Silver Scroll finalists include the first song entirely in gagana Samoa
LEAO's 'LALELEI' is the first song written and performed entirely in gagana Samoa to reach the APRA Silver Scroll top five, according to The Music Network's report, republished by Rolling Stone Australia. The awards will also present a prize for original kapa haka compositions in te reo Māori for the first time.
Winners will be named at the Aotea Centre in Tāmaki Makaurau on Wednesday 14 October. The ceremony also marks APRA's 100th year.
The Silver Scroll is in its 61st year. RNZ reports that APRA's roughly 10,000 songwriter members vote for it, judging songs on artistic merit rather than sales or reviews.
'LALELEI' was written by David Feauai-Afaese, Navakatoa Tekela-Pule, Levi Gemmell and Larsen Taylor, all first-time finalists.
The other four finalists, as reported by 13th Floor and The Music Network:
- 'Afters', Troy Kingi and MĀ (Maarire Brunning-Kouka), from Night Lords, the latest album in Kingi's 10 | 10 | 10 series. Kingi won the Scroll in 2021.
- 'One Stop', Hannah Topp, better known as Aldous Harding. It was the first single from her recently released album Train on the Island. Harding won in 2019 with 'The Barrel'.
- 'Someone's Daughter', Deva Mahal and Chris Wethey, from Mahal's EP Future Classic Vol II: Future. Mahal has been shortlisted four times before, but this is her first time in the final five.
- 'Wrong Party', Peter McCall, a Tāmaki-based songwriter who records as Fazed on a Pony. He is a first-time finalist.
APRA AMCOS Aotearoa head Anthony Healey told RNZ the finalists "are a celebration of us" and "remind us of the depth, diversity and heart of New Zealand music, and the extraordinary people who bring it to life."
Marlon Williams won last year's Scroll, his second, with 'Aua Atu Rā', co-written with KOMMI (Kāi Tahu, Te-Āti-Awa), and used the moment to urge Māori musicians to "flood the zone", RNZ reports. His first win was in 2018 for 'Nobody Gets What They Want Anymore'.
The new award, Te Tihi o te Maunga Tito | Kapa Haka Songwriting Award, recognises composers who write for the stage and for performing groups. Until now no Scroll category was built around that work. Dame Hinewehi Mohi, APRA's Manukura Puoro Māori, told RNZ the award honours the traditions of waiata while recognising contemporary writing for the kapa haka stage. The name was gifted by Tā Tīmoti Kāretu, she said, and "symbolises the aspirations of kaitito waiata to reach the highest pinnacle of composition".
The Music Network lists the three inaugural finalists:
- 'Ka Mutu Te Aroha' by Dr Hinurewa Poutū and TAWAZ
- 'Te Tapuni' by Rob Ruha
- 'Wai Ka Tuku Wai Ka Hono' by Tā Derek Lardelli, Te Rauhuia Ngata, Ani Piki Tuari and Hamiora Tuari
Ruha, who has already won both the Silver Scroll and the Maioha award, wrote 'Te Tapuni' for the East Coast group Te Taumata o Apanui (TOA), according to 13th Floor. He dedicated it to the late Ricky Lee Tapuni Mitai of Te Whakatōhea.
TAWAZ is also a finalist for the APRA Maioha Award, alongside Professor Rangi-Ānehu Mātāmua, with a Matariki waiata that 13th Floor says "has quickly become an anthem for the Māori New Year." The song's title could not be confirmed from the published reports. APRA members voted three finalists in from a longlist of 11 waiata, the site reports. The other two are Aro's 'Puna Ora' and Geneva AM's 'Toitū Te Tiriti', according to The Music Network.
Ihlara McIndoe, who won the SOUNZ Contemporary Award for concert composition in 2025, is a finalist again with 'curio', 13th Floor reports. She faces Dylan Lardelli ('Light Lines'), Michael Norris and Nicholas Denton Protsack ('Partial Forms') and Samuel Holloway ('Soft Logic').