21 Extraordinary Albums

{drum roll}

It’s time for our annual alternative to the Mercury Music Prize, offering music lovers from around the world a selection of exceptional British & Irish albums.

This year’s longlist of over a hundred albums was compiled in conjunction with the DiS community here and having listened to all of them over the last month, there are so many brilliant releases to delve into.

Of all the records I loved, I’ve created a shortlist of 21 albums for DiS diehards and intrigued onlookers alike.

The list has a mixture of community favourites that have done well in various polls alongside records that only one user has ever posted about but it’s their album of the year (that’s the HALINA album - thanks @Roughyed, I really loved it and can see why the O o label picked it up after a self release!).

I tried to put together a mixture of albums together that come from different sonic worlds but all lean into the winds of the future, raise a fist to the binfire we’re living through or gently press their palm on your heart (often times some of the records do all three!)

Before you pick which 3 albums you’re going to vote for, please take a moment to listen to all of the nominees on Spotify here or using these links to Bandcamp or YouTube.

We only create this list to send people on a journey of music discovery, so set yourself a few diary reminders to dive in to the ones you’re not familiar with. Hope you find a new favourite or find something that introduces you to a new musical world.

Anna B Savage - in|FLUX (City Slang) | Bandcamp
Bdrmm - I Don’t Know (Rock Action) | Bandcamp
Big Joanie - Back Home (Daydream Library Series) | Bandcamp
Billy Nomates - CACTI (Invada Records) | Bandcamp
Craven Faults - Standers (The Leaf Label) | Bandcamp
Daniel Avery - Ultra Truth (Phantasy Sound) | Bandcamp
Dry Cleaning - Stumpwork (4AD) | Bandcamp
Gilla Band - Most Normal (Rough Trade) | Bandcamp
HALINA - The Game (O o) | Bandcamp
James Holden - Imagine This Is A High Dimensional Space Of All Possibilities (Border Community Recordings) | Bandcamp
Lanterns on the Lake - Versions of Us (Bella Union) | Bandcamp
Little Simz - No Thank You (AWAL) | YouTube
M(h)aol - Attachment Styles (TULLE) | Bandcamp
Mandy, Indiana - i’ve seen a way (Fire Talk) | Bandcamp
Martha - Please Don’t Take Me Back (Specialist Subject) | Bandcamp
Nabihah Iqbal - DREAMER (Ninja Tune) | Bandcamp
Overmono - Good Lies (XL Recordings) | Bandcamp
PVA - BLUSH (Ninja Tune) | Bandcamp
Richard Dawson - The Ruby Cord (Domino) | Bandcamp
Rozi Plain - Prize (Memphis Industries) | Bandcamp
The Golden Dregs - On Grace & Dignity (4AD) | Bandcamp

Once you’ve done listening, you can head over to our forums to cast your 3 votes here.