Tame Impala and Flume earn 2021 Grammy nominations
Tame Impala and Flume will wave the flag for Australia at the 63rd Grammy Awards.
Kevin Parker’s psychedelic pop wizardry is rewarded with a pair of Grammy nominations for The Slow Rush, Tame Impala’s fourth album.
The Slow Rush is up for Best Alternative Music Album, and the single ‘Lost in Yesterday’ is up for Best Rock Song, a category that also features tracks by Phoebe Bridgers, Big Thief, Fiona Apple and Brittany Howard.
The Slow Rush was quick out the gate.
In the United States, the album gave Tame Impala a highest-ever chart appearance with a No. 3 debut on the Billboard 200, going one better than their previous best with Currents.
According to Billboard, The Slow Rush scored 110,000 equivalent album units in its first week, some 80,000 of that figure coming in album sales, easily beating the 45,000 first-week sales of Currents.
In the U.K., The Slow Rush also opened at No. 3, equaling their best position with Currents, which went on to win Parker and Co. the Brit Award for Best International Group, nudging out U2 for the title.
Meanwhile, Harley Streten (aka Flume) is hunting a second Grammy. The Sydneysider earns a chance for Best Dance Recording, for ‘The Difference,’ featuring American artist Toro Y Moi.
Watch Flume’s ‘The Difference’ featuring Toro Y Moi:
It won’t be an easy get. Flume is facing off with tunes by Disclosure, Jayda G and Kaytranada.
The electronic producer is one of a small handful of Aussie acts who’ve collected Grammys glory in recent years. He won the Dance/Electronic Album category at the 59th Grammy Awards for his 2016 release Skin.
Flume
Meanwhile, Brisbane-based, Tibetan-born artist and activist Tenzin Choegyal is up for Best New Age Album with Songs from the Bardo, featuring experimental artist Laurie Anderson and composer Jesse Paris Smith.
And there’s another nomination for Hillsong Church, as Hillsong Young & Free get the nod for Best Contemporary Christian Music Album with All of My Best Friends.
Hillsong won its first Grammy in January 2018 when Hillsong Worship took out Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song for ‘What A Beautiful Name.’
The chances for Grammy glory don’t end there.
APRA took a deep dive into the 83 Grammy categories and identified several contributors from Australia and New Zealand who co-wrote and “played other key creative roles” in nominated works.
They include Karnivool’s Drew Goddard, who played on and was a co-writer on ‘Arabesque’ from Coldplay’s Everyday Life, which is up for Album of the Year.
Kiwi artist Kimbra is writer and featured performer on ‘In My Bones,’ lifted from Jacob Collier’s Djesse VOL.3, shortlisted for Album of the Year.
Kimbra
Fellow New Zealander Ruban Nielson of Unknown Mortal Orchestra is a collaborator on the Free Nationals self-titled album, nominated for Best Progressive R&B Album.
Melbourne songwriter Mitch Wong is credited on ‘Death of Death’ from Cody Carnes’ Best Contemporary Christian Music Album nominee Run to the Father.
Dua Lipa’s ‘Break My Heart,’ lifted from the British singer’s Album of the Year nominee Future Nostalgia, features a sample from INXS’ ‘Need You Tonight,’ with the late Michael Hutchence and Andrew Farriss as credited songwriters.
Mike Waters has a songwriting credit on ‘U Move, I Move’ from John Legend’s Bigger Love, shortlisted for Best R&B Album.
Also on Tenzin Choegyal’s Songs from the Bardo are songwriting credits for Matthew Flindell and Marcello Milani.
And Grammy-winning engineer and producer Chris O’Ryan (AKA TEK) is engineer on a handful of nominated Justin Bieber tracks.
Nominations for the upcoming Grammys were unveiled overnight during a livestream event.
With nine nominations, Beyonce is way out front, followed by Taylor Swift, Roddy Ricch and Dua Lipa with six each.
The 2021 Grammys are set for Jan. 21. Check out all the nominations here.
And click here for APRA AMCOS’ Grammys deep dive.
This article originally appeared on The Industry Observer, which is now part of The Music Network.
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