Today Sports Team’s debut album ‘Deep Down Happy’ is announced as one of the 2020 Hyundai Mercury Prize ‘Albums of the Year’.
The prestigious accolade celebrates and promotes the best of British music, recognising artistic achievement across a range of contemporary music genres. The shortlist was chosen by an independent judging panel and was revealed this morning on Lauren Laverne’s show on BBC Radio 6 Music. Sports Team are the only act with a debut album shortlisted this year.
The 2020 Hyundai Mercury Prize ‘Albums of the Year’:
Sports Team - Deep Down Happy
Dua Lipa - Future Nostalgia
Kano – Hoodies All Summer
Stormzy – Heavy Is The Head
Laura Marling – Song For Our Daughter
Charlie XCX – how i’m feeling now
Michael Kiwanuka - KIWANUKA
Georgia – Seeking Thrills
Lantern On The Lake – Spook The Herd
Moses Boyd – Dark Matter
Porridge Radio – Every Bad
Anna Meredith – FIBS
On Lauren Laverne’s 6Music interview Alex says:
“[Deep Down Happy] sounds scrappy and flawed and you hear the dynamics between all of us in it. I think that’s what people want from a debut album… how much spirit we can pour into it. It’s a culmination of 150 tour dates last year, and for it to lead to this is unbelievable. [Mercury] is more than we could have ever have expected.”
The news comes after Sports Team released their critically acclaimed debut album ‘Deep Down Happy’ on 5 June and achieved number #2 in the Official Album Charts, which holds the highest first week sales for a debut album by a British band in four years, and is the fourth highest selling debut of 2020. The band also became the biggest seller of the week, leading on physical sales (10K), digital downloads, and scoring the biggest vinyl sales of a debut record by a British artist in 2020, with a #1 on the Official Vinyl Chart. The six piece also announced their biggest UK tour to date, with the band back on the road doing what they do best next Spring and headlining O2 Academy Brixton on 29 April 2021.
