Top 20 songs vie for Silver Scroll

Lawrence Arabia.

Songwriters' organisation Apra has named what it considers the best New Zealand songs written in the past year in the lead-up to the annual Silver Scroll Awards.

This year's 20 contenders range from debut break-out hits like Lorde's Royals and Aaradhna's Wake Up, to past winner Lawrence Arabia for The Listening Times. They range in style from the hip-hop of Tipene's West Side Hori to the alt-country of Marlon Williams and Delaney Davidson's Blood Letter.

The list includes artists who made the cut last year, including L.A. Mitchell and Six60.

The longlist has been compiled by a revolving, anonymous panel of APRA (Australasian Performing Right Association) members. They will now be voted on by more than 10,000 members of the association, with the five finalists to be revealed in mid-September.

The winner will be announced at a gala evening on Tuesday, October 15 at Vector Arena (and streamed live here on NZ Herald Online)

The gala ceremony also includes the APRA Maioha Award and the Sounz Contemporary Award, awards for most performed works in New Zealand and overseas, and an induction of a veteran songwriter into the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame.

The Apra top 20 list for the 2013 Silver Scroll is:

Artisan Guns - Baby Blue

Anna Coddington - Bird in Hand

Marlon Williams and Delaney Davidson - Blood Letter

Sharkness - Cobra Jacket

Tattletale Saints - Complicated Man

@ Peace - Flowers

Ladi6 - Ikarus

The Ruby Suns - Kingfisher Call Me

Kittens of the Internet - Living the Dream

L.A. Mitchell - Lose the Game

Six60 - Lost

Tama Waipara - Medicine Man

Watercolours - Pazzida

Lorde - Royals

Matt Langley - Sad Sound Good

Urbantramper - Sailors

The Phoenix Foundation - Thames Soup

Lawrence Arabia - The Listening Times

Aaradhna - Wake Up

Tipene - West Side Hori

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- TimeOut