2014 ARIA Award nominations dominated by newcomers Chet Faker, 5 Seconds of Summer, Iggy Azalea and Sheppard
IGGY Azalea and Sheppard are among a swag of first-time ARIA nominees this year, while stalwarts Tina Arena and Jimmy Barnes were almost shut out.
YOUNG Australian musical talent — from hipster heroes to female rappers, from boy bands to reality TV stars — have dominated this year’s ARIA Award nominations.
Melbourne musician Chet Faker has topped the list with nine nominations, including Best Male Artist and Album of the Year for his No. 1 record Built on Glass.
Released independently, his LP is on track to being one of the year’s highest selling Australian albums and combines soulful vocals with electronic technology. Chet Faker (born Nick Murphy) is also up for Best Dance Release for his collaboration with Flume, Drop the Game.
Brisbane band Sheppard, who also release their music independently, have picked up seven nominations including Album of the Year for their debut Bombs Away, Song of the Year for their chart-topper Geronimo and Best Group.
Adelaide export Sia is a virtual old-timer among this year’s nominees. She scored six nominations for her album 1000 Forms of Fear including Album of the Year and Song of the Year for Chandelier.
Sia has won four ARIA Awards in the past, including Best Pop Release in 2010 for We Are Born.
Melbourne musician Dan Sultan’s Blackbird album scored nominations for Album of the Year, Best Male Artist and Best Rock Album.
NSW rapper Iggy Azalea, who left Australia years ago to crack the US market, has scored four nominations including Song of the Year for her American No. 1 Fancy, Best Urban Album for The New Classic, Breakthrough Artist and Best Female.
Dance band Rufus top off a big year with nominations for Best Group, Best Dance Release for their Atlas album and Best Australian Live Act.
In the past ARIA voters have tended to snub new pop acts until they’ve cut their teeth (see Guy Sebastian).
However Sydney’s musical boy band 5 Seconds of Summer have broken through any potential snobbery, scoring four nominations for their self-titled debut album including Best Pop Release and Breakthrough Artist, while She Looks So Perfect is nominated in the public-voted Song of the Year category.
Dancers turned singers Justice Crew have seen their No. 1 Que Sera nominated for Best Pop Release, Song of the Year and Best Video. And young X Factor contestants Taylor Henderson and Nathaniel are both nominated in the public-voted Song of the Year category.
In a move that may surprise many Jessica Mauboy’s Beautiful has been nominated in the Album of the Year category, and the former Australian Idol star is also up for Best Female and Best Video for Pop a Bottle.
Melbourne world-beater Vance Joy’s album Dream Your Life Away was released too late for voting in this year’s awards, but he scores nominations for Best Male Artist on the back of the single Mess is Mine.
Rapper 360’s Utopia is up for Best Urban Album, Chris Lilley’s Ja’ime is up for Best Comedy Release and Adelaide hip hop act Hilltop Hoods have three nominations including Best Group.
Industry veteran Russell Morris will be hoping to go back-to-back with a nomination for Best Blues and Roots Album for Van Diemen’s Land, but this year goes up against John Butler Trio.
Curiously, Sydney folk duo Angus and Julia Stone’s self-titled album is nominated in the Best Rock Album category alongside Jimmy Barnes, Dan Sultan, Kingswood and Ball Park Music.
Two ARIA stalwarts were somewhat overlooked this year. Tina Arena’s Reset is nominated for Best Adult Contemporary Album but bizarrely she did not receive a nomination in the Best Female Artist category, which will be won by either Adalita, Iggy Azalea, Kasey Chambers, Sia or Jessica Mauboy.
Likewise, while Jimmy Barnes’ 30:30 Hindsight scraped into the voting window to be nominated for Best Rock Album he was not nominated for best male. That category will be fought out between Vance Joy, Dan Sultan, Chet Faker, Gurrumul and Guy Sebastian.
Aside from the publicly voted categories, the awards were voted on by members of the local music industry.
Eleven Australian albums have reached No. 1 on the ARIA chart this year, including INXS, Chet Faker, Jimmy Barnes, Kylie Minogue, Vance Joy and Sheppard.
Justice Crew’s Que Sera spent nine weeks at No. 1 to leapfrog Gotye, Savage Garden and Austen Tayshus as the longest-running Australian chart topper.
This year’s ARIA Awards will take place at The Star Sydney on November 26 and will be broadcast by Channel 10.
Tickets to the event go on sale 9am Monday from Ticketek, with performers and presenters announced shortly.
ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Chet Faker — Built on Glass
Dan Sultan — Blackbird
Jessica Mauboy — Beautiful
Sheppard — Bombs Away
Sia — 1000 Forms of Fear
BEST FEMALE ARTIST
Adalita
Iggy Azalea
Jessica Mauboy
Kasey Chambers
Sia
BEST MALE ARTIST
Chet Faker
Dan Sultan
Gurrumul
Guy Sebastian
Vance Joy
BEST GROUP
5 Seconds of Summer
Hilltop Hoods
RUFUS
Sheppard
Violent Soho
BEST COUNTRY ALBUM
Adam Brand — My Side of the Street
Emma Swift — Emma Swift
Kasey Chambers — Bittersweet
Keith Urban — Fuse
The McClymonts — Here’s To You & I
BEST DANCE RELEASE
Flume & Chet Faker — Drop the Game
Nicky Night Time — Everybody Together
Peking Duk — High
RUFUS — Sundream
The Presets — No Fun
BEST ROCK ALBUM
Angus & Julia Stone — Angus & Julia Stone
Ball Park Music — Puddinghead
Dan Sultan — Blackbird
Jimmy Barnes: 30:30 Hindsight
Kingswood — Microscopic Wars
BEST URBAN ALBUM
360 — Utopia
Hilltop Hoods — Walking Under Stars
Iggy Azalea — The New Classic
Illy — Cinematic
Thundamentals — So We Can Remember
BREAKTHROUGH ARTIST
5 Seconds of Summer
Andy Bull
Chet Faker
Iggy Azalea
The Kite String Tangle
BEST ADULT CONTEMPORARY ALBUM
Gossling — Harvest of Gold
Kate Miller-Heidke — O Vertigo!
Neil Finn & Paul Kelly — Goin’ Your Way
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds — Live from KCRW
Tina Arena — Reset
BEST BLUES & ROOTS ALBUM
Harry Hookey — Misdiagnosed
John Butler Trio — Flesh & Blood
Russell Morris — Van Diemen’s Land
The Audreys — `Til My Tears Roll Away
The Bamboos — Fever in the Road
BEST HARD ROCK/HEAVY METAL ALBUM
DZ Deathrays — Black Rat
High Tension — Death Beat
Shihad — FVEY
Sleepsmakewaves — Love of Cartography
The Amity Affliction — Let The Ocean Take Me
BEST INDEPENDENT RELEASE
Chet Faker — Built on Glass
Dan Sultan — Blackbird
Sheppard — Bombs Away
Vance Joy — Mess is Mine
Violent Soho — Saramona Said
PUBLIC VOTED AWARDS
BEST AUSTRALIAN LIVE ACT
Boy & Bear
Dan Sultan
John Butler Trio
Keith Urban
Melbourne SKA Orchestra
RUFUS
Tame Impala
The Preatures
The Presets
Violent Soho
BEST INTERNATIONAL ARTIST
Avicii
Beyonce
Coldplay
Ed Sheeran
Eminem
Jason Derulo
Katy Perry
Lorde
One Direction
Pharrell Williams
SONG OF THE YEAR
5 Seconds of Summer — She Looks So Perfect
Guy Sebastian — Like a Drum
Havana Brown — Warrior
Iggy Azalea — Fancy
Joel Fletcher — Swing
Justice Crew — Que Sera
Nathaniel — You
Sheppard — Geronimo
Sia — Chandelier
Taylor Henderson — Borrow My Heart