Klaxons win Mercury Music Prize

The band the Klaxons tonight won this year’s Mercury Prize for their debut album, 'Myths of the Near Future'.

The Klaxons, a three-piece who hail from south east London and have only been together for two years, beat stars like Amy Winehouse and the Arctic Monkeys to the £20,000 prize.

Their album was one of 12 nominated for the prestigious music award.

Singer Jamie Reynolds has dubbed the Klaxons’ sound “New Rave”.

He later claimed it had been a joke aimed at music journalists, but that has not stopped fans turning up to their gigs wearing neon T-shirts and brandishing glow-sticks.

The band – Reynolds, keyboard player James Righton and guitarist Simon Taylor - hail from south-east London and have been together for only two years.

Their first two singles were limited to 500 copies each but created a huge buzz.

The NME rated their album nine out of 10, and said on its website: “Myths Of The Near Future will remain one of the most dynamic, intense and totally lunatic pop records of the early 21st century.”

The group have also gained nominations in the the MTV Europe Music Awards as well as in the BT Digital Music Awards.

Klaxons recently played at the Glastonbury Festival.

The Klaxons' debut album reached number two in the UK charts when it was released in January this year and features the hit singles 'Golden Skans' and It's 'Not Over Yet'.

The judges said of the album “rock meets pop meets dance – the Klaxons take us on an ecstatic musical adventure”.

Winehouse proved her doubters wrong when she attended the ceremony and performed her new hit, 'Love Is A Losing Game'.

Her father Mitch said afterwards: “She was very happy to be here. And I’m just thrilled she was here. She gave a brilliant performance and she looks well.”