<\/p>\n
Through floods of tears, visibly shaking and backed by the deafening audience roar of \u201cToon, Toon\u201d, Newcastle\u2019s homegrown hero Sam Fender won the 2025 Mercury Prize for his third album, People Watching.<\/p>\n
It topped the charts, at a time when critics loudly declared rock music was dead in Britain. He headlined stadiums this past summer<\/a>, bringing his big, Springsteen-esque anthems to crowds of tens of thousands across the country. But neither of those accomplishments mask the fact Fender shouldn\u2019t have won tonight \u2013 not for this album, anyway.<\/p>\n I have been a huge fan of his for years now, watching him grow from playing tiny venues to effortlessly headlining ginormous stadiums. I gave his gig at London\u2019s O2 arena in December five stars<\/a>, and listen to his music regularly when I need a dose of realism; of good, old-fashioned, heartfelt British rock \u2018n\u2019 roll. It only seems like a matter of time until he takes his rightful place atop Glastonbury\u2019s Pyramid Stage as a headliner.<\/p>\n Yet his triumph at this year\u2019s Mercury Prize seems lessened by the fact People Watching is far from his finest album \u2013 if anything, he should have won in 2022 with Seventeen Going Under; too bad Little Simz was busy being her usual genius self.<\/p>\n This year\u2019s ceremony was held in Newcastle, the first time in three decades that it has operated outside of London. The North East city just so happens to be Fender\u2019s hometown. Even that made the win seem slightly too convenient, like he\u2019d been rewarded for being revered amongst locals rather than for this particular body of work, which failed to reach earlier heights (such as on Seventeen Going Under\u2019s title track, the anthemic Hypersonic Missiles, or the quietly devastating Spit of You.<\/p>\n Personally, I\u2019d have loved two artists from the Emerald Isle to triumph: CMAT or Fontaines D.C. CMAT\u2019s Euro-Country was a truly exceptional record \u2013 complex yet accessible, funny yet heart-wrenching. Her win would\u2019ve been the perfect end to a perfect year for a star on the rise<\/a>. Then we have Dubliners Fontaines, whose album Romance spawned some of the finest festival anthems of the decade<\/a> in Starburster and Favourite.<\/p>\n During the Mercury\u2019s live show at the Utilita Arena, there was some encouraging love shared for two very old-school folk singers. Rising star Jacob Alon was impossible to look away from with his otherworldly, stripped-back and introspective lyrics, and earned the night\u2019s only spontaneous standing ovation. And then came 84-year-old Martin Carthy, the oldest ever nominee, who reminded everyone of his far-ranging influence \u2013 on artists such as Bob Dylan and Paul Simon \u2013 with a spellbinding performance of Scarborough Fair.<\/p>\n Britpop legends Pulp, meanwhile, opened the ceremony with Spike Island, the lead single from their infectious comeback album More. It was a reminder of Jarvis Cocker\u2019s oh-so-British wit; though of course, they didn\u2019t \u201cneed\u201d another win, having already taken home the prize in 1995 for the generation-defending Different Class.<\/p>\n So, a mixed year for Britain\u2019s most prestigious \u2013 yet proudly niche \u2013 musical prize. A positive of Fender\u2019s win is that the Mercury will gain a wider, more commercial audience who keep it relevant. He\u2019s one of our most deserving homegrown talents, whose raw, empathetic lyrics have won over a whole new generation of music fans. Yet I can\u2019t help wishing, still, that a ginger girl from County Meath had taken home that top prize.<\/p>\n