ARIA Awards 2019: Tones and I hits all the right notes with eight nominations

Last year she was busking in Byron. Now Tones and I leads the ARIA dance with eight nominations.

Tones and I — aka Toni Watson — has been nominated for a swag of ARIA gongs. Picture: Supplied

The same week that she set a new ARIA record and topped the charts in the UK, pop singer-songwriter Toni Watson has received eight nominations for the annual ARIA Awards.

Performing under the name Tones and I, Watson and her song Dance Monkey has become an international hit in recent months, and shows no sign of slowing down. At the weekend, that song became the longest-running Australian No 1 since ARIA began calculating the charts in 1988.

At an event held in Sydney today, Watson was announced as a nominee in categories including best female artist, breakthrough artist, best pop release and best independent release, as well as both song and video of the year in the fan-voted categories.

Adelaide hip-hop trio Hilltop Hoods are up for seven awards, including album of the year, best group and best Australian live act. Melbourne band The Teskey Brothers are up for seven awards as well, including album of the year, best group and breakthrough artist.

Pop singer-songwriter Thelma Plum received six nominations, including album of the year and best female artist, while Paul Kelly is up for five awards. He became the first artist in Australian history to be nominated across three genres in the same year: adult contemporary, classical, and blues and roots.

The ARIA Awards are held at the Star Event Centre in Sydney on November 27.

Paul Kelly has five nominations and looks set to add to his collection of 14 ARIA Awards. Picture: Ryan Pierse/Getty

2019 ARIA AWARD NOMINATIONS

Album Of The Year: Dean Lewis — A Place We Knew (Island Records Australia/Universal Music Australia); Hilltop Hoods — The Great Expanse (Hilltop Hoods/Island Records Australia/Universal Music Australia); RÜFÜS DU SOL — Solace (Rose Ave Records/Sony Music Australia); The Teskey Brothers — Run Home Slow (Ivy League Records); Thelma Plum — Better In Blak (Warner Music Australia Pty Ltd)

Best Male Artist: Dean Lewis — A Place We Knew (Island Records Australia/Universal Music Australia); Guy Sebastian — Choir (Sony Music Australia); Hayden James — Between Us (Future Classic); Matt Corby — Rainbow Valley (Matt Corby/Island Records Australia/Universal Music Australia); Paul Kelly — Nature (EMI Music Australia).

Best Female Artist: Amy Shark — Mess Her Up (Wonderlick Recording Company); Jessica Mauboy — Little Things (Sony Music Australia); Julia Jacklin — Crushing (Liberation Records); Thelma Plum — Better In Blak (Warner Music Australia Pty Ltd); Tones And I — Dance Monkey (Bad Batch Records/Sony Music).

Best Dance Release: Dom Dolla — Take It (Sweat It Out/Warner Music Australia Pty Ltd; FISHER — You Little Beauty (etcetc Music); Peking Duk & Jack River — Sugar (Sony Music Australia); PNAU — Solid Gold (etcetc Music); RÜFÜS DU SOL — Solace (Rose Ave Records/Sony Music Australia).

Best Group: 5 Seconds Of Summer — Easier (Interscope / EMI Music Australia), Birds Of Tokyo — Good Lord (EMI Music Australia), Hilltop Hoods — The Great Expanse (Hilltop Hoods/Island Records Australia/Universal Music Australia), RÜFÜS DU SOL — Solace (Rose Ave Records/Sony Music Australia), The Teskey Brothers — Run Home Slow (Ivy League Records)

Breakthrough Artist: G Flip — About Us (Future Classic), Stella Donnelly — Beware Of The Dogs (Stella Music/MGM), The Teskey Brothers — Run Home Slow (Ivy League Records), Thelma Plum — Better In Blak (Warner Music Australia Pty Ltd), Tones And I — Dance Monkey (Bad Batch Records/Sony Music).

Best Pop Release: Amy Shark — Mess Her Up (Wonderlick Recording Company), Dean Lewis — A Place We Knew (Island Records Australia/Universal Music Australia), Guy Sebastian — Choir (Sony Music Australia), Thelma Plum — Better In Blak (Warner Music Australia Pty Ltd), Tones And I — Dance Monkey (Bad Batch Records/Sony Music).

Best Hip Hop Release: Baker Boy — Cool As Hell (Danzal Baker/Island Records Australia), Hilltop Hoods — The Great Expanse (Hilltop Hoods/Island Records Australia/Universal Music Australia), Illy — Then What (Sony Music Australia), Sampa The Great — Final Form (Ninja Tune/Inertia Music), Tkay Maidza — Awake feat. JPEGMAFIA (Dew Process/Universal Music Australia).

Best Soul/R&B Release: Kaiit — Miss Shiney (Alt. Music Group/Ditto Music), Matt Corby — Rainbow Valley (Matt Corby/Island Records Australia/Universal Music Australia), Adrian Eagle — AOK (Adrian Eagle), Genesis Owusu — WUTD + Vultures (Ourness/AWAL), Tash Sultana — Can’t Buy Happiness (Lonely Lands Records/Sony Music Australia).

Best Independent Release: Angie McMahon — Salt (Independent/AWAL), G Flip — About Us (Future Classic), Julia Jacklin — Crushing (Liberation Records), The Teskey Brothers — Run Home Slow (Ivy League Records), Tones And I — The Kids Are Coming (Bad Batch Records/Sony Music).

Best Rock Album: Amyl and The Sniffers — Amyl and The Sniffers (Flightless Records), Holy Holy — My Own Pool Of Light (Wonderlick Recording Company), Jimmy Barnes — My Criminal Record (Bloodlines), Midnight Oil — Armistice Day: Live at The Domain, Sydney (Sony Music Australia), Skegss — My Own Mess (Ratbag Records).

Best Adult Contemporary Album: Julia Jacklin — Crushing (Liberation Records), Paul Kelly — Nature (EMI Music Australia), Samantha Jade — The Magic of Christmas (Sony Music Australia), Seeker Lover Keeper — Wild Seeds (Liberation Records), The Paper Kites — On The Corner Where You Live (Wonderlick Recording Company).

Best Country Album: Charlie Collins — Snowpine (Mirror Music/Inertia Music), Felicity Urquhart — Frozen Rabbit (ABC Music/Universal Music Australia), Lee Kernaghan — Backroad Nation (ABC Music/Universal Music Australia), Morgan Evans — Things We Drink To (Warner Music Nashville), Sara Storer — Raindance (Universal Music Australia).

Best Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Album: Clowns — Nature/Nurture (Damaged Record Co./Caroline Australia), Dead Letter Circus — Dead Letter Circus (BMG), DZ Deathrays — Positive Rising: Part 1 (I OH YOU), King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard — Infest The Rats’ Nest (Flightless Records/Inertia Music), Northlane — Alien (UNFD).

Best Blues & Roots Album: Dan Sultan — Aviary Takes (Liberation Records), John Butler Trio — HOME (Jarrah Records/MGM), King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard — Fishing For Fishies (Flightless Records/Inertia Music), Paul Kelly — Live At Sydney Opera House (ABC Music/Universal Music Australia), The Teskey Brothers — Run Home Slow (Ivy League Records).

Best Children’s Album: Dan Sultan — Nali & Friends (ABC Music/Universal Music Australia), Kamil Ellis and Ensemble Offspring — Classic Kids: Music For The Dreaming (Australian Broadcasting Corporation), Regurgitator’s Pogogo Show — The Really Really Really Really Boring Album (ABC Music/Universal Music Australia), The Beanies — Imagination Station (Kinderling Kids Radio), The Wiggles — Party Time! (ABC Music/Universal Music Australia).

Best Comedy Release: Arj Barker — Organic (Universal Sony Pictures Home Entertainment), Carl Barron — Drinking With A Fork (Universal Sony Pictures Home Entertainment), Chris Lilley — Lunatics (Official Soundtrack) (ABC Music / Universal Music Australia), Sammy J — Symphony In J Minor (ABC Music / Universal Music Australia), Veronica & Lewis — Sex Flex: A Rap Guide To Fornication (ABC Music / Universal Music Australia).

PUBLIC VOTED AWARDS

Best Video presented by YouTube Music: Baker Boy — Cool As Hell (Danzal Baker/Island Record Australia), Briggs — Life Is Incredible feat. Greg Holden (Adam Briggs/Island Records Australia), G Flip — Drink Too Much (Future Classic), Guy Sebastian — Choir (Sony Music Australia), Hilltop Hoods — Exit Sign feat. Illy & Ecca Vandal (Hilltop Hoods/Island Records Australia/Universal Music Australia), Jessica Mauboy — Little Things (Sony Music Australia), PNAU — Solid Gold (etcetc Music), Sampa The Great — Final Form (Ninja Tune/Inertia Music), Thelma Plum — Better In Blak (Warner Music Australia Pty Ltd), Tones And I — Dance Monkey (Bad Batch Records/Sony Music Australia).

Best Australian Live Act: Amy Shark — Amy Shark Australian Tour (Wonderlick Recording Company), Baker Boy — Cool As Hell Tour (Danzal Baker/Island Records Australia), Electric Fields — 2000 And Whatever Tour (Independent/Ditto), Gang Of Youths — Say Yes To Life Tour (Mosy Recordings/Sony Music), Hilltop Hoods — The Great Expanse World Tour (Hilltop Hoods/Island Records Australia/Universal Music Australia), Keith Urban — Graffiti U Tour 2019 (Capitol — Nashville/EMI Music Australia), King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard — King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard Australian Tour 2019 (Flightless Records/Inertia Music), Midnight Oil — Midnight Oil (Sony Music Australia), Peking Duk — Peking Duk’s Biggest Tour Ever … So Far (Sony Music Australia), The Teskey Brothers — The Teskey Brothers — Intimate Venue Tour (Ivy League Records)