SAY AWARD AND TIM BURGESS HOLD LISTENING PARTY AHEAD OF BIG NIGHT

THE Scottish Album of the Year (SAY) Award has announced that this year’s Shortlist will be featured in Tim Burgess’ Twitter Listening Parties from 26th to 28th October ahead of the winner announcement ceremony on 29th October, live on www.sayaward.com.   Theshowbizlion.com can’t wait to watch the virtual ceremony on the night but we will miss the rock n roll after party this year which last year saw us mingling with everyone from The Vegan Leather to Young Fathers.  In a special one off series to celebrate the 10 outstanding Scottish albums making up the Shortlist, Tim Burgess has teamed up with The SAY Award to bring music fans together to discover their new favourite Scottish album each evening, prior to the winner announcement on Thursday 29th October. Tim’s Listening Parties have become a cultural phenomenon, developed into an almost-nightly event and will celebrate their 500th Listening Party on 25th October. The SAY Award Shortlist for 2020 is:  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 Erland Cooper Sule Skerry The Ninth Wave Infancy NOVA RE-UP SHHE SHHE The concept, created by Tim Burgess, came to life on Twitter during lockdown, attracting thousands of music lovers across the country as Tim explored some of the most iconic albums from artists like Oasis, KT Tunstall, Joy Division, Anna Meredith, Hot Chip, CHVRCHES, Laura Marling, Michael Kiwanuka, Wolf Alice and more. Listeners stream or play the chosen album at the allocated start time, and fans will have the opportunity to explore all 10 albums on this year’s Shortlist with Tim and the relevant artist as they tweet along; sharing memories or insights into making the album. Listeners are invited to ask questions and share their thoughts on each of the chosen albums using the hashtag#TimsTwitterListeningParty.

The highly anticipated Shortlist includes a record-breaking EIGHT debut albums, the most to ever feature on a SAY Award Shortlist.   Timings for The SAY Award#TimsTwitterListeningParty special are:   Monday 26th October 7pm Callum Easter ‘Here Or Nowhere’ 9pm Erland Cooper ‘Sule Skerry’ 10pm Blanck Mass ‘Animated Violence Mild’   Tuesday 27th October  6pm Bossy Love ‘Me + U’ 7pm Declan Welsh & The Decadent West ‘Cheaply Bought, Expensively Sold’ 9pm Comfort ‘Not Passing’ 10pm SHHE ‘SHHE’   Wednesday 28th October 6pm NOVA ‘RE-UP’ 7pm The Ninth Wave ‘Infancy’ 10pm Cloth ‘Cloth’ Following each party, the Twitter conversations will be archived on timstwitterlisteningparty.com.  For 2020’s SAY Award, a record-breaking 362 eligible album submissions were narrowed down to the 20-strong Longlist by 100 impartial nominators; representing a variety of genres including jazz, classical, hip-hop, pop, trad folk, rock, electronic, indie and many more. The Longlist has now been whittled down to a Shortlist of just 10 albums; 9 chosen by the Judging Panel and 1 as the winner of the public vote.

The winner of The SAY Award will be announced onThursday 29th October, with this year’s ceremony pivoting to become an online event, broadcast as a YouTube Premiere. One artist and their album will be crowned the Scottish Album of the Year, in turn collecting one of the most lucrative prize funds in the UK: £20,000. Developed and produced by the Scottish Music Industry Association (SMIA), the 2020 campaign will be delivered in partnership with Creative Scotland,City of Edinburgh Council, YouTube Music, 54EP, Sweetdram, Culture & Business Fund Scotland via Arts & Business Scotland, PPL, Summerhall, Ticketmaster and new charity partner Music Declares Emergency. Previous winners of The SAY Award include Auntie Flo ‘Radio Highlife’ (2019), Young Fathers ‘Cocoa Sugar’ (2018), Sacred Paws ‘Strike A Match’ (2017), Anna Meredith ‘Varmints’ (2016), Kathryn Joseph ‘Bones You Have Thrown Me And Blood I’ve Spilled’ (2015), Young Fathers ‘Tape Two’ (2014), RM Hubbert ‘Thirteen Lost & Found’ (2013) and the inaugural winner Bill Wells and Aidan Moffat ‘Everything’s Getting Older’ (2012). To keep up with The SAY Award 2020 journey, make sure you follow the award on Twitter @SAYaward, Instagram @sayaward and Facebook @SAYaward