Fender's gritty truths earn him the Mercury

They could have given the award to an album not already a huge hit-but this blend of kitchen- sink drama and stadium choruses is expertly done

- By Alexis Petridis

You can expect all the usual excitement,” offered host Lauren Laverne at the start of this year’s Mercury prize ceremony. It’s the kind of thing people hosting awards shows are duty-bound to say, but the use of the word “usual” suggested she was diplomatically overlooking last year’s event, which - through no fault of the album that won, English Teacher’s This Could Be Texas - had all the excitement of a wake.

The Mercury had lost its corporate sponsorship, necessitating what host Annie Mac called “an intimate celebration of this year’s shortlist”, in the same way that an estate agent might call a flat with the shower next to the cooker “cosy”.

Visibly scaled-down and stripped of its live performances, it was oddly depressing to watch, but there was always the famous post-Mercury boost to the winning album’s sales to look forward to. Having dropped out of the Top 40 months before, This Could Be Texas duly rocketed back up to No 40, comfortably outsold by a reissue of an old album by Ultravox.