrel-full of ragebait might be alarmed, not because it is particularly provocative, but because it is strangely old-fashioned. Carpenter is fond of blue turns o...

Politics

2 w. ago Florence + The Machine announce 2026 UK tour in support of new album Everybody Scream

The dark days are soon to be over, with Florence + The Machine hitting the road once again next year

Politics

2 w. ago Nova Twins: Parasites & Butterflies review – fearless rock duo balance anthems and introspection

(Marshall)Trailblazers Amy Love and Georgia South push the boundaries of their trademark hybrid rock sound while confronting mental health and naysayersNova Twins’ 2022 album Supernova received Brit nominations and the first ever Mercury prize shortlisting for a Black rock band, and earned singer/guitarist Amy Love and bassist Georgia South fans in Rage Against the Machine and Elton John. Their third album packs more of the trademark hybrid of rock, metal, punk and hip-hop that elbowed them to the front of a still male-dominated genre, but pushes at their boundaries and tiptoes towards pop.Working with Foo Fighters/Charli xcx producer Rich Costey and a supporting cast including former Nine Inch Nails drummer Ilan Rubin and (via their first use of sampling) Iranian singer Mahsa Vahdat, the sound is bigger and more blatantly anthemic. Soprano playfully flirts with sugary harmonies and semi-operatic pop. Hummingbird – a kaleidoscopic collage of multi-layered vocals, unusual guitar proc...

Politics