Sister Ray's Mercury Prize Picks: Eric
Hello everyone, it's been a while since we posted any updates on here and I thought there would be no better way to relaunch the Sister Ray blog than with our staff picks for this years Mercury Prize.
My name is Eric. I only recently started at Sister Ray and thought I could introduce myself by taking the first pick.
Hannah Peel has been at the forefront of indie music over the past decade, branching out from Folk music in the early 2010's towards a sound draped in electronica and synth pop in recent years. For me her latest LP 'Fir Wave' is the pinnacle of this progression. The album explores and develops sounds from a recording by BBC Radiophonic Workshop composers Delia Derbyshire and Brian Hodgson, which Peel has reworked and made her own.
The record feels unified despite its array of different textures. With several different moods to play with she allows them to overlap with each other, providing a rich and nuanced sound. The sparsity of the title track contrasts well with the likes of the glow of 'Ecovocative', and the power of 'Patterned Formation'. It's undoubtedly the best piece of music on an albeit more diverse list of nominees, and is my pick to win.