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Listen to the 2016 Mercury-nominated albums here

The shortlist has been announced - now check them all out

Listen to the 2016 Mercury-nominated albums here

By Holly Pyne

04 August 2016

It's that time again guys: take a look at the shortlist for the Hyundai Mercury Prize, complain that you've never heard of half of them, realise that that's kind of the point, and then start investigating some fascinating albums that you might have missed over the past 12 months.

This year, the process for selecting the winner will be slightly different, with the initial shortlist of 12 albums being whittled down to six at the final, taking place 15 September at Hammersmith Apollo. The first of these will be selected by music fans, who can vote for the first finalist - judges will pick the other five. Last year saw a surprise winner in the shape of Benjamin Clementine, who won with his distinctive record At Least For Now.

Spoiler alert: given their internet-savvy bunch of rabid fans, bet your house on The 1975 winning the public vote. If you feel the urge to try and alter what is basically a foregone conclusion, you can head to mercuryprize.com to register your own choice. Hey, it's your time guys, you do what you want with it.

In the meantime, take a listen to all of the initial shortlist below - there's a couple of grime acts in there for a change, a few familiar faces and, of course, the token jazz record.