Bat for Lashes album up forMercury Music Prize

Thu 19th Jul, 2007 in International News

Bat For Lashes – the British four-piece, all female band led by Natasha Khan – was among the short-list nominations for the prestigious annual Nationwide Mercury Music Prize announced in the UK yesterday, alongside the likes of Arctic Monkeys , Amy Winehouse and Dizzee Rascal .

The full list of nominations is a star-studded affair:

Bat for Lashes – Fur and Gold
Fionn Regan – The End of History
New Young Pony Club – Fantastic Playroom
Klaxons – Myths of the Near Future
The Young Knives – Voices of Animals and Men
Arctic Monkeys – Favourite Worst Nightmare
Maps – We Can Create
The View – Hats Off to the Buskers
Dizzee Rascal – Maths + English
Amy Winehouse – Back to Black
Jamie T – Panic Prevention
Basquiat Strings – Basquiat Strings with Seb Rochford

Bookmakers William Hill have Arctic Monkeys and Amy Winehouse listed as joint favourites at 4/1 with The View, Dizzee Rascal, Klaxons and Jamie T at 8/1. But with judges describing Fur and Gold as “beautiful and intriguing” and “a hypnotic voice and irresistible music”, The Guardian reckons Bat for Lashes are an excellent bet to “do an Antony” and take out the prize at 10/1.

Bat for Lashes’ album Fur and Gold will also be released in Australia on July 28 via Spunk Records/EMI. The band is about to head off to the US on tour where the album is due for release via Parlophone. Hopefully, fans in Australia will not be overlooked!

The videos for the single Prescilla and current UK single What’s a Girl to Do? can also be accessed for your viewing pleasure at www.batforlashes.co.uk .