Nominees for this year’s Barclaycard Mercury Music Prize have been announced with Sound Screen favourites Bat For Lashes and The Horrors both in the running for this prestiguous award.

The full list of nominees, alongside William Hill’s latest odds to win in brackets beside each, are as follows:

• Glasvegas – Glasvegas (6/1)
• Bat For Lashes – Two Suns (6/1)
• Lisa Hannigan – See So (8/1)
• The Horrors – Primary Colours (8/1)
• Kasabian – West Ryder Lunatic Pauper Asylum (5/1)
• Led Bib – Sensible Shoes (10/1)
• The Invisible – The Invisible (10/1)
• La Roux – La Roux (6/1)
• Friendly Fires – Friendly Fires (8/1)
• Sweet Billy Pilgrim – Twice Born Men (10/1)
• Speech Debelle – Speech Therapy (8/1)
• Florence and The Machine - Lungs (5/1)

“This has been a rich and creative year for British and Irish music,� says Simon Frith, Chair of Judges for the Barclaycard Mercury Music Prize.  “There are seven fine debut albums on the list and five outstanding records from more established acts, all marking out new ground. What most impresses is the imaginative verve with which British and Irish musicians continue to explore musical possibilities, push musical boundaries and refuse to be pinned down by genre�. 

The Barclaycard Mercury Music Prize is awarded yearly for the best British album in the last 12 months. It was established in 1992 as an alternative to the chart-heavy Brit Awards. Nominations are chosen by a selected panel of musicians, music executives, journalists and other figures in the music industry in the UK and Ireland.

The overall winner of the ‘2009 Barclaycard Mercury Prize will be announced at the ‘Albums of the Year’ Show on Tuesday, 8th September 2009 and broadcast live on BBC2 Television.