After months of speculation, Kai Reesu have been revealed as the winner of this year’s SAY Award for their album Kompromat Vol I. Picking up their award at the ceremony’s first event in Dundee, the act took home £20,000 of prize money and a bespoke trophy. 

The excitable album mixes element of jazz, funk and American-influenced rap, with frontman Jurnalist layering high-speed bars on their sound. 

Paul Copeland, a member of Kai Reesu, said onstage: ‘Thank you so much, this is quite unexpected because we were honestly just having fun with this album. It’s so good that it resonated with people. I want to thank my mother, who’s here… and without her honestly none of this could be possible. We recorded a lot of this stuff in her living room. I think people should have more fun when they’re making music and just make more music right now.' 

Jurnalist echoed: ‘This has been a magical moment for me. We’re just going to keep making music!' 

Here’s the shortlist in full: 

Brooke Combe – Dancing At The Edge Of The World
Cloth – Pink Silence
Hamish Hawk – A Firmer Hand
Jacob Alon –  In Limerence
Kai Reesu –  Kompromat Vol I
Kathryn Joseph – We Were Made Prey
Matt Carmichael – Dancing With Embers
Taahliah – Gramarye
The Joy Hotel – Ceremony
Zoe Graham – Tent

The Sound Of Young Scotland winner was Alice Faye, winning a funding package worth up to £10,000 to support the creation of her debut album. KT Tunstall, meanwhile, picked up the Modern Scottish Classic Award for her breakout debut Eye To The Telescope, which spawned the global hits ‘Suddenly I See’ and ‘Black Horse And The Cherry Tree’. 

Co-hosted by Vic Galloway and Nicola Meighan, this year’s ceremony took place at Dundee’s Caird Hall, featuring live performances from 2024 SAY Award winners Redolent, 2024’s Sound Of Young Scotland Dillon Barrie, corto.alto, Brooke Combe and a special set from KT Tunstall. The singer, who grew up in St Andrews, performed three songs from Eye To The Telescope; ‘Black Horse And The Cherry Tree’, ‘Suddenly I See’ and ‘Eye To The Telescope’. 

Before the ceremony, Tunstall said: ‘I am so grateful these deeply personal songs that I recorded and shaped with Steve Osborne in such a stripped back, blues-inspired way still resonate with people 20 years later. Scotland’s incredible musical output continues to inspire me, and I am very proud to see my debut album join the phenomenal lineage of Scottish music recognised by the Modern Scottish Classic Award and the Scottish Music Industry Association.’

Chaired by music and culture journalist Arusa Qureshi, members of this year's judging panel included Glaswegian artist Trackie McLeod, Jenny Niven (director and CEO of Edinburgh International Book Festival), Ben Wynter (director of business development and partnerships for Association Of Independent Music), Joel Mills (music director for British Council) and more. 

Now in its 14th year, the SAY Awards has recognised and championed 280 longlisted albums across a wide range of genres. This year's ceremony was the first to take place outside of the central belt, as part of a three-year partnership with Leisure & Culture Dundee, V&A Dundee, Dundee City Council and UNESCO Dundee City Of Design to make Dundee the new home of The SAY Award. 

Previous winners of the main SAY Award include Redolent, Arab Strap, Mogwai, Young Fathers, Anna Meredith and Kathryn Joseph. 

A few of our music experts tried to predict the results of this year’s SAY Awards, giving full-throated praise to Zoe Graham, Taahliah, Kathryn Joseph and The Joy Hotel. Read the full article here.