Scottish Album of the Year Award

The Scottish Album of the Year (SAY) Award
SAY Award Logo
Awarded forBest album by a Scottish artist
LocationScotland
First award2012
Websitewww.sayaward.com

The Scottish Album of the Year (SAY) Award is an award given annually for an outstanding album produced by a Scottish artist. The award was launched in 2012 by the Scottish Music Industry Association (SMIA) in partnership with Creative Scotland.[1] The winner receives a £20,000 prize and the nine shortlisted artists receive £1,000.[2]

The award ceremony is set to be hosted in Dundee up until 2027.

Process

Once all eligible albums have been collated, 100 impartial 'Nominators', chosen from sectors including journalism, broadcast and radio, music retail and live music venues, will consider the titles from The SAY Award's Eligible Albums list, nominating their five favourite albums and ranking them in order of preference. 'Nominators' include specialists in a variety of genres, such as jazz, classical, electronic and traditional folk, as well as key influencers from elsewhere in the arts, and cannot have a commercial interest in any of the albums being discussed. The SMIA assigns a score to each title in a Nominator's Top 5, before announcing the 20 highest scoring albums as The SAY Award Longlist.

The Longlist is then whittled down to a Shortlist of 10 albums, one of which will be chosen by music fans via an online public vote and the others decided by the SAY Award judging panel. Previous judges have included the composer Craig Armstrong, Turner Prize-winning artists Douglas Gordon and Susan Philipsz, filmmaker Lynne Ramsay, music editor of The Skinny Tallah Brash, DJ and promoter Sarra Wild, Edinburgh International Festival director Fergus Linehan, Sub Club partner/director Barry Price, and Scottish Ballet's Sophie Laplane.

The SAY Award Shortlist is then honoured at an exclusive ceremony, with each title receiving an award created by The SAY Award Design Commission winner and a minimum of £1,000. The SAY Award judging panel reconvene for the ceremony and decide who picks up the £20,000 first prize and coveted title of Scottish Album of the Year.[3]

Host cities and venues

Years Host city Venue
2012–2015 Glasgow
2016–2018 Paisley Paisley Town Hall[8][9][10]
2019–2021 Edinburgh
2022–2024 Stirling Albert Halls[14][15][16]
2025–2027 Dundee Caird Hall[17]

Winners and finalists

Year Winner Shortlist Longlist Ref.
2012 Bill Wells and Aidan Moffat – Everything's Getting Older [4]
[18]
2013 RM Hubbert – Thirteen Lost & Found [19]
[20]
2014 Young Fathers – Tape Two [6]
[21]
2015 Kathryn Joseph – Bones You Have Thrown Me, and Blood I've Spilled. [22]
2016 Anna Meredith – Varmints [8]
2017 Sacred Paws – Strike a Match [9]
[23]
2018 Young Fathers – Cocoa Sugar
  • Adam Holmes and the Embers – Midnight Milk
  • Blue Rose Code – The Water of Leith
  • Catholic Action – In Memory Of
  • Chris Stout & Catriona McKay – Bare Knuckle
  • Elephant Sessions – All We Have Is Now
  • Happy Meals – Full Ashram Devotional Ceremony (Volumes IV – VI)
  • Martha Ffion – Sunday Best
  • Neon Waltz – Strange Hymns
  • Pronto Mama – Any Joy
  • The Spook School – Could It Be Different?
 [10]
2019 Auntie Flo – Radio Highlife [24]
[25]
2020 Nova – Re-Up [26]
[27]
[12]
2021 Mogwai – As the Love Continues
  • Andrew Wasylyk – Fugitive Light and Themes of Consolation
  • Bemz – Saint of Lost Causes
  • Carla J. Easton – Weirdo
  • Erland Cooper – Landform ft. Marta Salogni
  • Fergus McCreadie – Cairn
  • Jenny Sturgeon – The Living Mountain
  • Kubler-Ross – Kubler-Ross
  • Matt Carmichael – Where Will the River Flow?
  • Paul Towndrow – Deepening the River
  • Taahliah – Angelica
 [29]
2022 Fergus McCreadie – Forest Floor
  • AiiTee – Better Days
  • Constant Follower – Neither Is, Nor Ever Was
  • Hamish Hawk – Heavy Elevator
  • Hen Hoose – Equaliser
  • Kathryn Joseph – For You Who Are the Wronged
  • Kobi Onyame – Don't Drink the Poison
  • Niteworks – A'Ghrian
  • Proc Fiskal – Siren Spine Sysex
  • Walt Disco – Unlearning
  • Andrew Wasylyk – Balgay Hill: Morning in Magnolia
  • Annie Booth – Lazybody
  • Bemz – M4
  • C Duncan – Alluvium
  • Callum Easter – System
  • Declan Welsh and the Decadent West – It's Been a Year
  • Duncan Lyall – Milestone
  • The Ninth Wave – Heavy Like a Headache
  • Rebecca Vasmant – With Love, From Glasgow
  • Seonaid Aitken Ensemble – Chasing Sakura
 [14]
[30]
2023 Young Fathers – Heavy Heavy
  • 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
  • Cloth – Secret Measure
  • Hamish Hawk – Angel Numbers
  • Joesef – Permanent Damage
  • Paolo Nutini – Last Night in the Bittersweet
  • Brownbear – Demons
  • Comfort – What's Bad Enough?
  • Eyes of Others – Eyes of Others
  • Free Love – Inside
  • Juliette Lemoine – Soaring
  • Kapil Seshasayee – Laal
  • Lvra – Soft Like Steel
  • Scott William Urquhart & Constant Follower – Even Days Dissolve
  • Su-a Lee – Dialogues
  • The Snuts – Burn the Empire
 [31]
[32]
[15]
2024 Redolent – Dinny Greet
  • Afterlands – We Are the Animals in the Night
  • Amy Laurenson – Strands
  • Bee Asha – Goodbye, Gracious
  • Blue Rose Code – Bright Circumstance
  • Broken Chanter – Chorus of Doubt
  • Empire State Bastard – Rivers of Heresy
  • Fergus McCreadie – Stream
  • Malin Lewis – Halocline
  • Mama Terra – The Summoned
  • The Snuts – Millennials
 [16]
[33]
[34]

References

  1. ^ "Scottish Album of the Year Award launches to celebrate country's finest musical talent". STV. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
  2. ^ "Scottish Album of the Year Award: Shortlist judge Jess Brough hails exciting acts in the running for top prize". Sunday Post.
  3. ^ "About". www.sayaward.com. Retrieved 2019-06-14.
  4. ^ a b "Bill Wells and Aidan Moffat win Scottish Album of the Year". BBC News. 20 June 2012. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
  5. ^ Marshall, Paul (June 21, 2013). "RM Hubbert Wins Scottish Album of the Year Award". God Is in the TV. Retrieved June 24, 2025.
  6. ^ a b "Young Fathers win Scottish Album of the Year for Tape Two". BBC News. 20 June 2014. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
  7. ^ "2015 Scottish Album of the Year (SAY) Award longlist announced". The Skinny. 23 April 2015. Retrieved June 24, 2025.
  8. ^ a b Meighan, Nicola (16 June 2016). "Shortlist for the 2016 Scottish Album of the Year Award revealed". Herald Scotland. Retrieved June 24, 2025.
  9. ^ a b "SAY Award 2017: Shortlist revealed". The Skinny. 15 June 2017. Retrieved June 24, 2025.
  10. ^ a b "Young Fathers win Scottish Album of the Year for Cocoa Sugar". BBC News. 7 September 2018. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
  11. ^ Crossley, Becki (29 March 2022). "SAY Award 2019 to be hosted in Edinburgh". The List. Retrieved June 24, 2025.
  12. ^ a b Storer, Rhi (2020-10-29). "Scottish Album of the Year award: Nova becomes first grime winner". The Guardian. Retrieved June 24, 2025.
  13. ^ Stephen, Phyllis (October 7, 2021). "SAY Award Shortlist 2021 announced". The Edinburgh Reporter. Retrieved June 24, 2025.
  14. ^ a b Brash, Tallah (October 20, 2022). "Fergus McCreadie wins the SAY Award 2022". The Skinny. Retrieved October 28, 2022.
  15. ^ a b Coe, Oliver (October 27, 2023). "Young Fathers win Scottish album of the year". BBC News. Retrieved October 27, 2023.
  16. ^ a b "Redolent win Scottish Album of the Year award 2024". BBC Online. 24 October 2024. Retrieved February 1, 2025.
  17. ^ Batchelor, Andrew (2025-06-23). "Dundee has been announced as the host city of the Scottish Album of the Year Awards for the next three years". Dundee Culture. Retrieved 2025-06-24.
  18. ^ West, Rosamund. "Scottish Album of the Year 2012 shortlist announced". The Skinny. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
  19. ^ Michaels, Sean (21 June 2013). "RM Hubbert wins Scottish Album of the Year Award". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
  20. ^ "Revealed: The shortlist for the Scottish Album of the Year". The Scotsman. 31 May 2013. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
  21. ^ "Young Fathers win Scottish Album of the Year Award". The Skinny. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
  22. ^ "Kathryn Joseph Wins The SAY Award 2015". Clash. 17 June 2015. Retrieved 17 September 2015.
  23. ^ Sacred Paws – Strike A Match, retrieved 2017-11-21
  24. ^ "Auntie Flo wins Scottish Album of the Year Award | Complete Music Update".
  25. ^ "Scottish Album of the Year Award 2019". Scottish Album of the Year. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
  26. ^ "Scottish Album of the Year Award 2020". Scottish Album of the Year. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  27. ^ "Scottish Album of the Year Award 2020 – shortlist announced tonight". The Edinburgh Reporter. 8 October 2020. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  28. ^ "The 2021 SAY Award Shortlist is announced".
  29. ^ Lavin, Will (24 October 2021). "Mogwai wins 2021 Scottish Album of the Year for 10th album As the Love Continues". NME. Retrieved October 18, 2022.
  30. ^ Holden, Finlay (September 17, 2022). "2022's Scottish Album of the Year (SAY) Award Longlist features Walt Disco, The Ninth Wave and more". Dork. Retrieved October 18, 2022.
  31. ^ Robertson, Ellie (September 14, 2023). "The SAY Award: 2023 Longlist announced". The Skinny. Retrieved September 15, 2023.
  32. ^ Fitzpatrick, Tara (October 5, 2023). "Top ten records shortlisted for Scottish Album of the Year revealed". STV. Retrieved October 5, 2023.
  33. ^ Murray, Robin (3 October 2024). "SAY Award 2024: Shortlist Revealed". Clash. Retrieved February 1, 2025.
  34. ^ Robertson, Ellie (12 September 2024). "The SAY Award: The 2024 Longlist". The Skinny. Retrieved February 1, 2025.
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