The Mercury Prize considered the most prestigious honor in British music, this year's competitors include Harry Styles, Sam Fender, and Little Simz.
The Mercury Award, which honors the top British or Irish album of the preceding 12 months, has previously gone to artists including Pulp, Skepta, and PJ Harvey.
Ten of the albums on this years shortlist were nominated for the first time.
They include the controversial pop performer Self Esteem and the mostly Cornish-sung folk artist Gwenno, both of whose album Tresor.
Indie pair Wet Leg, post-metal band Nova Twins, and jazz performer Fergus McCreadie are a few other first-timers.
"It is nice to be part of that for Scottish music, to have this acknowledgment, perhaps it can empower musicians in Scotland," McCreadie told BBC 6 Music.
The Nova Twins, nominated for their album Supernova, claimed they found out they were included at a Hastings antique store.
Georgia South, the band's bassist, said of the lack of store damage: "I am shocked."
Amy Love, a member of her band, stated "After that, when we tried to go shopping again, we found that we were unable to focus, so we went to a tequila bar and had a little toast by the sea. It was incredible."
2021 Mercury Prize recipient Arlo Parks Wet Leg: We formed a band just for fun, and now it's flourishing.
Harry Styles' Harry's House is the most financially successful album on the list, spending six of the previous nine weeks at number one. Self-Esteem: The larger I become, the more menacing I look.
A sparkling, nimble pop album, it's unlikely to win (no pop artist has won since M People in 1994), but it represents a new stride in the star's ascent to the top echelons of British music.
Another number-one album by Sam Fender, Seventeen Going Under, is full of sax-drenched rock epics that address life, death, family tragedy, and the societal illiteracy in England's North East.
"Seventeen Going Under is a really personal and essential record for me and the lads, and for it to be recognized is nuts," he said in an interview with 6 Music.
It is a true honor, and I'm thrilled. We'll keep our fingers crossed and wait and see, but simply to be recognized is an honor.
The London rapper Little Simz, whose 2019 album Grey Area was previously nominated, is one of two returning candidates.
She received recognition this year for her symphonic hip-hop album Sometimes I Might Be Introvert, in which she confronts her inner and outer demons with stunning results.
"I had certain things to say and this was my way of expressing it and it's a gift people have resonated with it," she said in a statement to 6 Music.
"Being on the list is an honor since it is so impressive. I'm going to use this energy today without a doubt.
With Jessie Buckley, an actress best known for her appearances in Chernobyl, Wild Rose, and The Lost Daughter, guitarist Bernard Butler, who won the second-ever Mercury Prize with Suede in 1993, also makes a comeback (for which she received an Oscar nomination).
Yard Act, a post-punk band from Leeds, Joy Crookes, a soul singer from south London, and Kojey Radical, a rapper, round out the lineup.
The Mercury Prize honors creative excellence as opposed to the Brit Awards, which recognize economic success. Self Esteem said that she had secretly desired a nomination as a result.
She remarked, "You're not supposed to be like passionate about trophies. "You're not meant to care, but with this one, I did." Since I'm on it and I won, I'm now free!
Joy Crookes explains that "being nominated was sort of strange to absorb. I used to walk into HMV and buy the Mercury-nominated records and evaluate them with my dad.
"I had to leave and be by myself for a while. There was a surge of feelings.
Adele's chart-topping album 30, Charli XCX's pop masterwork Crash, Dave's We're All In This Together, and Florence and the Machine's highly praised Dance Fever were among the albums that were passed over for a position.
The judges said in a statement that it was difficult to narrow the field of albums this year to 12, mainly because there were so many outstanding ones.
"The very difficult aspect now is picking only one ultimate winner,"
On September 8, the evening of the Mercury Prize event, that winner will be announced.
Here is everything you need to know about this year's candidates till then.
Social Plugin