East India Youth will go up against Damon Albarn and Royal Blood at the Mercury Music Prize ceremony.
The debut solo album from Damon Albarn has been nominated for the Barclaycard Mercury Music Prize 2014. The list of nominees - better than last year but still mostly uninspiring - also includes Kate Tempest, Royal Blood and Nick Mulvey. Hilariously, the Independent reports on Ed Sheeran and Lily Allen "missing out".
Damon Albarn is nominated for 'Everyday Robots'
This year's list of nominees also includes Anna Calvi, One Breath, Bombay Bicycle Club, So Long, See You Tomorrow, FKA Twigs, LP1, GoGo Penguin, v2.0, Jungle, Jungle, Polar Bear, In Each and Every One, Young Fathers, Dead.
As ever, the bookmakers have priced up the Mercury market, installing FKA Twigs as the 7/2 favourite to take the award - won last year by the 10/1 shot James Blake. Kate Tempest is second favourite at 9/2, while duo Royal Blood are available at 5/1.
More: our picks for the Mercury Music Prize nominations
Still, we think East India Youth's Total Strife Forever, at around 8/1, is where the value lies. The Bournemouth native, real name William Doyle, recorded and self-produced the album at home and released it on Stolen Recording in January 2014. The singles, 'Dripping Down', 'Hinterland' and 'Looking for Someone' are all...brilliant.
More: No Heroin, but Damon Albarn is still near his creative best with 'Everyday Robots'
The winner of the £20,000 prize for the Barclaycard Mercury Music Prize 2014 will be announced at an awards ceremony at the Roundhouse on Wednesday October 29, 2014. It will probably be presented by Lauren Laverne.
The full list of nominees are as followed:
Anna Calvi - One Breath
Bombay Bicycle Club - So Long, See You Tomorrow
Damon Albarn - Everyday Robots
East India Youth - Total Strife Forever
FKA twigs - LP1
GoGo Penguin - v2.0
Jungle - Jungle
Kate Tempest - Everybody Down
Nick Mulvey - First Mind
Polar Bear - In Each and Every One
Royal Blood - Royal Blood
Young Fathers - Dead