While prepping for the Australian leg of his tour in support of his recent solo album Everyday Robots, Damon Albarn offered the Sydney Morning Herald some pretty tantalizing news about what he has planned next. In addition to the previously announced "mainstream musical for families," Albarn says

The albums in contention for the 2014 Barclaycard Mercury Prize, given to the best British or Irish record of the last 12 months, have been announced. The acts making the shortlist include Blur's Damon Albarn, poet and rapper Kate Tempest, alt-R&B singer FKA Twigs and electro-funk duo Jungle.