Wolf Alice have won the 2018 Hyundai Mercury prize for their second album, 2017’s Visions of a Life.

On receiving the award, frontperson Ellie Rowsell said: “This means so much to pick this up with my three best friends”, while bassist Theo Ellis recalled how the band were knocked back by a record label head for their image, for Rowsell wearing makeup, and for their genre-resistant take on indie rock and post-punk, adding: “But here we are, so fuck you!”

Prior to the ceremony, Rowsell struggled to express how appreciative they were for the nomination: “We were so happy we got nominated. It’s hard to show that. We’re just gormless!” At the show, the London four-piece performed their single Don’t Delete the Kisses, twice – once during the show, and then shortly after to celebrate their win.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Up there … from left, Joff Oddie, Ellie Rowsell, Theo Ellis and Joel Amey. Photograph: Dave J Hogan/Getty Images

Wolf Alice formed in 2010, initially as a duo comprised of Rowsell and guitarist Joff Oddie. Drummer Joel Amey and bassist Theo Ellis joined the band in 2012. They signed to the independent British label Dirty Hit, also home to the 1975, and in 2015 released their debut album My Love Is Cool, after building their profile through extensive touring. The album was nominated for the 2015 Mercury prize but lost to Benjamin Clementine. They have been commended for their genre-fluid approach to guitar music, incorporating elements of dream-pop and, on their blistering 2017 single Yuk Foo, hardcore punk. In 2017 they also starred in On the Road, a fictional romance film directed by Michael Winterbottom, set on a Wolf Alice tour.

Rowsell was a judge for the prize in 2016. In a press conference following their win, she said that “you get given almost 300 albums to listen to ... and I feel privileged to have that insight, because I know the dedication and intensity it takes to come to that decision.” Guitarist Joff Oddie said winning the prize was “the closest thing to an actual dream-like state – it sounds like such a cliche but that’s what it felt like for me.”

Nadine Shah was the bookmakers’ favourite to win for her third album, Holiday Destination, leading the jazz outfit Sons of Kemet and south London guitarist King Krule. Before the ceremony, Shah criticised what she perceived as the prize’s creeping similarity to the more mainstream Brit awards. “Now the Mercury is actually run by the same company, the BPI [British Phonographic Industry], I think it needs to find its feet again. It’s controversial of me to say so, but I do criticise it for that. It needs to establish once again, what is it that they’re trying to do. Why is Noel Gallagher being nominated? Why are there only two debut albums?”

She questioned the lack of women artists nominated for the prize, and expressed hope that one would win this year. For an independent artist like herself, she said, “it gives me the opportunity to speak to more people and that’s the most beautiful thing, that’s what I wanna do with this album – speak to more people”.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Nadine Shah performs at the ceremony. Photograph: JM Enternational/Rex/Shutterstock

Wolf Alice were presented with the £25,000 prize at the Eventim Apollo in Hammersmith, London. Prior to the ceremony, the band described it as a “substantial” amount of money that would allow any band to record an album with high production values.

Wolf Alice are the first female-fronted act to win the award since 2011, when PJ Harvey won for a second time with her eighth album, Let England Shake.

The ceremony – at which most of the shortlisted artists performed – coincided with the publication of nominee Lily Allen’s memoir, My Thoughts Exactly. The singer’s publicist was holding a copy of the book, which has been the subject of tabloid intrigue, as Allen walked the red carpet and welcomed the recognition for her musical achievements. “I don’t know if it’s vindicating, but I do feel that my record label have been a little bit crap with promoting this record,” she said. “I dunno if you’ve seen any posters or advertising. So it feels amazing that people that care about music have decided to put me in this list.” She suggested that the revelations in her book – Allen’s first – were responsible for the underwhelming effort on behalf of her label, Parlophone, and claimed it had received a copy of the finished memoir two weeks before she did.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Lily Allen performs at the Mercury ceremony. Photograph: JM Enternational/Rex/Shutterstock

Albums by leading female solo artists have performed poorly in recent years: Allen’s No Shame is no longer in the UK Top 100 albums; Florence + the Machine’s High as Hope sits outside the Top 40. Allen suggested that this was due to male industry executives who felt threatened by the #MeToo movement wielding their power against women. “The music industry is rife with abuse and abuse of power, and the more power that women have the harder it is for the men to get away with the shit that they’ve been getting away with forever,” she said.

The prize is decided on the night by a panel of judges, which this year consisted of musicians Ella Eyre, Jamie Cullum, Lianne La Havas and Marcus Mumford, broadcasters Clara Amfo, Danielle Perry and MistaJam, critics Harriet Gibsone (the Guardian), Will Hodgkinson (the Times) and Phil Alexander (Kerrang!/Mojo), plus radio industry figures: Jeff Smith, head of music at BBC 6 Music and Radio 2, and Radio X head of music Mike Walsh.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The Mercury judges line up. Photograph: JM Enternational/Rex/Shutterstock

Arctic Monkeys, winners in 2006 for their debut, were nominated for a fourth time for their sixth album, Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino. The band are in the midst of a residency in their home town of Sheffield, and did not attend the ceremony.

The attention that comes with the Mercury prize traditionally drives sales and streams for the nominated artists. Winners Wolf Alice experienced one of the smaller increases in attention since nomination, their combined sales and streams rising just 3.9%. Jazz four-piece Sons of Kemet got the biggest commercial boost, with a 38.3% uplift; Florence + the Machine had the second biggest,32.8%; with Jorja Smith gaining 30.8%.

The full list of this year’s nominees was: Lily Allen, No Shame; Arctic Monkeys, Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino; Everything Everything, A Fever Dream; Everything Is Recorded, Everything Is Recorded; Florence + the Machine, High as Hope; Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, Who Built the Moon?; King Krule, The Ooz; Novelist, Novelist Guy; Nadine Shah, Holiday Destination; Jorja Smith, Lost and Found; Sons of Kemet, Your Queen is a Reptile; and Wolf Alice, Visions of a Life.

Margot James, the government’s creative industries minister, said: “Once again it’s a strong and varied list of finalists, showing why the UK’s music scene is one of our strongest calling cards. We are doing all we can to support the talent of tomorrow so the industry continues to grow and build on this country’s rich musical history.”</s>Wolf Alice have won the 2018 Hyundai Mercury Prize. The annual award is bestowed on the best British album of the past year as chosen by an independent panel of music journalists and music industry members.

In a ceremony held on Thursday at London’s Eventim Apollo, Hammersmith, the band received the award for sophomore album, Visions of a Life, which includes the single “Space & Time.” Their debut LP, My Love is Cool, made the short list of nominees in 2015, but it was bested by Benjamin Clementine’s At Least for Now.

“This means so much to pick this up with my three best friends,” singer-guitarist Ellie Rowsell said during the band’s acceptance speech. They also performed “Don’t Delete the Kisses” during the ceremony.

Visions of a Life bested 11 other albums for the 2018 Mercury Prize honor, including Lily Allen’s No Shame, Arctic Monkeys’ Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino, Everything Everything’s A Fever Dream, Everything is Recorded’s self-titled album, Florence + the Machine’s High as Hope, King Krule’s The Ooz, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds’ Who Built the Moon?, Novelist’s Novelist Guy, Nadine Shah’s Holiday Destination, Jorja Smith’s Lost & Found and Sons of Kemet’s Your Queen is a Reptile.</s>London indie band Wolf Alice defied the bookies’ predictions and beat a number of big-name artists to win the 2018 Mercury Prize last night, for their second album Visions of a Life.

The quartet genuinely did seem lost for words as they accepted the trophy and £25,000 prize, having edged out 11 other artists on Thursday night at the Hammersmith Apollo in London, including established names like Lily Allen, Arctic Monkeys, Florence + The Machine and Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, and the hotly-tipped favourite Nadine Shah.

“It means so much to pick this up with my three best friends,” Wolf Alice’s frontwoman Ellie Rowsell said, looking shocked at the group’s triumph, before her bandmate Theo Ellis stepped in.

"The first label meeting we ever had, we walked into a room, and the geezer said, 'You don't look like a band at all. What are you? What are you supposed to be? All your songs sound different. You don't look like each other.' We never really figured it out, but here we are,” Ellis said.

Wolf Alice then reprised that evening’s performance of ‘Don’t Delete The Kisses’, before Rowsell delivered a more composed analysis of their victory backstage, talking to the BBC.

More: Wolf Alice will “say goodbye for a while” before their third album

“You get given almost 300 albums - so I know the intensity and the frustration of making that decision,” she said, reflecting on her time in 2016 as one of the Mercury Prize judging panel, adding: “Now I know what overwhelmed feels like.”

Wolf Alice had been nominated for their debut album My Love Is Cool back in 2015, but on that occasion lost out to Benjamin Clementine.

The 12-strong list of nominees for the 2018 Mercury Prize received a great deal of criticism when it was revealed two months ago. Only three debuts were nominated, and there were no folk or dance entries, and beyond the token jazz nomination, no avant-garde or classical concessions, leading to many describing it as incredibly conservative.

More: All the Mercury Prize winning albums – From Worst To Best</s>Wolf Alice’s latest album, Visions of a Life, is the recipient of the 2018 Mercury Prize. The highly coveted annual award goes to the best album by an artist from the United Kingdom or Ireland.

The UK alternative rockers beat out some stiff competition, including King Krule’s The Ooz, Arctic Monkeys’ Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino, Florence and the Machine’s High as Hope, Jorja Smith’s Lost and Found, Lily Allen’s No Shame, and Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds’ Who Built the Moon?.



Last year’s Mercury Prize went to Sampha for his debut album, Process. Other notable past winners include Arctic Monkeys, The xx, Pulp, PJ Harvey, Portishead, James Blake, Primal Scream, and Antony and the Johnsons.

“This means so much to pick this up with my three best friends,” said frontwoman Ellie Rowsell while expecting the award. Admittedly nervous, she ceded the stage to guitarist Theo Ellis, who recalled the early days of the band:

“When we first started as a band, I remember the first label meeting we ever had, we walked into a room and a geezer said, ‘What the fuck? You lot don’t look like a band at all. What are you? What are you supposed to be? All your songs sound different, you don’t look like each other.’ We never really figured it out, but here we are. So fuck you! He also said he didn’t want to work for women who wore makeup because it was a bunch of fuss, but here we are.”

Watch their complete speech, as well as their performance of single “Don’t Delete the Kiss” below. Also revisit our Track by Track breakdown of Visions of a Life with the band.</s>Wolf Alice‘s Visions Of A Life has been named the best British or Irish album of the year to win the coveted Mercury Prize, three years after making the shortlist with their debut My Love Is Cool.

The band first rose to prominence in 2014 with their Blush EP, attracting fans through their sublime blend of hard rock and dreamy pop influences, tied together by frontwoman Ellie Roswell’s perfectly balanced vocals. The following year, they released their debut album to much critical acclaim, reaching No. 2 on the UK albums chart and making the shortlist for the 2015 Mercury Prize but falling just short of the prize.

2017’s Visions Of A Life was an all-round improvement for the band, showcasing greater musical range (contrast the raucous ‘Yuk Foo‘ to the serenely beautiful chords and lyricism of ‘Don’t Delete The Kisses‘) and featuring richer, cleaner production and mastering. The album once again reached No. 2 in the UK albums chart, but this time the band have walked away with the Mercury Prize to boot.

Here at The Edge we’re ecstatic, with the album voted our third favourite of last year and their November 2017 gig at Southampton’s O2 Guildhall described as “a flawless performance, saturated with ruthless power and full-frontal emotion.” If you can’t tell, we’re big Wolf Alice fans!

Visions Of A Life fought off new albums from the likes of Arctic Monkeys, Florence + The Machine and Jorja Smith to claim the prize. There was some controversy this year that the nominees were too mainstream, with not enough new and upcoming artists given the recognition some feel they deserve, which could well play into the list of nominees we see for next year’s prize. The night featured performances from Lily Allen, King Krule, and Wolf Alice themselves just moments before they were crowned winners. Arctic Monkeys were notable absentees, instead playing a specially recorded live performance due to their commitment to their ongoing tour.

Check out the full list of nominees below:
• Everything is Recorded – Everything is Recorded
• Sons of Kemet – Your Queen is a Reptile

Visions Of A Life is available now via Dirty Hit.</s>LONDON - Rock band Wolf Alice won Britain’s Mercury Prize on Thursday for album Visions of a Life, beating off competition from the likes of Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds and the Arctic Monkeys.

The four-member band from north London, which first began as a duo in 2010, took the £25,000 prize and “album of the year” trophy, which has been awarded to a wide range of music artists since it began in 1992.

Visions of a Life, the group’s second studio album, won praise from critics when it was released last year and reached no. 2 in the UK album charts.

“This has never really happened to us ... we’ve been nominated before but we’ve never won,” band member Joel Amey told Reuters. “It’s hard to gauge how these things really go in your favour but so far the Mercury (nomination) has done wonders for us getting to new people.”

The Mercury Prize, which is less mainstream than Britain’s annual BRIT Awards, honours music by British and Irish acts and organisers said this year’s shortlist celebrated musicians “at all stages of their careers”.

It also included albums by bands Florence + The Machine and Everything Everything, singers Lily Allen, Nadine Shah, Jorga Smith and King Krule, MC Novelist, jazz group Sons of Kemet and the collaborative Everything is Recorded, spearheaded by XL Recordings founder Richard Russell.

Past winners of the prize include grime artist Skepta and musicians PJ Harvey and Benjamin Clementine.</s>Wolf Alice won the 2018 Mercury Prize on September 20th 2018. They beat Lily Allen and Arctic Monkeys with their album Visions of A Life released in 2017 and it debuted at number two on the UK Albums Chart. So as the band are set to become one of the UK's most in-demand bands, we take a look at their history, members and hit songs.

They are a British four-piece alternative rock band form North London and have been together since 2010. Its members since 2012 are Ellie Rowsell, Joff Oddie, Theo Ellis and Joel Amey. Their name came from a short story by Angela Carter and started as an acoustic duo between Ellie and Joff, and eventually they added electric elements to their music.

Ellie Ciara Rowsell was born in July 1992 (26 years old) and is a singer from Archway, North London. She is the lead vocalist and guitarist of the group.

What are the Wolf Alice songs?

Their most recognised songs are 'Don't Delete the Kisses' and 'Formidable Cool' from their Mercury Prize winning album Visions of a Life. Other popular songs include 'Bros' from album 'My Love Is Cool' and 'Silk' which featured in the movie T2: Trainspotting.

What is the Mercury Prize?

Formerly called the Mercury Music Prize, it is an annual music prize for the best album by a British or Irish act. The winner is picked by a panel of twelve judges from the music business and they win £25,000. This year, Wolf Alice won beating Arctic Monkeys and Lily Allen who were also shortlisted.</s>Hear Ellie Rowsell and co discuss their Mercury Prize-winning sophomore album with Radio X's John Kennedy.

Wolf Alice took home the 2018 Hyundai Mercury Prize for their Visions Of A Life album at a star-studded awards ceremony last night (21 September).

Watch the moment Wolf Alice were announced as the winners in our video above.

Their second studio effort - which spawned singles in Don't Delete The Kisses and Beautifully Unconventional - beat off stiff competition from the likes of Florence + The Machine's High As Hope, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds' Who Built The Moon? and Everything Everthing's A Fever Dream to take home the prestigious award.

Last year the band visited Radio X to talk about the record in a special track-by-track X-Posure album playback with John Kennedy ahead of its release on 23 September 2017.

Listen back to their thoughts about the effort here:

READ MORE: Where did Wolf Alice get their name from?</s>Rock band Wolf Alice have pipped the likes of Arctic Monkeys, Florence + The Machine and Lily Allen to win the 2018 Mercury Prize.

The group looked stunned as they made their way to the stage to collect the award, which they claimed for the critically acclaimed album Visions Of A Life.

Singer Ellie Roswell said it "means so much to pick this up with my three best friends" - bandmates Joel Amey, Thei Ellis and Joff Oddie.

Ellis added: "When we first started as a band, we walked into a meeting and a geezer said 'You don't look like a band at all'. He also said he didn't want to work with women who wore make up.

"I can't believe it, big up everyone who was nominated, this means the world, thank you so much.

"Has anyone got a Jagerbomb?"</s>Alternative rock band Wolf Alice have won the 2018 Mercury Prize for their album Visions Of A Life.

Alternative rock band Wolf Alice have won the 2018 Mercury Prize for their album Visions Of A Life.

All you need to know about Mercury Prize winners Wolf Alice

The London four-piece consists of singer Ellie Roswell, bassist Theo Ellis, guitarist Joff Oddie and drummer Joel Amey.

Roswell and Oddie originally formed Wolf Alice as an acoustic duo and got their name from a short story by writer Angela Carter.

They decided to add electronic elements to their sound and recruited Rosewell’s childhood friend Sadie Cleary on bass and James DC on drums.

Amey later joined the group in 2012 after their original drummer broke his wrist.

Cleary left the same year to pursue her studies and was replaced by Ellis.

In 2013, they released their first physical single Fluffy – which was later followed up by their debut EP Blush.

They were signed to the Dirty Hit record label in 2014 and their debut album My Love Is Cool was released in June the following year.

The album was also nominated for the Mercury Prize, but lost out to Benjamin Clementine’s At Least For Now.

It featured the song Moaning Lisa Smile which was nominated for a Grammy award in the best rock performance category.

It peaked at number two on the UK album’s chart was was certified gold after surpassing sales of over 100,000.

Their single Bros was nominated for an Ivor Novello Award in 2016.

They have won a UK festival award for their live performances and have supported rock bands such as Foo Fighters and Queens Of The Stone Age.

The group’s sophomore record Visions Of A Life was released in September last year and also reached number two on the UK chart.

It was described by the Mercury judging panel of industry experts as: “An exuberant tapestry of swirling pop, grunge and indie guitar rock.”

After beating 11 other records by the likes of Arctic Monkeys and Lily Allen to claim the prize, Ellis said: “When we first started as a band I remember the first label meeting we had, we walked into the room and the geezer said ‘what the f***? You lot don’t look like a band at all? What are you supposed to be? All your songs are so different, you don’t look like each other’. We never figured it out but here we are.”
The band Wolf Alice wins the 2018 Hyundai Mercury Prize for its album Visions of a Life.