James Blake’s sophomore album “Overgrown” has earned the 2013 Barclaycard Mercury Prize, the annual trophy awarded to the best album by an artist from the United Kingdom over the past year.
Blake’s follow-up to his 2011 self-titled debut emerged victorious from a shortlist that included David Bowie’s “The Next Day,” Disclosure’s “Settle,” Savages’ “Silence Yourself” and Laura Mvula’s “Sing to the Moon.” “James Blake” was nominated for the Mercury Prize in 2011, but lost out to PJ Harvey’s “Let England Shake.”
“Well, I lost a bet… on the other hand, I should thank a couple of people…” Blake said upon receiving the Prize, according to the NME. The 25-year-old electronic/soul artist accepted the award during a ceremony at the Roundhouse in London on Wednesday night (Oct. 30), where he was mistakenly introduced as “James Blunt” by host Lauren Laverne.
Released last April and featuring the single “Retrograde,” “Overgrown” has sold 43,000 copies to date in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan. The album takes over the Mercury crown from Alt-J’s album “An Awesome Wave.”