Joy as Derry singer Soak nominated for Mercury Prize

Just a couple of years ago, she was performing in front of a small group of people in Derry’s Guildhall Square.

Now, the city’s singing star Soak has been nominated for one of the world’s most prestigious music awards.

Soak (pictued), whose real name is Bridie Monds-Watson, is one of 12 acts nominated for the prestigious Mercury Prize.

The 19-year-old Derry singer-songwriter has been shortlisted for her album Before We Forgot How To Dream.

She has been nominated alongside Irish artist Róisín Murphy, Florence And The Machine, Aphex Twin and former Supergrass frontman Gaz Coombes.

Soak said: "It's just crazy, I just did not see that coming. I started writing this album when I was 13 until I was 18, so it is a life thing."

In nominating Soak, the Mercury Prize judging panel described her as ‘a beguiling new singer songwriter reflects on the ups and downs of growing up – wistful, unsettling and mesmerising.’

The former Oakgrove Integrated College pupil has enjoyed great success in recent years.

She really came to the public’s attention after performing at the Sons and Daughters concert during Derry’s City of Culture years in 2013.

She went on to perform at the Other Voices festival and was named last year by the BBC as a star of the future.

The Mercury Prize promotes the best of British and Irish music and the artists who produce it. This is done primarily through the celebration of the 12 ‘Albums of the Year’.

The Mercury Prize for Album of the Year is the music equivalent to the Booker Prize for literature and the Turner Prize for art.

The winner of this year’s prize will be announced next month.