James Blake has won the 2013 Barclaycard Mercury Prize with his album Overgrown.
The album, his second, was picked above competition from Arctic Monkeys, Disclosure, Villagers, Rudimental and David Bowie and the bookies favourite Laura Mvula. Upon winning the award, the 22nd Mercury Prize, he delivered a short speech, and said: “Thank you to my parents for showing me the importance of being independent.”
He follows in the footsteps of Primal Scream, Badly Drawn Boy, Elbow, Ms Dynamite, Roni Size, Antony & The Johnsons, Speech Debelle and Alt-J, who have all won the prize. The ceremony, presented by BBC Radio 6 Music’s Lauren Laverne, was held at London’s Roundhouse.
Laura Marling, whose fourth album Once I Was An Eagle was nominated, her third album to pick up a Mercury nod, and David Bowie, whose comeback The Next Day made the shortlist, were unable to attend the ceremony. They did both send videos to be shown at the event, however, Marling offering a video of “Master Hunter”, Bowie preferring to premiere the video of new single “Love Is Lost”, as remixed by James Murphy.