The nominees for this year's Scottish Album of the Year award have just over 24 hours to wait until the winner is crowned.

The acts shortlisted for the award, including Franz Ferdinand and Mogwai, were chosen by a highly respected panel of judges including Strawberry Switchblade's Rose McDowall, BAFTA award-winning film maker Lynne Ramsay and Stephen Allen, the curator of National Museum Scotland's 'Rip It Up: The Story of Scottish Pop'.

Each shortlisted album has automatically won a guaranteed £1,000 prize, with the winning album (decided on the night of the ceremony) being awarded £20,000.

The winner will be announced at the Paisley Town Hall in Renfrewshire on Thursday night.

Here's a look at the shortlist.

Hailed as "Glasgow's premier secret party band", Babe are back after a two year absence with new album Kiss & Tell, the follow-up to their 2014 debut Volery Flighty.

The band, made up of singer Gerard Black, guitarist Thomas Ogden, bassist Amaury Ranger and new drummer/producer John Baillie Jnr have regrouped and refocused to deliver a record as much for the quiet hours as it is for a house party.

Best Girl Athlete is a 19-year-old singer and songwriter from Aberdeen.

She says her debut album by the same name has been born out of the non-conventional manner in which many people now consume music - collecting individual offerings, rather than whole albums.

Consequently, each song stands alone as a single offering with lyrically intriguing, musically accomplished depth that will draw on audiences from across the board.

Franz Ferdinand singer Alex Kapranos has called Always Ascending an "aggressive sonic experimentation" that is as exuberant as it is euphoric, bursting with fresh ideas.

With the help of Beastie Boys producer Philippe Zdar, Kapranos and co. took a knife to their old canvas, producing an album that is so foreign in its familiarity it could only be current.

A sound that the singer refers to as "simultaneously futuristic and naturalistic".

Reacting to the nomination the band's drummer Paul Thomson said, "This year has been a particularly good one for music coming out of Scotland and the SAY Award shortlist reflects that.

"We're delighted to be up there with the hard hitters."

Glasgow band Golden Teacher's album No Luscious Life has been described as a range of distinctively spacey, dubbed-out tracks that variously touch on post-punk disco, skewed electro-funk, freshly baked dub, African rhythms, spaced-out boogie and experimental electro-jazz.

After a plethora of critically acclaimed 12"s, direct live performances and a celebrated DIY ethos Golden Teacher dropped their album straight out of Glasgow's now legendary Green Door studio.

A Pocket Of Wind Resistance is the studio adaptation of Karine Polwart's award- winning theatre show which premiered at Edinburgh International Festival in 2016.

From the first note to the final it is has been described as "not merely an album of songs but an hour of music, field-recording, song and spoken word".

It won the Scottish New Music Award For Innovation In Music and was chosen as Best Album of 2017 by Songlines magazine and BBC Radio 3's Late Junction.

On Gold Kobi Onyame mashes his Ghanaian heritage with hip-hop undertones to capture the feel of traditional highlife and afrobeat rhythms of the 1960's and 70's.

The call-and-response structure of the songs demand the listener to be a part of the experience.

Kobi says he wanted the album to feel as authentic as possible in content and texture.

Every Country's Sun is Mogwai's ninth studio album and their second to reach the Top 10 in the Album Charts.

The recording saw them reuniting with producer Dave Fridmann for the first time since 2001's acclaimed Rock Action LP.

He also worked with the band on Come On Die Young (1999).

Every Country's Sun was recorded at Fridmann's Tarbox Road Studios in Cassadaga, New York.

Singer, songwriter & musician Kathryn Joseph, James Graham of The Twilight Sad and long-time musical partner of Kathryn's, Marcus Mackay came together for Out Lines' a project based on conversations they had with visitors to Glasgow's Platform.

Conflats was the outcome and has been described as a gorgeous set of songs inspired by stories of hardship and sorrow, redemption and hope.

There Are No Saints is an album written, arranged and performed by Celtic Connections star Siobhan Wilson.

The singer from Elgin performed the vocals, electric guitar, piano and cello for the album which was recorded by Catholic Action's Chris McCrory in Renfrewshire.

There Are No Saints featured extensively in the UK's underground music press 'best of' lists for 2017 and earned rhapsodic reviews from BBC 6 Music to Rolling Stone.

Sparse arrangements of electric guitar, piano and cello lay bare dreamlike vocals and lyrical honesty.

Young Fathers were formed in Edinburgh ten years ago by Alloysious Massaquoi, Kayus Bankole and Graham 'G' Hastings.

In 2012, they released their introductory mixtapes, Tape One and Tape Two, before signing to Big Dada and releasing debut album, Dead, in 2014.

Following an extensive world tour the band begin work on their sophomore album, White Men Are Black Men Too, which was released in 2015.

The SAY Award celebrates and champions the best of Scottish music whilst recognising creativity and artistic endeavour encompassing a broad spectrum of musical genres.

According to the organisers of the shortlist represents an 'incredibly strong, diverse and important selection of albums' created by artists living and working in Scotland.

The shortlist was decided after an open to the public online vote which lasted 72 hours and brought in a record number of votes.

The album with the most public votes was Franz Ferdinand's Always Ascending.

Louisa Mahon, head of marketing, communications and events at Renfrewshire Council, said: "This year's SAY Award shortlist reflects the breadth and diversity of Scotland's music scene and we are delighted to welcome all of the shortlisted acts to Paisley Town Hall for the Award ceremony.

"This is one of the biggest nights in Scotland's musical calendar and our third consecutive year as hosts.

"Music is in Paisley's DNA and it is fair to say we love the SAY Award. A massive congratulations to all of the acts on the shortlist and we look forward to celebrating together in Paisley on Thursday."

Alan Morrison, head of music at Creative Scotland said, "Scotland's world-class music is driven by the diversity of the artists who make it, and this year's SAY Award shortlist shines a spotlight on the breadth of talent we have living and working here.

"These ten albums contain music that will touch the listener's heart or set their feet dancing - sometimes both at the same time.

"They draw in influences from near and far, as pop hooks, folk melodies, international rhythms and post-rock firepower paint a widescreen portrait of what Scottish music can be in the 21st century.

"Creative Scotland is proud to support an award that embraces such a dynamic group of musicians, veterans and newcomers alike."

Tallah Brash, music editor at The Skinny said, "It's wonderful to see such a diverse mix of artists in this year's shortlist, each with excellent records. I don't envy the judges having to whittle it down to decide a winner."

You can listen to and learn more about each album on The SAY Award Shortlist by visiting sayaward.com.

All ten Shortlisted artists will receive an exclusively designed, commemorative award, created by the winner of The SAY 2018 Design Commission.