A trophy in Newcastle and a first since 1994
Raye collected the 2026 Mercury Prize for her second album, This Music May Contain Hope, at a ceremony held in Newcastle's Utilita Arena. The record, a pop collection steeped in golden-age Hollywood style, saw off competition from Sir Paul McCartney, Olivia Dean and Jade to claim the £25,000 award. It is the first pop album to take the prize since M People's Elegant Slumming in 1994, a gap of more than three decades.[S1][S2][S3][S4][S5][S6][S7]
Accepting the trophy, the 28-year-old described herself as shaking, jet-lagged and tired, and said the moment felt blurry. She also spoke of the depth of feeling behind the win, telling the BBC afterwards that she had put everything she had into the record. The album includes the global hit Where Is My Husband?[S1]
Seventeen tracks, four orchestras and a Paris breakup
Running 73 minutes over 17 tracks, the record traces a love affair that falls apart on wet Paris streets, after which the protagonist picks up the pieces and returns stronger. Among those credited are Al Green, the soul veteran, four orchestras, over 100 musicians, and both of Raye's grandparents. It arrived in March, debuted at number one in the UK, and was met with enthusiastic reviews.[S1]
Raye said she had not shaped the album around commercial success or a cookie-cutter formula, noting that some tracks run to seven minutes and are indulgent and maximalist in approach. Reviewers responded warmly: Rolling Stone highlighted its old-school show-tune sparkle and big-band flourishes, NME praised her voice and writing, and the BBC's own review called it eccentric, kitsch and dramatic, with Raye going for broke without apology.[S1]
A delayed record and a shortlist of heavyweights
Work on the album was pushed back by close to a year after a setback that was eventually resolved. Raye said she had been distraught and very worried at the time, but reflected that every small slip and accident shapes the path a person takes, and that she would not now wish things had gone differently.[S1]
Before the ceremony, Olivia Dean was the bookies' pick, since her second record, The Art of Loving, had already taken album of the year honours at both the Brit Awards and the Mobos and was widely expected to earn a Grammy nod in the same category the following month. Speaking backstage, Dean said the win had not yet sunk in and that she might spend Christmas mulling it over from the sofa.[S1]
The rest of the shortlist included rapper Kojey Radical, Newcastle jazz group Knats and former Little Mix member Jade, the first X Factor winner ever to be nominated. It also featured Help (2), a charity compilation for Warchild with new music and covers from artists including Olivia Rodrigo, Damon Albarn, Depeche Mode and The Last Dinner Party, and nine former Mercury winners appeared on its tracklist.[S1]
The Mercury Prize began in 1992 as a counterweight to the commercially driven Brit Awards, intended to honour albums that advanced music regardless of fashion or trends. Debut records have accounted for 20 of the past 35 winners, among them Arctic Monkeys, Suede and Franz Ferdinand, a pattern that has led many to wrongly assume the prize is reserved for first albums; this year only two debuts made the list, Dove Ellis's Blizzard and Jade's That's Showbiz, Baby.[S1]
