APRA Silver Scroll Awards – 2019 Top 20

• Ahi Kā, written by Lewis de Jong, Henry de Jong, and Ethan Trembath, performed by Alien Weaponry

• Buttercup, written and performed by Anika Moa,

• Can’t Help The Way, written by Gabriel Everett, Ashleigh Wallace, Giorgio Scott, Josh Fountain, performed by Foley

• Diagonals, written by Karoline Tamati, Brent Park, Brandon Haru, Julien Dyne, performed by Ladi6

• Digebasse (Enough) written by CHAII, Richard Bryan, and Frank Eliesa, performed by CHAII

• Dust, written by Caleb Nott, Georgia Nott, and Thomas Schleiter, performed by Broods

• Enough, written by Rebecca Mason Melrose, Harry Huavi, and Frank Edward Eliesa, performed by Miloux

• Extreme Highs, written by Sarena Close, and Ryan Chin, performed by Mousey

• Happy Unhappy, written by Elizabeth Stokes, performed by The Beths

• Just ‘Cause You Don’t Want Me, written and performed by Mel Parsons

• Look Up, written by Marika Hodgson and Troy Kingi, performed by SORRENTO

• No Emotions In The Wild, written by Daniel Latu, Amon McGoram, and Isaiah Libeau, performed by SWIDT

• Old Images, written and performed by Anthonie Tonnon

• Olympic Girls, written by Hollie Fullbrook, performed by Tiny Ruins

• Ready Or Not, written by Elijah Manu, Albert Purcell, Carey Bentley, and Izak Kennedy, performed by Church & AP

• Soaked, written by Stella Bennett, Josh Fountain, and Djeisan Suskov, performed by Benee

• The Barrel, written by Hannah Topp, performed by Aldous Harding

• The Sacred, written and performed by Lydia Cole

• Where Were You When I Was All You Needed, written by Michael Cathro, performed by Ha The Unclear

• Years Gone By, written by Tom Scott, Hayden Dick, Julien Dyne, Guy Harrison, and Tom Dennison, performed by Avantdale Bowling Club

This Top 20 list was chosen from over 200 entries by a judging panel of 9 fellow songwriters, who have each made wonderful contributions to the NZ music community themselves.

The jury for 2019 was: Amanda Cheng (Wax Chattels), Anna Coddington, Chris Mac (Six60), Godfrey de Grut, Jordan Arts (Leisure/High Hoops), Mark Williams (Slave, Fat Freddy’s Drop), Nick Atkinson (Supergroove/Hopetoun Brown), Ria Hall, and Tyra Hammond.

Widely considered the most prestigious accolade in New Zealand music, the APRA Silver Scroll Award recognises outstanding achievement in the craft of songwriting, and the responsibility now falls to APRA’s 10,000 New Zealand members to choose the best song of 2019.

All APRA members are now invited to vote for their top five songs from this list of 20. These votes from the APRA membership will determine the five finalists and winner of the 2019 APRA Silver Scroll Award.

“We’re thrilled to find that there are plenty of established songwriters who are still surprising and delighting with their work, finding new stories to tell, and new ways to tell them. We’re also very excited to see so many new songwriters bringing fresh ideas and sounds to the landscape of music in Aotearoa” says APRA Head of NZ Operations Anthony Healey.

“Of course it was a brutal job for our judging panel to select these 20 songs from all the entries, and there are plenty of songwriters who missed out, who continue to create great and valuable work. The standard of songwriting we’re seeing in New Zealand in 2019 is incredibly high, and we applaud everyone for their craft.”

Past recipients of the esteemed award include a long list of iconic Kiwi music stalwarts - from Dave Dobbyn, Don McGlashan and Shona Laing to Neil Finn, Bic Runga, and Ray Columbus. They’re joined by a younger generation of music makers that include James Milne & Luke Buda, Ella Yelich-O’Connor (Lorde) & Joel Little, Tami Neilson, Ruban & Kody Nielson, and Marlon Williams.

The APRA Silver Scroll Award will be presented at Spark Arena in Auckland on Wednesday 2nd October. The other awards presented on the night are:

APRA Maioha Award, celebrating exceptional waiata featuring te reo

SOUNZ Contemporary Award, celebrating excellence in contemporary composition

APRA Best Original Music in a Feature Film Award

APRA Best Original Music in a Series Award

As a part of the celebrations APRA will also be inducting a songwriter/s into the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame.

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