Australian categories added for 2020 NME Awards

Following its launch into the Australian market, UK-based music publication NME has now added multiple Australian categories to its annual awards.

The long-running annual NME Awards began in 1953, and now six categories recognising the achievements of Aussies will be awarded.

Those categories are; Best Australian Band, Best Solo Act, Best New Act, Best Song and Best Album.

Also awarded will be Best Australian Festival, with Groovin The Moo, Party In The Paddock, Splendour, Spilt Milk and Laneway Festival all nominated.

Amyl and The Sniffers, Mallrat and Stella Donnelly lead the way with three nominations each across the music categories.

Best Album will be contested by The Sniffers, Donnelly King Gizzard, Nick Cave and Sampa The Great.

Amy And The Sniffers

The Sniffers are up against Mallrat, Confidence Man, Tame Impala and Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever in the Best Song category.

“The past decade has seen Australia strengthen its position as a major player in the global music scene, producing festival headliners like Tame Impala, cult heroes like King Gizzard, breathtaking punk upstarts like Amyl & The Sniffers, powerful voices like Courtney Barnett and quirky pop champs like Tones & I and Stella Donnelly,” said NME CEO Meng Kuok.

“It was no easy task to whittle down the incredible achievements of the past year into our shortlist of nominations.

“The fact that it was such a challenge for our editorial team speaks volumes for the quality of talent bubbling out from down under.

“As we enter the 2020s, and as we toast the launch of NME Australia, it’s only right we celebrate the artists down under who deserve to be recognized on a global stage,” says Kuok

Full nominations below:

BEST AUSTRALIAN ALBUM
Amyl & The Sniffers – Amyl & The Sniffers
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – Fishing For Fishies
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Ghosteen
Sampa The Great – The Return
Stella Donnelly – Beware Of The Dogs

BEST AUSTRALIAN SONG 
Amyl & The Sniffers – Gacked On Anger
Confidence Man – Does It Make You Feel Good
Mallrat – Charlie
Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever – In The Capital
Tame Impala – Borderline
Tones And I – Dance Monkey

BEST AUSTRALIAN BAND 
Amyl & The Sniffers
Confidence Man
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard
Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever
Tame Impala

BEST AUSTRALIAN SOLO ACT
Courtney Barnett
Flume
Hatchie
Mallrat
Stella Donnelly

BEST NEW AUSTRALIAN ACT 
Baker Boy
G Flip
Mallrat
Stella Donnelly
Tones & I

BEST AUSTRALIAN FESTIVAL
Groovin The Moo
Party in the Paddock
Splendour In The Grass
Spilt Milk
St. Jerome’s Laneway Festival