James Blake’s 25/1 Mercury Prize win for the stunningly enigmatic Overgrown was, if nothing else, a surprise considering the competition.
Arctic Monkeys’ fast selling return to glory AM, Disclosure’s greatest hits-like Settle and bookies’ favourite Laura Mvula’s Sing to the Moon were all more likely candidates, fitting the Mercury Prize’s more recent criteria of choosing an album with both commercial success and hipster credibility. Not that James Blake’s album was a commercial flop, debuting at #8 in the album charts; one place higher than Laura Mvula. The most obvious differences between the two records is Overgrown’s lack of buzz-worthy single and chart sustainability and Mvula’s ‘Green Garden’ and commerical longevity. James Blake is the definition of an artist a lot of people may have heard of, but have never actually heard.
How then did James Blake win the Mercury Prize and, perhaps more importantly, why? Speech Debelle not withstanding, the Mercury Prize has been safely awarded in recent years, with winners such as PJ Harvey, The xx and Alt-J not raising an eyebrow. James Blake’s brand of subdued blue-eyed soul fused with touches of future garage production may not be too far removed from The xx when viewed from the surface. However, the Wandworth trio have mastered the science of iconography whilst offering more conventional song structures to form a delicious recipe for popularity that Blake has not yet mastered. Even Speech Debelle, despite not being lifted to the expected heights of the post-award honeymoon, hardly make unconventional music.
The answer possibly lies in the Mercury Prize panel’s attempt to once again appear relevant in lieu of the online rise of less mainstream publications; to illustrate a strong understanding of the current musical tide. There’s a similarity in Roni Size’s triumph over Radiohead in 1997. In hindsight though, while drum and bass continues to flourish, Roni Size’s atmospheric and complex take on the genre hasn’t been a music fixture in a long time. OK Computer on the other hand continues to influence a large chunk of the guitar driven music released in more recent years. It seems that the awards following 1997’s left-field peak have been purposefully played safe, perhaps illustrating the committee’s reticence to make sweeping statements considered miscalculations. Whether time has healed all or cultural capital has emerged as an overriding, motivating factor, Overgrown’s win signals a move back towards less safe territory.
Overgrown’s win also represents a significant step forward for future garage and dubstep (or post-dubstep) in that these genres finally have had a slice of long overdue recognition. Although the award won’t offer any clarity or finality regarding the overlapping nature of the genres, this kind of music will be exposed to more casual music fans whose attention may not otherwise have been grabbed. Overgrown’s 2500% sales increase is a strong reflection of this, and possibly may introduce new fans to James Blake’s more experimental debut album and his more traditionally future garage early EPs.
Elements of the sound itself has been heard in Drake’s recent hit ‘Hold On, We’re Going Home’ and Usher’s ‘Climax’ from last year, so the genre already has forced at least a little mainstream impact; James Blake’s victory acting as the symbolic cherry of this admittedly limited success.
Whether the unexpected antics of the Mercury Prize panel is indicative of James Blake’s fate in pop music history or if he becomes just another increasingly distant memory like Roni Size however, remains
to be seen.