Raye wins Mercury Prize for second album This Music May Contain Hope

Raye wins Mercury Prize for This Music May Contain Hope

Raye has won this year's Mercury Prize for her second album, This Music May Contain Hope. The award, worth £25,000, recognises outstanding albums released in the UK and Ireland in the past year. The winner was announced at a ceremony in Newcastle.

The win came after a shortlist that mixed newer acts with industry veterans. Raye beat 11 other nominees, including Sir Paul McCartney, who received his first Mercury nomination for The Boys of Dungeon Lane, a nostalgic record about his childhood in Liverpool. Olivia Dean was nominated for The Art of Loving after winning Album of the Year at the Brits and the MOBO Awards. Jade Thirlwall, formerly of Little Mix, was shortlisted for That's Showbiz Baby, an album about her love-hate relationship with the music industry. She was described as the first X Factor winner to be up for the prize. Jade said recognition for an album rather than just singles mattered, and her single Angel of My Dreams saw a 4,300% rise in global Spotify streams after it was played at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. Dave and Florence and the Machine were also among the shortlisted acts.

The judges said the winning album showed real imagination, combining old school Hollywood glamour with kitchen sink realism. They praised its scope and said it would serve as a huge inspiration for years to come. The record was described as the first pop record to win the Mercury Prize since the 1990s.

This Music May Contain Hope has 17 tracks and moves between show tunes, jazz and other styles, with tap dancing and contributions from Raye's grandparents and sisters. It uses about four orchestras and hundreds of musicians, all named in the final track. The album was released in March and went straight to number one in the UK. It has amassed one and a half billion streams.

Speaking backstage, Raye said she was speechless and grateful, calling the prize the best birthday present ever. She said she had poured everything into the album and made it without focusing on commercial success or cookie-cutter songs. She described some tracks as seven minutes long, indulgent and maximalist, and said the Mercury Prize should be about ambition and pushing the envelope. She also reflected that the demos and songbooks for the album were stolen two years ago, and that every mistake and blip helped create the path she took.

Raye has said the win is proof she can succeed on her own terms, five years after leaving a record label in a battle to release her first album. She told other independent artists that persistence and relentlessness are required in the industry. She is due to play a sold-out one-off show at the Royal Albert Hall, backed by the Heritage Orchestra and Flames Collective, the day after her 29th birthday.