LEWIS Capaldi is among the artists shortlisted for this year’s Scottish Album of the Year Award.
The star’s debut long player, Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent, is one of 20 albums vying for the £20,000 prize.
Capaldi, who has already spent 69 weeks in the album chart, and whose single Someone You Loved is the longest-running top-10 UK single of all time by a British artist, said it was an “absolute honour to be nominated for such an incredible award. It would be quite nice to win to not bring any further prolonged shame on my household after being named as the only ‘non-essential’ worker in the house.”
Others looking to take the prize home include Karine Polwart for her Scottish Song Book. The folk supremo and her supergroup band have won plaudits for their re-imaginings of Scots pop classics, including songs by Big Country, Deacon Blue, the Blue Nile and Strawberry Switchblade.
Polwart said she was “chuffed” to have the album longlisted.
She added: “To me, it’s not just an album of covers. It’s a personal labour of love and a proper mining of memory and connection.
“Beyond that, from our sell-out show at Leith Theatre back in August 2018 to our album release last year and the final sold-out Usher Hall gig in 2019, the whole process of pulling the Scottish Songbook together has been one big joyful collaboration. Massive thanks to everyone whose name isn’t on the front cover.”
Previous SAY award winner Anna Meredith has also made the list.
It’s been a big year for the contemporary composer who hails from South Queensferry.
Her album FIBS has also been shortlisted for the Mercury Prize, making her the first Scottish act to get a look in for the UK-wide prize in five years. Meredith said: “In such an absolute stinker of a year I’m just very happy to be part of the amazing SAY Award and its stonking longlist again!”
Others on the longlist include Glasgow band Sacred Paws. They, too, are hoping to take the prize for a second time.
There are also nods for The Ninth Wave, Declan Welsh & the Decadent West, Honeyblood, Vistas, Calum Easter, and Blanck Mass among others.
Robert Kilpatrick, the general manager of the Scottish Music Industry Association, which organises the SAY Award, said this year’s prize is undoubtedly the most important in its history.
“As we all continue to navigate the personal and professional challenges we face, celebrating may feel unnatural for many of us.
“For our music community especially, which heavily relies on physical spaces and people coming together, 2020 has presented a vast array of challenges that last year were unimaginable.
“But as we celebrate our culture, we help further articulate its value, and we draw more eyes and ears to some of the best new music Scotland has to offer.
“This year’s longlist showcases 20 outstanding albums, and it is arguably the most diverse range of albums of any to date.
“Never have we been more proud to announce the longlist, and never more than now has it felt truly special and important to do so.”
The longlist of 20 has been whittled down from 362 possible contenders.
It’s now up to a group of judges and the public to narrow that down to a shortlist of 10.
Music fans can vote for their favourite on the longlist between theOctober 5-7.
While the winner will collect £20,000, all nine runners-up will take home £1000 and their own bespoke award.
Here's a list of everyone nominated:
- Anna Meredith – FIBS
- Blanck Mass – Animated Violence Mild
- Bossy Love – Me + U
- Callum Easter – Here Or Nowhere
- Cloth – Cloth
- Comfort – Not Passing
- Declan Welsh & The Decadent West – Cheaply Bought, Expensively Sold
- Elephant Sessions – What Makes You
- Erland Cooper – Sule Skerry
- Fat-Suit – Waifs & Strays
- Free Love – Extreme Dance Anthems
- Honeyblood – In Plain Sight
- Karine Polwart – Karine Polwart’s Scottish Songbook
- Lewis Capaldi – Divinely Uninspired To A Hellish Extent
- Mezcla – Shoot the Moon
- The Ninth Wave – Infancy
- NOVA – RE-UP
- Sacred Paws – Run Around The Sun
- SHHE – SHHE
- Vistas – Everything Changes In The End
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