Missy Higgins, Troye Sivan among song of the year nominees at 2025 APRA Music Awards
The creativity and diversity of voices on display in this five-song playlist is remarkable, and together show that Australian music is in rude health | READ THE FULL LIST
The finalists for song of the year at the APRA Music Awards offer a handy annual temperature check of the Australian music scene.
These final five tracks aren’t picked by committee or by record industry workers with agendas: instead, they’re voted for by fellow members of music rights organisation APRA AMCOS, who know well the tricky task of writing songs that stick.
Announced on Wednesday, the creativity and diversity of voices on display in this five-song playlist is remarkable, and the newest crop of outstanding songs show that Australian music is in rude health.
Among the established names, pop singer-songwriter Missy Higgins impressed her fellow artists by pouring the story of her divorce and personal reinvention into The Second Act, the sparse and emotive title track from her chart-topping sixth album release. Higgins, 41, is the only solo writer among the quintet of finalists; the other four tracks are co-writes.
“All that it took to try to succeed / Then when I failed, what it took from me,” she sings in its chorus. “But it’s intermission, life’s calling me back / I think I’m ready for the second act.”
Perth-raised pop artist Troye Sivan made the final list with One of Your Girls, a lustful song based on Sivan’s experiences of dating men unsure of their sexuality.
“Give me a call if you ever get lonely / I’ll be like one of your girls or your homies,” sings Sivan, 29, in its chorus. “Say what you want and I’ll keep it a secret / You got the key to my heart and I need it.”
Arnhem Land rock band King Stingray is a finalist for Through the Trees, a single from its second album For the Dreams.
Co-written by all six members, its urgent arrangement centres on wanderlust: “Let’s not waste any more time / Which way do you want to go?” sings Yirrnga Yunupingu in its chorus. “Through the trees / Out into the deep blue sea.” The group announced last month that it had parted ways with Yunupingu for unspecified reasons.
Melbourne-born punk rock quartet Amyl and the Sniffers was named a finalist for U Should Not Be Doing That, a gripping and funny ode to ignoring critical voices – both external and internal – while strutting with confidence.
“I was in L.A. shaking my shit / While you were down in Melbourne saying, ‘F..k that bitch’,’ sings Amy Taylor in its chorus. “You were in New York getting shit on / And they were down in Melbourne saying, ‘You should not be doing that’.”
In its music video, shot in Los Angeles, Taylor is shown performing outside a liquor store in a skimpy outfit. She attracts the attention of a man wearing a retro Penrith Panthers jersey, played by Canadian actor Steven Ogg, before the pair dances exuberantly in a variety of locales and the singer meets her bandmates in a sweaty club.
Emerging hip-hop group 3% rounded out the five peer-voted finalists with Won’t Stop, a heartfelt appraisal of the Indigenous musicians’ history while celebrating strength and resilience. Its defiant music video was filmed at the Bomaderry Children’s Home near Nowra on the NSW south coast, where Aboriginal children were sent after being forcibly removed from their parents as part of what became known as the Stolen Generations.
Composed of Dallas Woods, Nooky and Angus Field, the ARIA Award-winning trio issued its debut album last year, and enlisted pop artist Jessica Mauboy for this song’s powerhouse chorus, as she sings: “Oh, pedal to the floor I go / You won’t stop me, no / It’s the only speed I know / You won’t see me coming through the night / You blink, I’m out of sight / I won’t stop for nothing.”
The peer-voted song of the year will be announced alongside 17 other categories at the APRA Music Awards, to be held at Melbourne Town Hall on April 30 at an event hosted by Zan Rowe.
Other lead nominees to be decided on the night included Kevin Parker (aka Tame Impala) for his recent collaborations with Dua Lipa and Don Toliver; Tones and I, aka Toni Watson, who earned two nominations for Dreaming; and Styalz Fuego, whose writing on two songs – Jessica Mauboy’s hit Give You Love, featuring Jason Derulo, and Troye Sivan’s Got Me Started – were both nominated for most performed Australian work and most performed pop work.
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