The Barclaycard Mercury Prize nominations have come round again, designed to celebrate this year's best British musical offerings. Last year we saw Alt-J with An Awesome Wave take home the coveted music industry prize and have since seen them go on from strength to strength with full UK touring and an extensive festival diary as the indie quartet revelled in the exposure the annual awards had brought them and their infectious, enthralling debut.

Alt J
Last Year's Winners, Alt-J, Benefitted From The Prize.

This year's nominees, as announced this very evening predictably include Arctic Monkey's AM, Disclosure's Settle, David Bowie's The Next Day, and Foals' Holy Fire. However the other choices include Laura Marling's Once I Was An Eagle, Jake Bugg's self-titled debut, and Laura Mvula's Sing To The Moon - all pleasing choices which will make for an interesting and unpredictable race to the 30th October awards show.

Here's The Full List Of This Year's Nominees:

Arctic Monkeys - AM

David Bowie - The Next Day

Disclosure - Settle

Foals - Holy Fire

Jake Bugg - Jake Bugg

James Blake - Overgrown

Jon Hopkins - Immunity

Laura Marling - Once I Was an Eagle

Laura Mvula - Sing to the Moon

Rudimental - Home

Savages - Silence Yourself

Villagers - Awayland

David Bowie's highly publicised comeback this year was justified with a well-received album, The Next Day. Scooping up new fans and impressing old ones, he made sure that the country's music scene would never forget him. Despite a long and fruitful career, Bowie has only been nominated for one Mercury Prize before: in 2002 he was up against The Coral and Doves in a year that saw Ms. Dynamite's A Little Deeper take the prize.

Listen To David Bowie's 'The Stars (Are Out Tonight):

Though a name that could get lost in the dubstep crashes and electronic influences of the other nominees, such as Disclosure or Rudimental, Laura Marling's could be an album that goes far this year. A stronger and more self-assured record than her previous efforts, the lead single 'Master Hunter' made us sit up and listen with its dark themes.

Jake Bugg, a newcomer on the music scene but with a voice that could belong to a man ten years older, could be too obvious a choice for the main prize and it may be that we need to see Master Bugg mature in his sound before he becomes a Mercury contender.

Laura Mvula's Sing To The Moon would be a beautiful choice for this year's winner. With her inviting debut, Birmingham's Mvula brought a fresh breath of air to this year's releases and her soulful performances were seen all over the festival circuit this year.

Listen To Laura Mvula's 'Green Garden':

Jon Hopkins' Immunity is certainly not an obvious choice on this year's list but may pull through as an unexpected win if the music producer and Brian Eno collaborator's pensive electronica manages to get a foothold alongside the other, more vocal driven records.

Could Arctic Monkeys win again this year after their 2006 Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not? They're practically a different band these days after they stopped singing about car parks and kebabs and employed an undoubted innovation of AM that could see them draw with PJ Harvey as the only artists to win more than once.

Listen To Arctic Monkey's 'Do I Wanna Know?'

Do you think this is a strong list of nominees? Or are there acts missing from the list? Who do you want to win the 2013 Mercury Prize?

The 2013 Mercury Prize Awards Show will take place on Wednesday 30 October at Camden's Roundhouse in London.