The top 20 nominees for this year's prestigious Apra Silver Scroll award have been whittled down to the top five by the 10,000-strong New Zealand Apra membership, and announced this morning.
The songs in the running to be named the best song of the year by New Zealand songwriters, are:
• Dark Child, written by Marlon Williams and Tim Moore, performed by Marlon Williams.
Marlon Williams.
• Get Out Alive, written and performed by Mel Parsons.
• Multi-Love, written by Ruban Nielson and Kody Nielson, and performed by Unknown Mortal Orchestra.
Ruban Nielson of Unknown Mortal Orchestra.
• Water Underground, written and performed by Anthonie Tonnon.
• Yellow Flicker Beat, written by Joel Little and Ella Yelich-O'Connor, performed by Lorde.
It's a diverse list, taking in sweeping alt-country, gothic folk, psychedelic synth-rock, indie folk-rock, and cinematic electro-pop, reflecting the broad talents of Kiwi musicians.
Three of them are first-timers in the top five, but Lorde won for Royals in 2013, and this will be Ruban Nielson's fifth time as a finalist, having previously been nominated three times for his work with The Mint Chicks, and once before for UMO - could 2015 be his year?
The winner will be announced at the ceremony at Vector Arena on September 17. Check out TimeOut in coming weeks for further coverage.
