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Hamish Hawk, Constant Follower and Annie Booth are among the acts to make the shortlist for the Scottish Album of the Year (SAY) Award – Scotland’s national music prize.

Previous winner Kathryn Joseph is also in the running, as is Mercury-nominated Fergus McCreadie, while previous Longlist-ees such as Callum Easter and C Duncan also feature.

20 acts have whittled down from a record breaking 369 eligible record submissions by 100 impartial music industry nominators. Each Longlisted album is now in the running for the coveted SAY Award title and £20,000 first prize, with the winner to be announced at The SAY Award 2022 Ceremony taking place at Stirling’s Albert Halls on Thursday 20th October.

The announcement comes as 2022’s host city, Stirling, celebrates with a free exhibition taking place at award-winning music venue The Tolbooth. Music fans can explore the 20 enlarged album artworks and use QR codes for an experiential discovery of the Longlist. The exhibition will provide a focal point for celebrating the records in the lead up to next month’s ceremony where one will be announced as Scottish Album of the Year.

In alphabetical order, The SAY Award Longlist for 2022 is as follows:

· AiiTee – ‘Better Days’
· Andrew Wasylyk – ‘Balgay Hill: Morning In Magnolia’
· Annie Booth – ‘Lazybody’
· Bemz – ‘M4’
· C Duncan – ‘Alluvium’
· Callum Easter – ‘System’
· Constant Follower – ‘Neither Is, Nor Ever Was’
· Declan Welsh and the Decadent West – ‘It’s Been A Year’
· Duncan Lyall – ‘Milestone’
· Fergus McCreadie – ‘Forest Floor’
· Hamish Hawk – ‘Heavy Elevator’
· Hen Hoose – ‘Equaliser’
· Kathryn Joseph – ‘For You Who Are The Wronged’
· Kobi Onyame – ‘Don’t Drink The Poison’
· The Ninth Wave – ‘Heavy Like a Headache’
· Niteworks – ‘A’Ghrian’
· Proc Fiskal – ‘Siren Spine Sysex’
· Rebecca Vasmant – ‘With Love, From Glasgow’
· Seonaid Aitken Ensemble – ‘Chasing Sakura’
· Walt Disco – ‘Unlearning’

The newly announced Longlist will be further whittled down to a final 10 albums to make up this year’s Shortlist, one of these being chosen by music fans in a 72-hour online public vote running from October 3 – 5.

The remaining nine albums on the Shortlist will be chosen by year’s SAY Award judging panel includes the likes of John Niven (Author), Jackie Wylie (CEO/Artistic Director, National Theatre of Scotland), Anneliese Harmon (General Manager, Music Managers Forum) and Khaleda Noon (Executive Director, Intercultural Youth Scotland), as well as writer, director and comedian Paul Black who presented the inaugural Sound of Young Scotland Award at last year’s SAY Award Ceremony to rising electronic singer/producer LVRA.

The SAY Award winner will take away not only the coveted Scottish Album of the Year title but also a £20,000 prize, one of the most lucrative in the UK. The nine runners-up also take away £1,000 each as well as a bespoke award created by a local Stirling artist commissioned by The SAY Award.

And, for a second year, the SAY Award will be accompanied by the Sound of Young Scotland Award and the Modern Scottish Classic Award. The former aims to highlight the best of the country’s emerging musical talent, with the winner taking home a funding package worth up to £5,000 to facilitate the creation of their debut album; the winner chosen by a judging panel made up of previous SAY Award nominees, including Stina Tweeddale (Honeyblood), TAAHLIAH, Jubemi Iyiku (Bemz) and Declan Welsh (Declan Welsh and the Decadent West)

The Modern Scottish Classic Award – in association with YouTube Music – recognises an iconic album from Scotland’s past that still inspires today. The 20 SAY Award Longlisted artists announced today will together decide which act will follow in the footsteps of Frightened Rabbit, whose ‘Midnight Organ Fight’ was announced as the inaugural winner of the award in an emotional ceremony last year.

To keep up to date with SAY Award 2022 news, follow the award on social media across Twitter @SAYaward, Instagram @sayaward and [email protected], or visit www.sayaward.com.

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