Longlist for Scottish Album of the Year announced

In its ninth year, the nominations include Lewis Capaldi’s Divinely Uninspired To A Hellish Extent and Karine Polwart’s Scottish Songbook.

The shortlist will be announced on October 8, with the winner going on to collect £20,000 prize money.

All nine runners-up will be awarded £1,000 each.

Robert Kilpatrick, general manager of the Scottish Music Industry Association (SMIA), called this year’s list “the most diverse range of albums” to date.

Mr Kilpartick said: “2020 is the ninth year of The Say Award, marking what is undoubtedly our most important campaign to date.

“As we all continue to navigate the personal and professional challenges we face, celebrating may feel unnatural for many of us.

“For our music community especially, which heavily relies on physical spaces and people coming together, 2020 has presented a vast array of challenges that last year were unimaginable.

“But as we celebrate our culture, we help further articulate its value, and we draw more eyes and ears to some of the best new music Scotland has to offer.

“This year’s longlist showcases 20 outstanding albums, and it is arguably the most diverse range of albums of any Say Award longlist to date.

“Never have we been prouder to announce the longlist, and never more than now has it felt truly special and important to do so.

“A huge congratulations to each of this year’s nominees, and a heartfelt thank you to our partners’ incredible commitment to championing Scottish music at a time it’s never been more needed.”

Alan Morrison, head of music at Creative Scotland, said: “In this year like no other, music has given us the strength to get through whatever life has thrown at us.

“Scotland’s musicians have shown us, time and time again, that their creativity can thrive in the most difficult circumstances.

“These 20 albums were recorded when Covid-19 wasn’t even a blip on the horizon but there’s a glorious thread of that same creativity running through them all.

“This thread pulls together different genres, binds debut artists and seasoned stars, and makes The SAY Award such a wonderful expression of Scotland’s world-class musical talent.”

Nominee Lewis Capaldi said: “It’s an absolute honour to be nominated for such an incredible award.

“It would be quite nice to win to not bring any further prolonged shame on my household after being named as the only ‘non essential’ worker in the house.”

– The 20 nominees on the longlist are:

Anna Meredith – FIBS
Blanck Mass Animated – Violence Mild
Bossy Love – Me + U
Callum Easter – Here Or Nowhere
Cloth – Cloth
Comfort – Not Passing
Declan Welsh & The Decadent West – Cheaply Bought, Expensively Sold
Elephant Sessions – What Makes You
Erland Cooper – Sule Skerry
Fat-Suit – Waifs & Strays
Free Love – Extreme Dance Anthems
Honeyblood – In Plain Sight
Karine Polwart – Karine Polwart’s Scottish Songbook
Lewis Capaldi – Divinely Uninspired To A Hellish Extent
Mezcla – Shoot the Moon
The Ninth Wave – Infancy
NOVA – RE-UP
Sacred Paws – Run Around The Sun
SHHE- SHHE
Vistas – Everything Changes In The End