Mercury Prize 2013 Shortlist: David Bowie, Savages, Disclosure + More Up for U.K. Award

David Bowie, Arctic Monkeys, Foals and Disclosure are among the shortlisted acts for this year’s Mercury Prize. The award – which honors the best album of the past year recorded by a British or Irish artist – is chosen by a panel of music industry insiders.

Previous Mercury Prize winners include Primal Scream, Elbow, Badly Drawn Boy and last year, Alt-J. This year, David Bowie’s ‘The Next Day’ is being touted as the likely winner by gambling bookies in the U.K., according to an article on the Guardian website today. Released in March, ‘The Next Day’ was met with gushing reviews on both sides of the pond with the New York Times calling the album "Bowie's twilight masterpiece.”

This year's Mercury Prize shortlist is:

Arctic Monkeys – 'AM'
David Bowie – 'The Next Day'
Disclosure – 'Settle'
Foals – 'Holy Fire'
Jake Bugg – 'Jake Bugg'
James Blake – 'Overgrown'
Jon Hopkins – 'Immunity'
Laura Marling – 'Once I Was an Eagle'
Laura Mvula – 'Sing to the Moon'
Rudimental – 'Home'
Savages – 'Silence Yourself'
Villagers – 'Awayland'