PJ Harvey wins the Mercury Prize for the Second Time

07 September, 2011
by: Spoonfed Live Music Team

The west country singer is fast becoming music's answer to Cloughie's Nottingham Forest...

The Mercury prize was awarded to PJ Harvey last night, almost 10 years to the day after she won it for the first time for her ‘Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea’ album. That makes Polly Jean the first artist to have won the prize twice in its 20-year history.

‘Let England Shake’ beat off competition from a shortlist heavy with London talent like James Blake, Katy B, and the chart-dominating, Jonathan Ross-upstaging Adele. A loose concept album about the cost of conflict, featuring extensive use of an auto-harp, ‘Let England Shake’ was met with near-universal critical acclaim upon release and had always been a bookie’s favourite to scoop this year’s prize.

The star-studded prize-giving show last night featured performances from all the nominees (except Adele, who wasn’t well enough to sing), and Harvey’s rendition of ‘The Words That Maketh Murder’ was arguably (and fittingly) the highlight:

The Mercury Prize has a reputation for making controversial decisions. M People winning in 1994 drew particular ire, and some choices (such as Roni Size beating Radiohead’s ‘OK Computer’ and Talvin Singh trumping Blur’s ‘13’) have just been plain puzzling. But few observers will have much to quibble about with the choice of Harvey as 2011’s winner. That is unless they’re fervent Wild Beasts fans (the Cumbrian quartet weren’t even nominated), or they wish a Londoner had won.

What do you think of this year’s winner? Who should have won? Voice your opinion in the twitterverse under the hashtag #SpoonfedMercuryPrize, or leave a comment below.