Florence Welch, she of early co-favourites for this year's Mercury Prize Florence and the Machine, has 'never heard of' fellow nominee Lisa Hannigan. This is disappointing, particularly after the latter's mainstream exposure on Later with Jools Holland, the Radio 2 playlist and (of course) RaW Folk...
Hannigan, with a critically acclaimed history as the female vocalist for Damien Rice, refers to her music as plinky plonk rock, perhaps in an attempt to dodge the singer-songwriter and nu-folk labels. This is probably a good idea - generally such labels are as unhelpful as they are unsound and Hannigan's music should be heard without prejudice. Her nomination is well-deserved.
Nevertheless, since the Mercurys started in 1992 the prize has earned a reputation for its left-field nominees and, to a lesser extent, winners (Antony & the Johnsons spring to mind). It has an equally rich history of promoting folk artists, with Eliza Carthy, Kate Rusby, Seth Lakeman, Laura Marling and Rachel Unthank and the Winterset (now the Unthanks) among those gracing previous shortlists.
None have gone on to win, unfortunately, meaning Lisa Hannigan's chances on form are not that great. Last year something of a headwind built up behind the Unthanks, seemingly sweeping them from token folkies to serious contenders, though no-one could quibble with Elbow's eventual win (in the process joining Klaxons, Arctic Monkeys and Franz Ferdinand as all-male band winners of the last five years). The Mercury Prize has a habit of springing surprises, however, so maybe Hannigan, with her unassuming, engaging and well-executed debut album Sea Sew, could pull off a shock come September.
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