Fontaines D.C., Sam Fender and Wolf Alice are among the nominees for the U.K.’s prestigious Mercury Prize, which honors the best record of the year among acts in the U.K. and Ireland across multiple genres.
Albums released between July 2024 and August 2025 were eligible, and the 12 albums were chosen by an independent judging panel.
Fontaines D.C. are nominated for their 2024 album Romance; they were also nominated for their 2019 debut, Dogrel. The Irish band has since gone on to win other major awards, including best international group at the 2025 BRIT Awards.
Fender is up for his third album, People Watching, which came out in February. He was previously nominated for his 2021 sophomore album, Seventeen Going Under.
Wolf Alice, who won the Mercury Prize for their 2018 album Visions of a Life, are nominated again for their current album The Clearing.
The 2025 Mercury Prize will be presented Oct. 16 in Newcastle, England, marking the first time in its 33-year history the ceremony has been held outside of London. The nominees will all perform at the ceremony.
Past Mercury Prize winners include Arctic Monkeys, PJ Harvey, Primal Scream, Suede, Portishead, Franz Ferdinand, alt-J and The xx.
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