Indie rocker Declan Welsh has been longlisted for the prestigious SAY (Scottish Album of the Year) Award for his debut album 'Cheaply Bought, Expensively Sold'.
His album, released last year, was an instant fan favourite and helped Declan grow to a new level. He has been announced for TRNSMT 2021 and will also headline SWG3 next year.
Other acts on the longlist include Vistas, Honeyblood and pop superstar Lewis Capaldi.
Speaking on the announcement, Declan said: " I mean it's very nice of course, but I don't think you can take any of this too seriously.
"It's a class thing, and it's particularly great that it's a critic's choice of an album's artistic merit, given financial reward for that and not for commercial appeal.
"The 20 grand prize is life changing for the vast majority of artists, so for there to be that support of often quite left field, independent or underground artists, is a very good thing."
The album was recorded in Glasgow at 7 West Studios with producers Jamie Holmes and Chris Marshall.
Declan said the experience was different to that of a single, but something he and the band really enjoyed.
He said: " I guess it’s more of a holistic experience, you think of every song as part of one whole.
"It’s cool putting it all together and listening through and being like, "wow we have an album." We recorded it over a couple of sessions at 7 West in Glasgow.
"It was loads of fun, and my favourite part was getting to build these things, which I had at first often just recorded on my phone with an acoustic guitar, from the ground up."
With so many other artists on the longlist, Declan admitted that he isn't too confident that the band will win the entire thing.
He said that the album they are working on now however is much better than this one.
"I think we deserve to be on that list as much as any of those albums, but realistically I don't hold any high expectations.
"To be honest the idea that we're all competing with each other with a winner isn't a great way to look at music. Here are 20 albums on the longlist that people in Scottish music think deserve special mention.
"You shouldn't root for your favourite by voting, go buy an album you haven't heard.
"We don't have to compete with each other to be the best here, everyone on this list deserves to be recognised as an important artist. If we win, I will be very happy, but if we don't it doesn't change anything."
To suipport Declan Welsh and the Decadent West, you can vote for them here. Voting closes at midnight tonight and the shortlist will be announced soon after.
"I think a more helpful thing would be to just keep supporting us in what we do. If you like our music, tell a pal. If you wanna come to a gig and have the cash, when we announce dates get em early.
"Helping us become sustainable as a band in this really difficult time is the best thing you could do if you like our tunes."
