Troy Kingi, Teeks, Chelsea Jade, Nadia Reid, Lorde and Louis Baker. Photo: Supplied
This year's APRA Silver Scrolls Top 20 songs are more diverse than ever with significant proportions of women and non-Pakeha, as well as a huge range of musical genres from R&B to metal.
The 20 songs vying for the coveted award, and their performers are (jump to playlist of songs below):
- Aldous Harding - 'Horizon' (written by Hannah Topp aka Aldous Harding)
- Alien Weaponry - 'Urutaa' (written by Lewis de Jong, Henry de Jong and Ethan Trembath)
- Bic Runga - 'Close Your Eyes' (written by Bic Runga and Kody Nielson)
- Chelsea Jade - 'Life of the Party' (written by Chelsea Jade Metcalf and Leroy James Clampitt)
- Cut Off Your Hands - 'Hate Somebody' (written by Nick Johnston, Philip Hadfield and Brent Harris)
- Fazerdaze - 'Lucky Girl' (written by Amelia Murray and Gareth Thomas)
- French For Rabbits - 'One and Only' (written by Brooke Singer)
- Grayson Gilmour - 'Hundred Waters' (written by Grayson Gilmour and Cory Champion)
- Kings - 'Don’t Worry ‘Bout It' (written by Kingsdon Chapple-Wilson aka Kings)
- Lawrence Arabia - 'O Heathcote' (written by James Milne aka Lawrence Arabia)
- Lorde - 'Green Light' (written by Ella Yelich-O’Connor aka Lorde, Jack Antonoff, and Joel Little)
- Lorde - 'Liability' (written by Ella Yelich-O’Connor aka Lorde and Jack Antonoff)
- Louis Baker - 'Rainbow' (written by Louis Baker and Bradford Ellis)
- Lydia Cole - 'Sober' (written by Lydia Cole)
- Nadia Reid - 'Richard' (written by Nadia Reid)
- Seth Haapu - 'Sunday Best' (written by Seth Haapu)
- Shayne P Carter - 'I Know Not Where I Stand' (written by Shayne P Carter)
- SWIDT - 'Little Did She Know' (written by INF aka Amon McGoram, SPYCC aka Daniel Latu, and SmokeyGotBeatz aka Isaiah Libeau)
- Teeks - 'If Only' (written by Te Karehana Toi aka Teeks)
- Troy Kingi and Mara TK - 'Cold Steel' (written by Troy Kingi and Mara TK)
The Silver Scroll Awards are widely considered the most prestigious accolade in New Zealand Music. The main award recognises outstanding achievement in the craft of songwriting and is decided by other songwriters and composers - the more than 10,000 New Zealand members of the songwriting industry body APRA.
The top 20 was chosen by a panel of judges and will now be voted on by APRA members, who'll decide the five finalist songs, including the ultimate winner.
It'll be interesting to see if the diversity of the Top 20 list carries over into the final five.
Dunedin will host the awards for the first time this year, at a ceremony in the Town Hall on Thursday 28 September.
On the night, the five finalist songs will be covered by different musicians, the idea being that each song is shown in a new light, which highlights the songwriting skill that's gone into them, as opposed to the production of the recorded versions of the songs.
For the 2017 ceremony, the music director is Shayne Carter (Straitjacket Fits, the Double Happys, Dimmer). A prodigal son of Dunedin, Shayne will curate the cover performances during the ceremony.
“It'll be fun playing musical match-ups and trying to find an interesting, and hopefully not so obvious array of artists to perform the songs and maybe find angles in them that the writers may never have thought of,” says Carter.
We can't wait to hear how he might surprise himself with the treatment of his own song 'I Know Not Where I Stand' if it makes it through to the final five!
Previous winners: Dave Dobbyn, Bic Runga, Don McGlashan, Ray Columbus, Neil Finn, Shona Laing Photo: Supplied / RNZ: Cole Eastham-Farrelly
The awards will include the presentation of the APRA Silver Scroll Award, the SOUNZ Contemporary Award, the APRA Maioha Award, the APRA Best Original Music in a Feature Film Award, and the APRA Best Original Music in a Series Award, as well as an induction of one legendary act into the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame.
RNZ Music will bring you live coverage of the 2017 Silver Scroll Awards across radio, video and social media.
Past recipients of the Silver Scroll include veterans such as Dave Dobbyn, Don McGlashan, Shona Laing, Neil Finn, Bic Runga, and Ray Columbus, as well as members of NZ's younger generation of musicians, including James Milne & Luke Buda, Lorde, and The Naked and Famous.
The Songs:
Aldous Harding - 'Horizon' (written by Hannah Topp aka Aldous Harding)
Alien Weaponry - 'Urutaa' (written by Lewis de Jong, Henry de Jong and Ethan Trembath)
Bic Runga - 'Close Your Eyes' (written by Bic Runga and Kody Nielson)
Chelsea Jade - 'Life of the Party' (written by Chelsea Jade Metcalf and Leroy James Clampitt)
Cut Off Your Hands - 'Hate Somebody' (written by Nick Johnston, Philip Hadfield and Brent Harris)
Fazerdaze - 'Lucky Girl' (written by Amelia Murray and Gareth Thomas)
French For Rabbits - 'One and Only' (written by Brooke Singer)
Grayson Gilmour - 'Hundred Waters' (written by Grayson Gilmour and Cory Champion)
Kings - 'Don’t Worry ‘Bout It' (written by Kingsdon Chapple-Wilson aka Kings)
Lawrence Arabia - 'O Heathcote' (written by James Milne aka Lawrence Arabia)
Lorde - 'Green Light' (written by Ella Yelich-O’Connor aka Lorde, Jack Antonoff, and Joel Little)
Lorde - 'Liability' (written by Ella Yelich-O’Connor aka Lorde and Jack Antonoff)
Louis Baker - 'Rainbow' (written by Louis Baker and Bradford Ellis)
Lydia Cole - 'Sober' (written by Lydia Cole)
Nadia Reid - 'Richard' (written by Nadia Reid)
Seth Haapu - 'Sunday Best' (written by Seth Haapu)
Shayne P Carter - 'I Know Not Where I Stand' (written by Shayne P Carter)
SWIDT - 'Little Did She Know' (written by INF aka Amon McGoram, SPYCC aka Daniel Latu, and SmokeyGotBeatz aka Isaiah Libeau)
Teeks - 'If Only' (written by Te Karehana Toi aka Teeks)
Troy Kingi and Mara TK - 'Cold Steel' (written by Troy Kingi and Mara TK)
The Judges
The Top 20 list was chosen from over 200 entries by a panel of 11 fellow songwriters:
- Anji Sami (She’s So Rad/Sami Sisters)
- Buzz Moller (Voom)
- Chris van de Geer (Stellar, Bigpop Studios)
- Devin Abrams (Pacific Heights/Shapeshifter)
- Godfrey de Grut (Che Fu/The New Loungehead)
- Jane de Jong (Ruby Frost)
- Julia Deans
- Hollie Fullbrook (Tiny Ruins)
- Phil Bell (DJ Sir-vere)
- Rob Ruha
- Sandy Mill (SJD/The Bellbirds)
