A Leeds-born musician and rising star not just of the Yorkshire music scene but UK jazz as a whole, Emma-Jean Thackray, has been named among the nominees for this year's Mercury Prize.
The 2025 Mercury Music Prize shortlist is officially out, and we're proud to say that the North has been well represented once again this time around.
Better still, with multiple names from 'God's Own Country', Emma-Jean Thackray is flying the flag for the Leeds delegation following her most recent album, which has seen her notch the Mercury nod for the first time.
She may now be based in south-east London, but the local lass still his a big following back home, so it goes without saying that we're proud as punch for her.
Released back in April, Thackray's fourth studio LP hasn't just been a firm hit with her fan-base but has won over plenty more, not to mention earning plenty more plaudits from the critics - hence being shortlisted this year.
Addressing the huge honour in an emotional post on Instagram, the 36-year-old said: "Weirdo is a Mercury Prize shortlisted album of the year!! Who wants to come over and ugly cry with me on the sofa??
"Making this album saved my life, so thank you to everyone that’s been listening. After going through the most unimaginable grief, losing the love of my life and not wanting to be here anymore, I threw everything into making this record, alone, for a year, and it was my therapy."
She continues: "I wrote every note, played every instrument, produced it, recorded it, and mixed it, and came out the other side having found myself again. Changed, but here. I’m so grateful for this record because I wouldn’t be here without it."
"It all started as a celebration record for being a neurodivergent little weirdo with constant mental health issues, but it evolved and became a survival record in so many ways." It's no surprise that the deeply personal record has struck such a strong chord.
The well-earned recognition recently saw her spotlighted on Jools Holland too.
She joins the likes of resurgent Sheffield Britpop icons and fellow Yorkshire folk, Pulp, as well as Wolf Alice, CMAT and lots more talented acts on the list.
Unsurprisingly, the likes of Fontaines D.C. and Sam Fender are also on there after a standout 12 months for both artists.
As for Thackray, she signed off by adding, "Thank you to all the weirdos out there for being in my gang. We’re not alone inside the music x." Well said, EmJ.
It goes without saying that she gets our vote, and wouldn't potential back-to-back Mercury Prize wins for Leeds be quite the story? You can see the rest of the 2025 shortlist in full down below.
Leeds International Festival of Ideas today reveals the full line-up for its sixth edition.
Louis Theroux, Elizabeth Day, Chris Packham CBE, Roman Kemp, Vicky Pattison, James O’Brien, Dame Evelyn Glennie and Megan McKenna are among the amazing names heading to Leeds Playhouse in October for a five-day, ten-event programme.
Louis Theroux, one of the most distinctive broadcasters of our time, will open the festival on Tuesday 6 October with an intimate fireside chat at Leeds Playhouse’s Quarry stage.
The chat will cover four decades of social commentary, from far-right militias to Scientologists, porn stars to convicted criminals, the rich, the broken, and the misunderstood in one night, in Leeds,
Images: Supplied
Tim Minchin will then close proceedings on Saturday 10 October with a career-spanning conversation taking in Matilda the Musical, three decades of songwriting, and Minchin’s refreshingly clear-eyed views on living a creative life.
Across the week, hosts Samira Ahmed, Chris Packham, Miranda Sawyer, Joe Tidy, Laura Hamilton, Amy Irons, Harriet Rose, Jamil Qureshi, Dr Hannah French and Larry Budd will lead a programme of panel discussions tackling the questions defining the moment: the future of the planet, belonging in modern Britain, the legacy of the 90s, the future of parenthood, suicide and masculinity, social media, failure, and what it means to live a creative life.
Martin Dickson, Festival Director, said: "Getting Louis Theroux to Leeds is a real moment for this festival and this city. He's one of the defining broadcasters of his generation, and the kind of name LIFI has been building towards for four years.
"But this is a programme with serious depth beyond the headline — Tim Minchin, Elizabeth Day, Chris Packham, Samira Ahmed, Miranda Sawyer, five days of conversation you genuinely cannot get anywhere else in the country. LIFI has always been about bringing the brightest minds to Leeds and giving the city a stage that punches above its weight. LIFI26 does exactly that."
Tickets go on sale to priority subscribers on Thursday 4 June, with general sale opening next Wednesday 10 June. Sign up to be a priority subscriber here.
The Yorkshire designer who’s put together the official FIFA World Cup scarf collection
Danny Jones
A Yorkshire-born and bred artist and his creative team have earned the huge honour of creating the official FIFA scarf collection for this year's World Cup.
Nothing short of massive for anyone from our part of the world.
The local legend in question is Tom Pitts, who was born in Sheffield and is now based just beyond Leeds, leading the campaign right from the helm.
Hand Drawn Pixels is a graphic design and digital studio based in Otley, and while you'll see plenty of folks wearing football shirts and even the odd scarf on the town's famous pub crawl, these lot are venturing on an entirely different kind of run this summer.
In fact, the work has very much already started, with Tom and co. collaborating directly with FIFA and US manufacturers, Global Scarves, to create the World Cup collection.
With this year's tournament obviously taking place across America, Mexico and Canada, they've joined up with a big LLC, but they describe themselves as "a true English custom scarf company with American parents."
In their words, "We knit scarves for clients all over the world", with a presence both near Leeds and over in Seattle, Washington.
The fixtures themselves kick off next month (England's first game coming against Croatia on 17 June), and so Hand Drawn Pixels have been hard at work meeting the briefs for each of the nations taking part.
Here's a quick breakdown of how the opportunity came about, their vision for the project, and how everything starts for them as a whole process.
You can see more of their work HERE, but as the brand name would suggest, it's pretty simple to begin with: nothing more than a pencil.
It's worth noting that the 2026 World Cup also featured the largest number of teams in the competition's history: 48 qualified national squads, to be exact. So, technically, they've had even more designing to do than they theoretically would have in any of the previous years, too.
Tom confessed that winning this bid is obviously a big deal on its own and that seeing his creations being worn in person by supporters at the stadiums will be a "surreal" experience.
Speaking exclusively with The Hoot, he said: "It’s been an amazing creative challenge for us to truly reflect the individuality and diversity of the nations competing in this prestigious tournament on such an iconic product as the football scarf."
He went on to add that "the whole project has been a huge learning experience, gaining deeper cultural insight into every nation involved."
We can't wait to cast eyes upon a sea of colour and finely crafted fabric in unique but somehow universally familiar patterns, all designed right here in 'God's Own Country'.
Danny Jones -
10th September 2025 
