ARIA Awards 2024 winners: Royel Otis, Troye Sivan, Missy Higgins triumph

The crowning of Sydney indie pop duo Royel Otis was confirmed by the Australian music industry on Wednesday night, when it walked away with four ARIA Awards for its debut album | FULL WINNERS LIST

The 2024 ARIA Award winners, featuring Missy Higgins (left), Troye Sivan (centre) and Royel Otis (right, comprised of Otis Pavlovic and Royel Maddell). Picture: Emilia Tortorella

With its unique blend of guitar-driven indie pop, Sydney duo Royel Otis has swiftly become one of the most popular Australian musical exports on the world’s stage.

Its global fanbase includes 9.1 million monthly listeners on Spotify alone – not bad for a band that only began releasing music in 2021 – and on Wednesday in Sydney its crowning was confirmed by the Australian music industry when it walked away with four ARIA Awards.

Composed of friends Royel Maddell (guitars) and Otis Pavlovic (vocals) – hence the name – its sunny, upbeat sound is rooted in double-tracked guitars, reverb-heavy vocals and taut, lo-fi rock arrangements, all of which featured prominently on the debut album Pratts & Pain.

The pair met five years ago, but their chemistry and distinctive style – including Maddell’s habit of hiding his face behind a curtain of pink hair, as a coping strategy for his anxiety – has become a winning formula.

At the ARIA Awards ceremony, held at the Hordern ­Pavilion, Royel Otis was named best group, while Pratts & Pain was awarded best rock album, and Chris Collins was acknowledged for his work as its engineer and producer by triumphing in those two categories.

But one side-effect of success is that Maddell and Pavlovic ­accepted the accolades in absentia: they are midway through a sold-out European tour, including a gig in Paris on Wednesday and one in Cologne on Friday.

Hosted by the Australian ­Recording Industry Association (ARIA), the four trophies arrived at a trying time for the duo. They recently made a tough call to cancel American concerts planned for next month. “I am currently experiencing some devastating family matters that I need to be home for,” wrote Maddell on Instagram on Tuesday. “I was trying to work out a way around not having to bail on the US December shows, but there is no choice now and I need to be in Sydney. I am so sorry and I promise I will make it up to you.”

Royel Otis’s most recent run of Australian shows, earlier this year, were held in bars and theatres, and after a series of festival appearances set for either side of the new year, it seems the duo will soon be booking much larger ­venues to accommodate its bulging fanbase.

The other major winner was Troye Sivan, a 29-year-old singer-songwriter, who was named best solo artist for the second year running, while his chart-topping third album Something to Give Each Other was named best pop release and album of the year.

His success followed a four-trophy haul at last year’s ARIAs.

Having recently toured the US with British pop artist Charli XCX – who will headline Laneway Festival here in February – Sivan’s Australian tour began in Adelaide on Tuesday, and will continue this week before concluding with two shows at the Sydney Opera House forecourt on November 28 and 29.

Singer-songwriter Missy Higgins also had a fine night. In addition to becoming the youngest solo artist to be inducted into the ARIA Hall ­of Fame, aged 41, she was named best Australian live act in a public-voted award.

With a total attendance of more than 80,000 people across 40 concerts, the popularity of her Second Act tour was such that Higgins added four more encore dates at outdoor venues, with the finale booked for A Day on the Green at the Barossa Valley on December 7.

As with recent inductees Tina Arena (2015), Kasey Chambers (2018) and Jet (2023), Higgins’ ongoing success is proof of concept for the ARIA board’s shift in thinking around the Hall of Fame, which seeks to give great Australian artists their proverbial flowers while they’re in full bloom, rather than when they’re pottering around the garden in their twilight years.

The Michael Gudinski breakthrough artist award, meanwhile, went to Canberra-born rock quartet Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers – which is currently supporting US rock act Pearl Jam on its stadium tour – for its debut album I Love You.

Public-voted song of the year was The Worst Person Alive by indie pop singer, songwriter and drummer G Flip, while Brisbane composer Joff Bush took home another ARIA for his much-loved work on the hit ABC TV show Bluey: its second soundtrack, ­titled Dance Mode, was named best children’s album.

2024 ARIA AWARDS WINNERS

Album of the Year

Troye Sivan – Something To Give Each Other (EMI Music Australia)

Best Solo Artist

Troye Sivan – Something To Give Each Other (EMI Music Australia)

Best Group

Royel Otis – Pratts & Pain (Ourness/Believe)

Michael Gudinski Breakthrough Artist

Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers – I Love You (Domestic La La)

Best Pop Release

Troye Sivan – Something To Give Each Other (EMI Music Australia)

Best Dance / Electronic Release

Dom Dolla – Saving Up (Three Six Zero/Sony Music)

Best Hip Hop / Rap Release

3% – Kill the Dead (1788 Records/Virgin Music Group)

Best Soul / R&B Release

Tkay Maidza – Sweet Justice (Dew Process/Universal Music Australia)

Best Independent Release

Angie McMahon – Light, Dark, Light Again (AWAL Recordings)

Best Rock Album

Royel Otis – Pratts & Pain (Ourness/Believe)

Best Adult Contemporary Album

Emily Wurramara – Nara (ABC Music/The Orchard)

Best Country Album

Troy Cassar-Daley – Between The Fires (Tarampa Music/Sony Music)

Best Hard Rock / Heavy Metal Album

Speed – Only One Mode (Last Ride Records/ADA)

Best Blues & Roots Album

Mia Dyson – Tender Heart (Metropolitan Groove Merchants)

Best Children’s Album

Bluey – Dance Mode! (Ludo Studios/Demon Demon Music Group/Rocket)

PUBLIC VOTED AWARDS

Best Video

Dance With Me – Tones And I, Nick Kozakis and Sela Vai (Bad Batch Records/Sony Music)

Best Australian Live Act

Missy Higgins – The Second Act Tour 2024 (Eleven/EMI Music Australia)

Song of the Year

G Flip – The Worst Person Alive (Future Classic)

Most Popular International Artist

Taylor Swift – The Tortured Poets Department (Republic Records/Universal Music Australia)

ARIA Music Teacher Award

Nathaniel Miller – Bulman School, Arnhem Land, NT

ARTISAN AWARDS

Best Cover Art

Daniel Boyd and Nomad Create for Kill the Dead – 3% (1788 Records/Virgin Music Group)

Engineer – Best Engineered Release

Chris Collins for Royel Otis – Pratts & Pain (Ourness/Believe)

Producer – Best Produced Release

Chris Collins for Royel Otis – Pratts & Pain (Ourness/Believe)

FINE ARTS AWARDS

Best Classical Album

Sophie Hutchings – A World Outside (Mercury KX/UMA)

Best Jazz Album

Mildlife – Chorus ([PIAS] Australia/Inertia Music)

Best Original Soundtrack or Musical Theatre Cast Album

Various Artists – Faraway Downs (DTS Productions/Sony Music)

Best World Music Album

Dobby – Warangu; River Story (ABC Music/The Orchard)

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