Arlo Parks was announced last night, Thursday, 9th September 2021, as the overall winner of the 2021 Hyundai Mercury Prize for Album of the Year with ‘Collapsed In Sunbeams’. Broadcaster and author Annie Mac revealed the winner live on BBC Four & BBC Radio 6 Music.
The judging panel said: “It was extremely difficult to choose a winner of the 2021 Hyundai Mercury Prize. There were so many strong albums, of such diversity and character. But in the end we decided that Arlo Parks was an extremely worthy winner. Addressing such complex issues as mental health and sexuality with real empathy, displaying a lyrical wisdom that belied her 21 years, with ‘Collapsed In Sunbeams’ Arlo Parks has created an album that has captured the spirit of the year in a positive, forward thinking fashion. It has the ability to reach out and remind a wider audience of the timeless art of the album. Arlo is an artist who connects deeply with her generation and reflects the plurality of contemporary British life.’
Arlo Parks said: “I’m completely speechless. It took a lot of hard work and sacrifice to get here but I made it through, and I managed to do what I love full time and make a career out of expressing myself.”
Ashley Andrew, Hyundai Motor UK’s Managing Director, commented: ‘Huge congratulations to Arlo Parks on winning the 2021 Hyundai Mercury Prize for Album of the Year. Her album ‘Collapsed In Sunbeams’ is beautifully bold and emotive, thoroughly deserving this coveted prize. The return of a live show allows us to applaud the overall winner and we are putting Arlo’s name in lights on our iconic Piccadilly Circus screen in London. Our presence also allows us to highlight our innovative zero-emission IONIQ 5 Electric vehicle, which is on display and highlights our commitment to sustainable mobility solutions.”
The Hyundai Mercury Prize ‘Albums of the Year’ celebrate and promote the best of UK music, recognising artistic achievement across an eclectic range of contemporary music genres. The Prize’s broadcast partner, BBC Music, provided live television and radio coverage of the event on BBC Four & on BBC Radio 6 Music. BBC Four broadcast the Hyundai Mercury Prize 2021 Live: Album of the Year (9pm-10.15pm) and The Mercury Prize on BBC Radio 6 Music was hosted by Tom Ravenscroft (8pm-12am).
Hyundai has the most diverse range of alternatively fueled vehicles in the market, recently launching its latest IONIQ 5, a fully electric mid size CUV that is characterised by strong and emotional design that features an innovative interior. It also delivers powerful performance and ultra-fast 400V and 800V multi-charging. The range also includes the KONA Electric, the UK’s first fully electric compact SUV which has a range of up to 278 miles on a single charge (64kWh versions).
The 2021 shortlisted artists were:
Arlo Parks ‘Collapsed in Sunbeams‘
BERWYN ‘DEMOTAPE/VEGA‘
Black Country, New Road ‘For the First Time‘
Celeste ‘Not Your Muse‘
Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders & The London Symphony Orchestra ‘Promises‘
Ghetts ‘Conflict of Interest‘
Hannah Peel ‘Fir Wave‘
Laura Mvula ‘Pink Noise‘
Mogwai ‘As the Love Continues‘
Nubya Garcia ‘SOURCE‘
SAULT ‘Untitled (Rise)‘
Wolf Alice ‘Blue Weekend‘
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