The longlist for this year’s Scottish Album Of The Year Award has been announced, with 20 artists - including Paolo Nutini, Young Fathers, Hamish Hawk and Lvra - vying for the £20,000 prize.
“Each year, artists, industry professionals and music fans alike eagerly anticipate which 20 outstanding Scottish albums will make up The SAY Award longlist”, says Robert Kilpatrick, interim CEO of the Scottish Music Industry Association, which organises the awards.
“The unifying platform that SAY offers compiled with the egalitarian nature of both our submissions and nominations process is, what I believe, makes the longlist stand up as important, credible and authentic”, he goes on.
“Scotland’s cultural identity is shared; it belongs to and is influenced by everyone that calls Scotland home”, he adds. “In a music context, it’s the SMIA’s job to make sure that the full spectrum of Scotland’s music industry is reflected in our work”.
“With The SAY Award longlist being determined by 100 impartial industry nominators - comprising individuals from a wide range of backgrounds and genre specialisms from right across the country - this means it’s much more than a list of 20 great records: it’s the soundtrack of life in Scotland”.
Kilpatrick also revealed that 437 albums had been submitted for consideration this year, so the 20 selected records really are standouts. Here's the full longlist:
- Andrew Wasylyk - Hearing The Water Before Seeing The Falls
- Becky Sikasa - Twelve Wooden Boxes
- Bemz - Nova's Dad
- Brìghde Chaimbeul - Carry Them With Us
- Brooke Combe - Black Is The New Gold
- Brownbear - Demons
- Cloth - Secret Measure
- Comfort - What's Bad Enough?
- Eyes Of Others - Eyes Of Others
- Free Love - Inside
- Hamish Hawk - Angel Numbers
- Joesef - Permanent Damage
- Juliette Lemoine - Soaring
- Kapil Seshasayee - Laal
- Lvra - Soft Like Steel
- Paolo Nutini - Last Night In The Bittersweet
- Scott William Urquhart & Constant Follower - Even Days Dissolve
- The Snuts - Burn The Empire
- Su-a Lee - Dialogues
- Young Fathers - Heavy Heavy
The overall winner will be announced at Stirling’s Albert Halls on 26 Oct.
