The SAY Award: 2026 shortlist announced
The ten albums shortlisted for this year's Scottish Album of the Year Award have been announced, with records by Boards of Canada, Swim School and the late Heir of the Cursed among the eclectic lineup
The biggest prize in Scottish music, the Scottish Album of the Year (SAY) Award, is just around the corner, with the ceremony taking place on Thursday 5 November at Dundee’s Caird Hall. Anticipation is heating up, because today the shortlist has been revealed of the ten albums in the running for this year’s award and the £20,000 prize fund has been announced. Nine of them were chosen by a panel of judges and include work by artists like electronic music producer and DJ Barry Can’t Swim, innovative smallpipes player Brìghde Chaimbeul and Edinburgh alt-rock outfit Swim School. Also nominated on the shortlist is the latest collaborative release from the mighty Hen Hoose Collective and the evocative debut album by the late Heir of the Cursed, aka Beldina Odenyo, produced and released posthumously after Odenyo’s death using her home recordings.
The tenth space on the shortlist is decided by a public vote, and this year that spot went to folk singer Michael McGovern for his latest album Thin White Road. The full SAY Award shortlist is below.
Barry Can't Swim – Loner
Boards of Canada – Inferno
Brìghde Chaimbeul – Sunwise
Heir of the Cursed – Heir of the Cursed
Hen Hoose Collective – The Twelve
Michael McGovern – Thin White Road
Sonedo – From Here On Out
Swim School – Swim School
Vagrant Real Estate – Neither Collar Nor Crown
Vlure – ESCALATE
Robert Kilpatrick, CEO and Creative Director of the Scottish Music Industry Association (SMIA), the organisers of The SAY Award, commended the range of styles and genres represented in this year's lineup. “The strength and diversity of this collective output reflects a music community that continues to evolve, take risks and find new ways to connect,” he said. “Each artist and record brings a distinctive voice to Scotland’s cultural identity, and together they remind us why music continues to be such an invaluable national asset.”
Boards of Canada's debut named a Modern Scottish Classic
This year’s SAY Award ceremony will be a big night for Boards of Canada. Not only is the electronic music duo’s celebrated fifth album, Inferno, in the running for the big prize, but they’ll also be the recipients of the Modern Scottish Classic Award, the annual awards from the SMIA handed out in honour of a great Scottish album from the past; in this case, for their 1998 debut Music Has the Right to Children. Don’t expect the duo to make a return to live performance for the ceremony, but there will be some live songs from Music Has the Right to Children on the night. We’re told The SAY Award house band will be performing a rendition of tracks, alongside specially commissioned visuals.
Music Has the Right to Children will be the sixth album to receive the Modern Scottish Classic Award, with the previous winners being KT Tunstall’s Eye to the Telescope, Martyn Bennett’s Grit, Paolo Nutini’s These Streets, The Cocteau Twins’ Heaven or Las Vegas and Frightened Rabbit’s The Midnight Organ Fight.
Sound of Young Scotland prize
The SAY Award ceremony will also celebrate the future of Scottish music with the Sound of Young Scotland prize. The five acts in the running for this award are Glasgow alt-rock five-piece heavyskint, Falkirk soul singer Jasmin Jet, Glasgow-based R'n'B artists LOLA, Scottish-Indian dancer and performer Nikhita, and Fife singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Niamh Corkey. The aim of the Sound of Young Scotland Award – funded by the Scottish Government’s Youth Music Initiative through Creative Scotland and Youth Music – is to support emerging Scottish music artists, and that’s reflected in the nature of the prize. The winner will receive a package worth up to £10,000, which aims to launch the winner's debut album, and includes a run of up to 250 vinyl pressings of the artist’s record provided by Seabass Vinyl, cash grants totalling £8,000 to help cover studio hire costs, equipment rentals and more, plus a performance slot at 2027’s SAY Award Ceremony. Finalists are chosen by a panel of former SAY Award nominees.
“With just three weeks until we return to Dundee’s Caird Hall on Thursday 5 November, we couldn’t be more excited to celebrate our 15th year with a night of outstanding live music and the announcement of this year’s SAY Award winner,” says Kilpatrick. “Final tickets are on sale now – we hope you can join us.”
5 Nov, Caid Hall, Dundee. Tickets available at sayaward.com