Young Fathers offer up the very tasty, genre-bending Cocoa Sugar for the number 26 spot.
I first came across the trio at a live show, I'd heard of them before but had never listened into their material. For anyone who's seen them live, you will know that it's almost impossible to see them perform and not be wow-ed. So much raw emotion and so much energy; they can stir any crowd just two songs in. I'd expected the same from their studio records and with White Men are Black Men Too I definitely got what I expected. Cocoa Sugar was a little more of a slow burner for me but once I got my head around the contrasting themes and influences I was fully invested.
Young Fathers have never been too concerned with filling an album with earworms or commercial singles, but they always have songs that you only have to have heard once to recognise it again in an instant. Before I'd listened to the record in full, I'd heard their single "In My View" a couple of times and hearing it again in passing quickly prompted me to check out the rest of the album. As well as having one of the most memorable album covers of 2018 with the confronting and contorted golliwog-esque figure on the front, they also had a few songs that stuck out in my music library. "Toy", "Holy Ghost", "Border Girl", and of course the lead single "In My View" were tracks that I consistently returned to after first listen.
I was surprised that this wasn't up for a Mercury Prize nomination this year. Their debut album Dead won the prize in 2014 and whilst this is a wholly different album, Cocoa Sugar was one of the most versatile and experimental records I've heard this year. Originality is definitely a judging criteria for Mercury and the trio are nothing if not original. Three albums deep and I still never truly know what I can expect from Young Fathers next. All I know that I'll probably be impressed, just as I have been with Cocoa Sugar.
Check out what album took the number 26 spot in 2017 here.
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