Could it be the Brat awards? Charli Xcx among nominees in an eclectic Mercurys mix

Charli xcx has crowned the so-called summer of Brat with a nomination for this year's Mercury prize.

- Laura Snapes

It is the second time the singer, real name Charlotte Aitchison, has been nominated for the award, following one in 2020 for her lockdown album How I'm Feeling Now.

The Brat phenomenon, which followed the release of Charlie xcx's album of the same name, has been described by her as a "pack of cigs, a Bic lighter and a strappy white top with no bra". It even reached the US presidential race, when, after Charli xcx tweeted "kamala IS brat", the backdrop of the Democrat Kamala Harris's campaign page was changed to the lurid green of the album's cover.

Charlie xcx is one of four musicians nominated this year to have been previously recognised by the UK music industry's flagship prize for albums by British and Irish artists. The rapper Berwyn, gets a nod for his album Who Am I (following a nomination for his mixtape Demotape/Vega in 2021); the Leeds songwriter Corinne Bailey Rae, is nominated for her fourth album, Black Rainbows, along with the London rapper Ghetts, for his fourth album On Purpose, With Purpose.

Standing between them and the artists nominated for their debut albums is Beth Gibbons. She won the prize in 1995 as a member of Portishead, for their debut album, Dummy, and receives a nod this year for her debut solo album, Lives Outgrown.