Corinne Bailey Rae has responded to her recent Mercury Prize nominations.
It was announced last week that the British singer's 2023 album Black Rainbow had been shortlisted for this year's prestigious award.
“I've been nominated for this award before,” Corinne told NME in a new interview. “For me, it's all about being on the list. None of us are desperate to win, we're just really happy to have been chosen out of hundreds of records.”
The Mercury Prize promotes music from British and Irish artists and recognises the 12 best albums of the year as chosen by an independent panel of judges.
The “Put Your Records On” hitmaker said he has served as one of the judges in the past.
“I've been a judge for this award twice so I know what it's like: 10 people debate and narrow it down to 12 artists,” she said.
“We were all just looking for something that would interest us,” the 45-year-old continued. “We know it's not all about genres or new artists or artists that have been here before. It's about what they're saying, how they're saying it, and looking for something new.”
Other nominees for this year's awards include Charlie XCX, The Last Dinner Party, Cat Barnes, The English Teacher, Barry Can't Swim, Beth Gibbons and Getz.
Elsewhere in the interview, Corinne said this year's list of nominees “feels pretty gender balanced, and I'm happy to see more Black and brown people.”
The singer also revealed who else among this year's nominees she thinks has a chance of winning the award.
“I absolutely love The English Teacher and saw Lily[Fontaine, frontwoman]'s solo performance in Leeds,” she said. “It was really clever and funny and eye-catching and I'm delighted their voice has been added to this award.”
This year's winners will be announced in September.