The BRIT Awards have at all times had a knack for recognizing the long run earlier than the remainder of the world catches up! Adele, Florence Welch, Ellie Goulding, Sam Smith, Jessie J – the Critics’ Alternative honour (returned to its unique identify for 2026 after a number of years because the Rising Star Award) has develop into one of the crucial dependable predictors of which artists will outline the subsequent decade of British music.
Now, the BRITs have revealed the three artists vying for the 2026 Critics’ Alternative Award, supported by BBC Radio 1, and the shortlist reads like a snapshot of the place UK music is headed subsequent: emotionally dense songwriting, dance-floor pop revivalism, and daring, genre-fluid new voices able to take international levels.
This 12 months’s nominees – Jacob Alon, Rose Grey and Sienna Spiro – arrive at vastly completely different moments of their early careers, but all three have already carved distinct musical identities. And if historical past is any indication, one in every of them might quickly develop into a family identify.
JACOB ALON: THE STORYTELLER WHO’S QUIETLY TAKING OVER
Few new artists have constructed momentum as steadily – or as organically – as Jacob Alon. Raised in Fife and steeped within the people traditions of the Scottish east coast, Alon writes songs that really feel weathered, as in the event that they’ve been residing within the bloodstream for years. Their debut album ‘In Limerence’ earned a Mercury Prize shortlist spot in 2025, and all of a sudden the soft-spoken singer-songwriter discovered themself thrust into the nationwide dialog.
Jacob’s power lies in a type of emotional excavation. Their preparations are naked however deliberate, mixing acoustic intimacy with sudden, cinematic swells. They’ve already earned a BBC Introducing Artist of the Yr title and delivered one of the crucial talked-about units on the Glastonbury BBC Introducing Stage final summer time – a efficiency some critics referred to as “the second Alon’s profession quietly shifted gears”.
For an award that has traditionally championed boundary-defining vocalists, Jacob suits neatly into the lineage of earlier alumni: artists whose uncooked honesty disarms earlier than it dazzles.
“Ya magnificence! Tapadh leibh for recognising my work for this award you legends! Regardless that I’m Scottish & Irish earlier than I’m British, I recognize the BRITs critics for this recognition. I actually care about and imagine on this music and it makes my world brighter each time it reaches another person. Hopefully this nomination means some extra lovely individuals may discover one thing on this wee album. ‘Mon the gays!!!” – Jacob Alon
ROSE GRAY: THE POP INSURGENT BRINGING RAVE CULTURE TO THE MAINSTREAM
If Jacob Alon represents introspection, Rose Grey is the alternative: ecstatic, explosive, and constructed for the dance flooring.
The East London singer – whose debut album ‘Louder, Please’ landed earlier this 12 months – has develop into one of the crucial thrilling new figures within the UK club-pop renaissance. Pulling inspiration from ‘90s rave vitality, shiny electro-pop, and the commercial sheen of recent membership music, Grey has carved out a sound that feels nostalgic however solely new.
Her follow-up deluxe challenge, ‘A Little Louder, Please’, expanded her sonic world even additional. She spent 2025 on a string of main competition payments and landed a coveted help slot for Kesha on her European tour – a co-sign that confirmed what followers on TikTok and in nightclubs already knew: Rose Grey is on the point of worldwide stardom!
The place Alon is refined, Grey is maximalist. Her choruses are engineered for mass euphoria, for nightclub catharsis, for competition tents packed to capability. In a 12 months when British dance-pop is present process a renaissance, her nomination feels notably well timed.
“I’m so excited for this nomination!! This second appears like a particular reminder of how far this journey has carried me and what a loopy 12 months it’s been. One 12 months in the past, I used to be manifesting so arduous for my album ‘Louder, Please’ to journey, to search out its individuals, to essentially get its mild. And it did. Releasing this report has genuinely modified my life. I’m so grateful to everybody who’s been a part of this journey and I can’t anticipate what’s to return. Thanks BRITs!” – Rose Grey
SIENNA SPIRO: THE RAW NEW VOICE ALREADY FILLING ROOMS ACROSS CONTINENTS
Sienna Spiro’s rise has been essentially the most fast of the three. Solely launching her music profession in 2024, she entered 2025 with actual momentum – thanks largely to her debut EP ‘SINK NOW, SWIM LATER’ which showcased her skill to translate actual experiences into timeless, trendy songs, with the fan-favourite ‘MAYBE.’ marking a breakthrough second that drew reward from artists together with SZA, Snoh Aalegra, Finneas and Mark Ronson.
Her rise has been fuelled by a voice that cuts clear via the noise – unpolished in the easiest way, stuffed with cracked edges and lived-in emotion. Her newest single ‘Die On This Hill’ turned her first UK High 10 hit, turning Spiro from a promising newcomer right into a authentic chart presence virtually in a single day. Since then, she’s toured relentlessly, opening for Sam Smith on their To Be Free: New York Metropolis residency, earlier than headlining her personal sold-out dates throughout Europe. Pageant slots, late-night TV appearances, and a rising U.S. fanbase have pushed her profile even additional, positioning her as one of the crucial compelling new performers of the second.
“So past honoured and grateful to be nominated for this 12 months’s Critics’ Alternative BRIT Award! To assume I began releasing music final 12 months, I might by no means have anticipated this in any respect. Thanks a lot!” – Sienna Spiro
The Critics’ Alternative Award was first launched in 2008 to highlight the UK’s subsequent era of game-changing expertise. It’s determined by a panel of music journalists, radio and TV heads, plus business insiders. To qualify, artists should not have achieved a High 20 album or a couple of High 20 single by October thirty first 2025.
In addition to the fore point out artists, previous winners and nominees embrace heavyweights reminiscent of James Blake, Emeli Sandé, Tom Odell, Ella Eyre, James Bay, Years & Years, Rag’n’Bone Man, Dua Lipa, Jorja Smith, Sam Fender, and – most lately – Myles Smith and The Final Dinner Social gathering. A lot of these names have since gone on to international success — underlining how the Critics’ Alternative stays probably the greatest predictors of the subsequent wave of huge UK artists.
This years winner shall be revealed in mid-January, forward of the primary BRIT Awards 2026 ceremony, which takes place on Saturday February twenty eighth 2026 at Co-op Stay, Manchester – the primary time the BRITs shall be held exterior London.
Talking following the revealing of the 2025 nominees, Stacey Tang, Chair of the 2026 BRIT Awards Committee and Co-President of RCA Data at Sony Music UK mentioned: “How thrilling to highlight a brand new wave of UK musicians shaping widespread tradition. Awards and recognition for rising artists is now extra essential than ever, and Critics’ Alternative has lengthy championed brilliantly gifted new artists. This cohort shares the identical early spark displayed by earlier winners like Adele, Florence + The Machine, Sam Fender, Myles Smith and Emeli Sande. This 12 months’s finalists are an important reminder that business momentum grows from inventive ambition and inventive bravery.”
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