Taylor Swift has congratulated Arlo Parks on her Hyundai Mercury Music Prize win for her debut album, ‘Collapsed In Sunbeams’.
The London singer-songwriter was named the winner of the 2021 edition of the annual award at the ceremony at the Eventim Hammersmith Apollo last night (September 9).
Parks shared a video of her acceptance speech on Twitter earlier today, writing: “I won the 2021 Hyundai @MercuryPrize!!! These moments are always so complicated to describe but right now I feel this warm, heavy sense of happiness deep inside – my heart is still pounding, I still keep welling up randomly, this means an awful awful lot to me.”
Swift replied to the tweet, telling Parks: “This is so well deserved. Your album is stunning.” See the interaction below now.
This is so well deserved. Your album is stunning
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) September 10, 2021
The pop star wasn’t the only artist congratulating the British musician after her win. Alfie Templeman called Parks “an absolutely incredible artist in every single way”, adding that her win was “so deserved”. The London Symphony Orchestra, whose album ‘Promises’ with Floating Points and Pharoah Sanders was also nominated, offered their congratulations to Parks.
‘Collapsed In Sunbeams’ was given the Mercury honour over the likes of Wolf Alice’s ‘Blue Weekend’, Ghetts’ ‘Conflict Of Interest’ and Laura Mvula’s ‘Pink Noise’.
Speaking on behalf of the judging panel, Annie Macmanus said: “It was extremely difficult to choose a winner of the 2021 Hyundai Mercury Prize. There were so many strong albums, of such diversity and character. But in the end, we decided that Arlo Parks was an extremely worthy winner.
“Addressing such complex issues as mental health and sexuality with real empathy, displaying a lyrical wisdom that belied her 21 years, with ‘Collapsed In Sunbeams’ Arlo Parks has created an album that has captured the spirit of the year in a positive, forward-thinking fashion.”
NME gave Parks’ debut album five stars upon its release in January, saying: “Arlo Parks may be the voice of Gen Z, but there’s no doubt that this is a universal collection of stories that’ll provide solace for listeners of all ages and backgrounds for decades to come.”
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