A cracking list of 25 songs have today been announced as the short list contenders for the 2020 Peer-Voted APRA Song of the Year. In what remains the largest peer-voted music award in Australia, the list represents the songs chosen by APRA members as the finest of 2019. One of these songs will take home the Peer-Voted APRA Song of the Year as the APRA Music Awards return for the 38th time to celebrate the songwriters and music publishers that have excelled in the past year.
The final five nominees across all 2020 APRA Music Awards categories will be revealed in March and the winners announced when the awards ceremony returns to the International Convention Centre Grand Ballroom in Sydney’s Darling Harbour on Tuesday 28 April.
Making back to back appearances on the short list is national songwriting treasure Paul Kelly along with The Teskey Brothers, Angie McMahon, Ainslie Wills, Sarah Aarons, King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard and Kaiit.
There are also several newcomers to the list. Making her very first appearance is Toni Watson (Tones and I) for her global sensation Dance Monkey. Songwriters Grace Shaw (pka Mallrat), Jessica Mauboy, Paul Dempsey, Sampa Tembo (pka Sampa the Great), Thelma Plum, Mark Lizotte (pka Diesel), Alasdair Murray (pka Illy), Alejandro Abapo, Leroy Clampitt, Vincent Goodyer, Luke Hemmings and Ashton Irwin from 5 Seconds of Summer, Melbourne act Underground Lovers and members of Tropical Fuck Storm have all scored a place on the short list for the first time.
Watch this space for more news on the 2020 APRA Music Awards and the Peer-Voted APRA Song of the Year
ARROWS – [MISSY HIGGINS] – Missy Higgins
BETTER IN BLAK – [THELMA PLUM] – Thelma Plum / Alexander Burnett / Oliver Horton
BORDERLINE – [ TAME IMPALA] – Kevin Parker
BY THE SCARS – [DIESEL] – Mark Lizotte
CHARLIE – [ MALLRAT] – Grace Shaw / Leroy Clampitt
CHOIR – [GUY SEBASTIAN] – Guy Sebastian / Trevor Brown / William Simmons
DANCE MONKEY – [TONES AND I] – Toni Watson
EVERY DAY MY MOTHER’S VOICE – [PAUL KELLY & DAN SULTAN] – Paul Kelly
EXIT SIGN (FT ILLY AND ECCA VANDAL) – [HILLTOP HOODS] – Barry Francis (DJ Debris) / Daniel Smith (MC Pressure)/ Matthew Lambert (Suffa)/ Sarah Aarons / Andrew Burford / Alasdair Murray (Illy)
FEAR OF MISSING OUT – [AINSLIE WILLS] – Ainslie Wills / Paul Dempsey / Lawrence Folvig / Arron Light
FINAL FORM – [SAMPA THE GREAT] – Sampa Tembo / Alejandro Abapo / Leon Sylvers
GOOD LORD – [BIRDS OF TOKYO] – Ian Berney / Ian Kenny / Glenn Sarangapany / Adam Spark / Adam Weston
I GET UP – [THE TESKEY BROTHERS] – Josh Teskey / Sam Teskey / Liam Gough / Brendon Love
LITTLE THINGS – [JESSICA MAUBOY] – Jessica Mauboy / Antonio Egizii / Chiara Hunter / David Musumeci
MISS SHINEY – [KAIIT] – Kaiit Waup / Vincent Goodyer / Nicholas Martin
OLD MAN – [STELLA DONNELLY] – Stella Donnelly
OPEN UP YOUR EYES – [ARCHIE ROACH] – Archie Roach
PARADISE – [TROPICAL FUCK STORM] – Erica Dunn / Gareth Liddiard / Fiona Kitchin / Lauren Hammel
PASTA – [ANGIE MCMAHON] – Angie McMahon
PRESSURE TO PARTY – [JULIA JACKLIN] – Julia Jacklin
RUSHING BACK – [FLUME FT VERA BLUE] – Harley Streten / Celia Pavey / Sophie Cates / Eric Dubowsky
SELF-IMMOLATE – [KING GIZZARD & THE LIZARD WIZARD] – Stuart MacKenzie / Michael Cavanagh / Joseph Walker
SEVEN DAY WEEKEND – [UNDERGROUND LOVERS] – Richard Andrew / Maurice Argiro / Glenn Bennie / Vincent Giarrusso / Phillipa Nihill
TEETH – [5 SECONDS OF SUMMER] – Luke Hemmings / Ashton Irwin / Louis Bell / Gillian Gilbert / Peter Hook / Stephen Morris / Evan Rogers / Carl Sturken / Bernard Sumner / Ali Tamposi / Ryan Tedder / Andrew Watt
ZERO GRAVITY – [KATE MILLER-HEIDKE] – Kate Miller-Heidke / Julian Hamilton / Keir Nuttal