News January 11, 2018

Meet the contenders for the 2018 APRA Song Of The Year

It’s one of the most prestigious awards in the Aussie music industry with a history stretching back almost 30 years. Now, as APRA AMCOS gets ready to hand out the 2018 APRA Song Of The Year, the Voting Academy have delivered a shortlist of 20 contenders who are eligible for this year’s award.

The APRA Song Of The Year has a long and storied history, first being awarded back in 1991 to Yothu Yindi’s landmark anthem ‘Treaty’. Since then, plenty of amazing songs have received the honour of being named ‘Song Of The Year’, including Powderfinger’s ‘My Happiness’, Angus & Julia Stone’s ‘Big Jet Plane’, Kasey Chambers’ ‘Not Pretty Enough’, and D.D. Dumbo’s ‘Satan’, which received the honour last year.

APRA members began voting on the Song Of The Year back in November and today, a 20-song shortlist of this year’s contenders has been announced by APRA AMCOS. From here, the shortlist will go to the Song Of The Year Voting Academy, who will them determine the final five nominees and the eventual winner. The final nominees will be announced in early March, with the winner being announced at the 2018 APRA Music Awards in Sydney this April.

This year’s list of contenders include a wide variety of newcomers, incuding Tash Sultana, Alex Lahey, and Amy Shark, as well as plenty of seasoned pros, including Tim Rogers, Jen Cloher, Paul Kelly, and Bernard Fanning.

Notably, one US artist, 6lack, makes the list with his track ‘That Far’. While this might be a controversial choice to some, the track has been chosen for those in charge of its production and engineering, which is credited to Melbourne’s LUCIANBLOMKAMP and Sydney’s Daniel Cartisano, respectively.

The final list of nominees will be published in March, with the winner being announced atAPRA Music Awards in April. For more information about the APRA Song of The Year, head along to the APRA AMCOS website.

2018 APRA Song Of The Year contenders

‘Boys Will Be Boys’ – Stella Donnelly | Stella Donnelly
‘Cadillac’ – All Our Exes Live In Texas | Katherine Wighton, Hannah Crofts, Georgia Mooney, Elana Stone
‘Everyday’s The Weekend’ – Alex Lahey | Alex Lahey
‘Fallin’’ – Jessica Mauboy | Kayla Bonnici, Louis Schoorl, Peter Harding
‘Firewood And Candles’ – Paul Kelly | Paul Kelly, William Harris Miller
‘Forgot Myself’ – Jen Cloher | Jen Cloher
‘Hold It Together’ – Dan Sultan | Dan Sultan, Alexander Burnett
‘Isn’t It A Pity’ – Bernard Fanning | Bernard Fanning
‘Lay It On Me’ – Vance Joy | James Keogh, Dave Richard Bassett
‘Mended’ – Vera Blue | Andrew Macken, Thomas Macken, Samuel Telford, Celia Pavey pka Vera Blue, Adam Anders
‘Murder To The Mind’ – Tash Sultana | Tash Sultana
‘Running Second’ – Ainslie Wills | Ainslie Wills, Lawrence Folvig
‘Sleep Drifter’ – King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard | Stu Mackenzie
‘Snow’ – Angus And Julia Stone | Angus Stone, Julia Stone
‘Strangers Kiss’ – Alex Cameron | Alex Cameron
‘That Far’ – 6lack | Trevor Slade, Daniel Cartisano, Ricardo Valentine Valdez JR, Lucian Blomkamp
‘Weekends’ – Amy Shark | Amy Billings
‘What Can I Do If The Fire Goes Out?’ – Gang Of Youths | David Le’Aupepe
‘Yesterday’ – 360 (feat. Hein Cooper) | Kaelyn Behr, Matthew Colwell, Martin Nicholas, Hein Cooper
‘Youth’ – Tim Rogers | Tim Rogers