The singer’s Virgin EMI product manager, Gilbert Johnson, explains how Clementine’s distinctive croon triumphed over Wolf Alice and Florence + The Machine…

The Mercury Prize nomination was a big deal for us and it was huge for him. We definitely wanted a nomination – Benjamin is an archetypal Mercury Prize winner. He’s an underdog, he makes music that is intelligent.

The nomination definitely helped in terms of increased awareness. From the marketing perspective, we made sure there was increased visibility ...