Arlo Parks Gets The Mercury Award For "Collapse In The Sun" In 2021.

• Indie soul singer Arlo Parks won the 2021 Mercury Award for his debut album Collapsed In Sunbeams.
• Soft, intimate footage that touches on painful topics like depression and anxiety but still holds hope.

The 21-year-old won the £25,000 award as Wolf Alice, Celeste, and Mogwai at a ceremony in Hammersmith, London, where she grew up. The judges called it "one voice" who "showed how to be quietly strong in an extroverted world." Parks, who has been "completely silent" since his victory, is the first Mercury Award winner born in the 21st century.

"It took a lot of sacrifices and hard work to get here," he said as he regained his composure on stage. "There were times when they wasn't sure I was going to make it - but I'm here today, so thank you very much."

Media signature Arlo Parks received the Mercury Award for Album of the Year.

Collapsed In Sunbeams, which was declare in January, reached number three on the charts and has sold 43,000 copies. Critics praised her compassion and insight into issues such as mental health and sexuality.

Completely unfiltered: How Arlo Parks found his voice

"There is no hint that this is a universal collection of stories that will provide comfort to listeners of all ages also backgrounds for decades," NME wrote in a five-star review. "Garden lyrics and relaxing melodies make their songs comfortable in winter and cool in summer [and] always uplifting and calming," adds The Line Of Best Fit.

Parks told the that he wrote the album "Things I Was Afraid to Talk About or The Things That Moved Me" growing up in West London - and the first song, Eugene, "sitting on the floor and eating pasta while "composing songs." "He's still in school.

The Mercury Award, given to the best British or Irish album of the past 12 months, is now being presented for the 30th time. Previous winners have included era-defining records such as Primal Screams Screamadelica, Dave's Pulp Different Class, and Dave's Psychodrama.

This year's list of nominees is usually varied and includes recordings from the charts Celeste and Wolf Alice and other albums from left field by jazz saxophonist Nubya Garcia and electronic composer Hannah Peel. Ten of the 12 albums on the shortlist were debuts, while four were instrumental or partially instrumental - reflecting changing listening habits during the pandemic.

Judge Annie Mack said the list showed "how creative and diverse British music is today." Jeff Smith, head of radio music Radio 2 and chairman of the jury, said picking a winner was "always tough, but it's been hard."

The complete list of nominees is:

• Arlo Parks - Destroyed in the sun
• Berwyn - demo recording / VEGA
• The black soil, a new path - for the first time
• Celeste is not your inspiration
• Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders and London Symphony Orchestra - Promise
• Ghetto - Conflict of Interest
• Hannah Peel - Elena Wave
• Laura Mwula - Pink Noise
• Mogwai - While love goes on
• Nubian Garcia - source
• Salt - rose
• Alice Wolf - Blue Weekend