There are editions of the BRITs that celebrate what we already knew.
And then there are those that mark a real relief.
What happened last night at Manchester’s Co-op Live clearly belongs to the second category:
new faces winning the big prizes, bands going from cult to headliners and a Spanish artist who continues to make history on the international circuit.
Olivia Dean sweeps the board (and moves from promise to center stage)
Four awards:
- Artist of the Year
- Album of the Year
- Best Pop
- Song of the Year
It’s not just a victory.
It’s a change of axis.
With The Art of Loving, Olivia Dean has done something that British pop has long been looking for:
to be massive without losing identity.
And “Rein Me In” with Sam Fender is exactly that: a huge song that still sounds human.
Rosalía and when winning outside is no longer news, it is customary.
The International Artist of the Year award confirms something that has long ceased to be debatable:
Rosalía does not compete in the “Latin” category.
She competes in the global category.
Her performance was one of the most talked about of the night and her presence at the BRITs has become something of a tradition: every time she appears, the spotlight shifts.
Geese and the most direct political moment of the gala
In accepting the award for Best International Group, Max Bassin did not give the usual speech.
He said:
“Free Palestine, fuck ICE, go Geese.”
And for a few seconds the BRITs stopped being a ceremony to become again what live music should be more often than not: an uncomfortable, live and real space.
Wolf Alice and the change from generational band to institution
The award for Best British Group is not a comeback.
It is the confirmation that, after years marking the alternative sound of the country, they are already in the category of epoch-defining names.
Lola Young and the definitive leap
Winning Breakthrough Artist in the same year that you compete in several major categories means one thing:
is no longer the future.
It is the present.
Fred again… still in a league of his own
His victory in the dance category proves that this was not a passing trend.
He is the producer who has changed the sound of mainstream British electronica.
PinkPantheress had already made history before the gala began.
She was named Producer of the Year a few days earlier:
- the youngest artist to achieve this
- the first woman to achieve this
A fact that explains where the industry is moving.
What these BRITs have to say (beyond the awards)
- British pop has a new generation
- The alternative circuit is already in the center
- Women lead the change
- International music is not a guest – it is the protagonist.
And in this context, Rosalía winning is no longer a surprise.
It is part of the landscape.
