Eight debut albums make SAY shortlist

EIGHT debut records have been included in the 10-strong list for the 2020 Scottish Album of the Year (SAY) Award.

The shortlist was revealed on a big screen at the Glasgow Science Centre, with the winner of the £20,000 prize to be announced during an online event on Thursday, October 29.

Nine albums were chosen by a judging panel – who will also decide the winner – with Callum Easter’s Here Or Nowhere completing the shortlist after a public vote.

Robert Kilpatrick, general manager of the Scottish Music Industry Association, congratulated the shortlisted artists and appealed for more support for the sector.

He said: “This year’s shortlist is an emotive list of records which shows strength, ambition and confidence in the last year of Scotland’s recorded output.

“It presents a strong sense of Scotland’s diverse cultural identity, particularly from a wave of new artists, with an incredible eight debut albums making up the shortlist of 10 – a first in the history of the award.

“This year’s shortlist poignantly showcases a future vision of Scottish music, of Scotland’s music industry – one which urgently needs Government support to wave the storms of the Covid-19 crisis.”

The shortlist in full is: Blanck Mass – Animated Violence Mild; Bossy Love – Me + U; Callum Easter – Here Or Nowhere; Cloth – Cloth; Comfort – Not Passing; Declan Welsh and The Decadent West – Cheaply Bought, Expensively Sold; Erland Cooper – Sule Skerry; The Ninth Wave – Infancy; NOVA – RE-UP and SHHE – SHHE.