Rina Sawayama’s Album Is a Hit With Critics, But It Wasn’t Eligible for the Mercury Prize: What’s the Problem?
Rina Sawayama’s first full-length album, Sawayama, is a hit with critics. It has a robust 89 rating at Metacritic.com, the review aggregation site. It’s one of only 12 albums from 2020 with such a lofty rating. Moreover, it’s one of only two albums by British artists with such a high score. The other is Laura Marling’s Songs for Our Daughter, which also has an 89 rating. Sawayama has even been touted by Sir Elton John, who has a decades-lo