LONDON, UK (Top40 Charts) PJ Harvey on Tuesday night became the first artist to win the Barclaycard Mercury Music Prize twice, after first winning it the day of the 9/11 attacks a decade ago.
The record, which was inspired by the horrors of war, was the bookmakers' favourite.
PJ Harvey said: "I wanted to make a record that was "meaningful, not just for myself but for other people".
Accepting the award on stage she thanked the audience for "the recognition of my work on this album. It's really good to be here this evening, because when I last won 10 years ago I was in Washington DC watching the Pentagon burning from my hotel window. So much has happened since then. This album took me a long time to write. It was very important to me. I wanted to make something meaningful, not just for myself but for other people, and hopefully to make something that would last."
The album features graphic lyrics about warfare, as well as allusions to other songs and unusually includes the prominent use of an autoharp, played by Harvey.
The twelve albums shortlisted for this year's Barclaycard Mercury Prize were:
Adele - 21
Anna Calvi - Anna Calvi
Elbow - Build A Rocket Boys!
Everything Everything - Man Alive
Ghostpoet - Peanut Butter Blues and Melancholy Jam
Gwilym Simcock - Good Days At Schloss Elmau
James Blake - James Blake
Katy B - On A Mission
King Creosote & Jon Hopkins - Diamond Mine
Metronomy - The English Riviera
PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
Tinie Tempah - Disc-Overy
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