It was announced this week that the Isle of Wight's very own Wet Leg are nominated for the Mercury Music Prize this year — the award given out to the best British or Irish album of the past 12 months.

They go in as favourites for the prize, likely due to their crowd popularity and industry hype. However, I’m sorry to report that they likely won’t win, and here is why.

Firstly, I love the Wet Leg album — we’ve been wearing it out over on Vectis Radio.

It’s funny, characteristically enigmatic and visceral: the approach every band recording their debut LP should take.

That said, while there is crude emotion and deep devotion to charm lyrically, it doesn’t pack the punch at least three other records on the list do.

LPs by Sam Fender, Self Esteem and Little Simz all have a lot more heart and emotional intuition than Wet Leg’s, and in recent years the Mercury Prize has been given to the album that speaks to the listener in a more meaningful, sometimes political way.

Sampha’s brilliant 2017 LP, Process, and Dave’s 2019 winner, Psychodrama, are both examples of this.

Critics of this method would (wrongly) throw around the term ‘woke’ when referring to this, where in fact the Mercury Prize has just developed to become something more evocative.

This is where Wet Leg’s debut LP will come unstuck.

The esoteric lyrics and charming vocal hooks are all ingenious packaged together, but it doesn’t speak to the listener like the aforementioned albums do.

For my two cents, I think Self Esteem should win for her incredible LP, Prioritise Pleasure — a real journey through womanhood which has taught me where I have gone wrong as a man, but with insanely catchy riffs and lyrics that make you question your purpose on this planet.

Nonetheless, I really wish Wet Leg luck.

We haven’t seen a Mercury Prize nomination come from these shores since The Bees’ ‘Sunshine Hit Me’ LP in 2002 and we should celebrate this rare but blessed occurrence.

I formally give the County Press permission to publish the words ‘Kieren was wrong’ on their front page if - come September - Wet Leg does win.

Read more letters sent to the County Press here. Do you have a view on this or any other subject? Send us a letter – under 350 words if possible - to editor@iwcp.co.uk