A 25-artist hip-hop, folk and Gaelic record takes the £20,000 SAY Award 2026 prize as the award marks its 15th anniversary – and its second year in Dundee – with Boards of Canada and Nikhita also honoured on the night.
Dundee was the centre of the Scottish music world on Thursday night as Aberdeen producer and DJ Nick Cronin, who records as Vagrant Real Estate, was named winner of the 2026 Scottish Album of the Year (SAY) Award for Neither Collar Nor Crown.
Cronin collected the £20,000 first prize, the title and a bespoke trophy in front of a packed Caird Hall, beating a ten-strong shortlist that included electronic pioneers Boards of Canada, dance producer Barry Can’t Swim and Edinburgh alt-rockers Swim School. Accepting the award, he said the win was unexpected and paid tribute to the depth of talent across Scotland’s music scene.
The winning album is a genuine group effort. It brings together 25 Scottish artists – among them fellow Aberdonian MC Jackill, rappers Madhat McGore and Bemz, folk singer Iona Fyfe, ballad singer Fiona Soe Paing and Afro-soul artist AiiTee – and blends hip-hop with traditional song in both English and Gaelic. Cronin has previously told The Skinny that one aim of the record was to question and subvert ideas of Scottish identity.
“An unapologetically Scottish record.”
Robert Kilpatrick, CEO and Creative Director, Scottish Music Industry Association
Creative Scotland‘s head of music, Alan Morrison, told The Scotsman the album drew its energy from the cultural diversity at the heart of Aberdeen’s musical identity, and reflected Cronin’s commitment to building a local scene and giving a platform to his peers. He added that the awards had once again highlighted the “awesome array of music that’s being made in Scotland right now”.
Neither Collar Nor Crown is the 15th album to take the prize, following last year’s winner Kai Reesu (KOMPROMAT Vol.i), the first to be crowned in Dundee.
Boards of Canada and Nikhita also honoured
The Modern Scottish Classic Award, presented by the SMIA and voted for by this year’s longlisted artists, went to Boards of Canada for their landmark 1998 debut Music Has The Right To Children. With their new album Inferno also on the main shortlist, the duo became the first act in the award’s history in the running for two SAY prizes on the same night. They join previous Modern Scottish Classic winners KT Tunstall, Paolo Nutini, Frightened Rabbit and Cocteau Twins.
Edinburgh-based singer-songwriter Nikhita, whose neo-soul draws on her South Asian heritage, was named The Sound of Young Scotland. The award is funded by the Scottish Government’s Youth Music Initiative through Creative Scotland and the charity Youth Music, and is designed to help an emerging artist make their debut album. Her prize package, worth up to £10,000, includes £8,000 in cash grants for studio hire and equipment, up to 250 vinyl pressings from Seabass Vinyl – Scotland’s first vinyl pressing plant – and a performance slot at next year’s ceremony. She was chosen from a final five that also included heavyskint, Jasmin Jet, LOLA! and Niamh Corkey.
SAY Award 2026: a 15th-birthday show
BBC Radio Scotland presenters Vic Galloway and Nicola Meighan hosted the evening, which looked back over 15 years of the prize. A five-piece house band led by Joe Rattray reworked music from past winners Mogwai, Fergus McCreadie, Young Fathers and rEDOLENT, with guest turns from The Ninth Wave, Billy Got Waves, Leon Power and Carla J Easton, before delivering a specially staged tribute to Music Has The Right To Children.
Since launching in 2012, the SAY Award has celebrated 280 longlisted albums and handed over more than £425,000 in prize money to Scottish artists. Each of this year’s nine runners-up receives £1,000.
A London judge with Dundee roots
The final SAY Award 2026 decision rested with an independent judging panel chaired by journalist Arusa Qureshi. Among the judges was Robin Murray, Editor of Clash Magazine, who travelled up from London for the ceremony. It was something of a homecoming for the title: Clash was founded in Dundee and was once based just a few minutes’ walk from the Caird Hall, before growing into one of the UK’s leading independent music publications.
The SAY Award 2026 longlist itself is drawn up by 100 impartial “nominators” from across journalism, broadcasting, music retail and live venues, each ranking their five favourite eligible albums. Fans then choose one shortlisted record through a 72-hour public vote – this year won by Michael McGovern’s Thin White Road – with the judges selecting the other nine.
Made in Dundee
At the SAY Award 2026, the city’s own creative talent was on show too. Dundee designer and maker Camillo Atlas, a Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design graduate, was chosen through the SAY Award Design Commission to make all twelve trophies – nine for the shortlist and three for the night’s winners. He built them from waste plastic collected around Dundee, including bottle tops and shampoo bottles, with vivid designs inspired by the city’s architecture. The prizes go on display at V&A Dundee after the ceremony.
Anna Day, Head of Culture and Libraries at Leisure & Culture Dundee, said the ceremony’s return underlined Dundee’s standing as one of Scotland’s leading cultural cities. The Caird Hall is hosting the award from 2025 to 2027 under a three-year partnership with Dundee City Council, V&A Dundee and UNESCO Dundee City of Design, so the SAY Award will be back in the city next November. Read our preview of this year’s ceremony.
Sponsors and partners
For the SAY Award 2026, Highland distillery Fettercairn came on board this year as headline sponsor of the SAY Award for three years. Global brand controller Thom Watt pointed out to SLTN that Dundee sits only around 35 miles from the distillery, and that the brand has previously worked with past SAY winners Barry Burns of Mogwai and Kathryn Joseph on Lorica, a commissioned piece of music inspired by its Vanguard whisky.
The SAY Award is produced by the Scottish Music Industry Association (SMIA) and delivered in partnership with:
- Fettercairn (headline partner)
- Creative Scotland
- Leisure & Culture Dundee
- V&A Dundee
- Dundee City Council
- UNESCO Dundee City of Design
- Scottish Government’s Youth Music Initiative
- Youth Music
- Seabass Vinyl
- PPL
- HMV
- FOPP
- Apex Hotels
- Malmaison
- Music Declares Emergency
- Media partners: The Skinny and The List
The 2026 shortlist
- 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 (public vote)
- Sonedo – From Here On Out
- Swim School – Swim School
- Vagrant Real Estate – Neither Collar Nor Crown – WINNER
- VLURE – ESCALATE
Modern Scottish Classic: Boards of Canada – Music Has The Right To Children (1998)
The Sound of Young Scotland: Nikhita
Read the wider coverage
- Vagrant Real Estate win the 2026 SAY Award — The Skinny
- Aberdeen’s ‘distinctive musical identity’ on display in winning album — The Scotsman
- Vagrant Real Estate wins 2026 SAY Award at Dundee’s Caird Hall — Dundee Culture
- Shortlist for SAY Award 2026 unveiled — The List
- SAY Award announces 2026 shortlist — SMIA
- Fettercairn sponsors Scottish Album of the Year Award — SLTN
- The SAY Award — sayaward.com
