With this year's Mercury Prize announced, it's time to reveal our alternative list.
Our annual Neptune Music Prize started back in 2008 to provide music fans with a pile of records from the UK & Ireland to explore.
In previous years, the shortlist has celebrated records by Self Esteem, FKA Twigs, Floating Points, Kate Nash, Little Simz, Arctic Monkeys, Four Tet, Chvrches, PJ Harvey, Late of the Pier, The Big Moon, M.I.A., Sault, Laura Marling, Cleo Sol, Wild Beasts, Daniel Avery, Daughter, Sprints, Idles, My Bloody Valentine, Pet Shop Boys, Portishead, and many more.
As with previous years, this DiS compiled shortlist is aimed to give you a selection of recommended releases by well known artists, challenging new acts, cult bands, and then lesser known artists making minimal drone concept albums, brutal metal, innovative jazz, angry punk or glitchy-glitchy-bloop-bloop.
This year's process started a few weeks ago. The Drowned in Sound community have been busy nominating albums for our longlist, recommending albums released between July 13th 2024 and July 13th 2025 by artists from the UK & Ireland (or at least primary band members living here since childhood).
Unlike the Mercury Prize, there’s no entry fee and artists were able to sign up to self nominate their eligible release. This all took place in the thread on our forums where you can browse the full long list.
Without further ado, here are this year's 20 albums...
THE NEPTUNE MUSIC PRIZE 2025
- Benefits - Constant Noise
- The Cure - Songs of a Lost World
- Cwfen - Sorrows
- Richard Dawson - End of the Middle
- Djrum - Under Tangled Silence
- Gwenno - Utopia
- Heartworms - Glutton for Punishment
- Honesty - U R HERE
- Jessica Winter - My First Album
- Julia-Sophie - forgive too slow
- KATHRYN JOSEPH - WE WERE MADE PREY.
- Kelly Lee Owens - Dreamstate
- Lambrini Girls - Who Let The Dogs Out
- Los Campesinos! - All Hell
- Lowen - Do Not Go To War With The Demons Of Mazandara
- Little Simz - Lotus
- Nubya Garcia - Odyssey
- Overhead, The Albatross - I Leave You This
- Rose Gray - Louder Please
- Whatever The Weather - Whatever The Weather II
Over the coming weeks, we'll share a guide to the albums on this list, so please ensure you're signed up to a newsletter and following us on Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok.
If you have a music loving friend who isn't on our list, perhaps this is the email to forward them to see how many of these albums they know?
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