2026 APRA Silver Scroll Award Top Five finalists announced

The esteemed peer-voted award has reached its 61st year of being passed through the hands of New Zealand's finest songwriters. The APRA Silver Scroll Award | Kaitito Kaiaka offers a unique chance for songwriters to be acknowledged by their peers for their songwriting craft.

Top five finalists: 

• Afters, written by Troy Kingi* and Maarire Brunning-Kouka, performed by Troy Kingi feat. MĀ (*LOOP Publishing / Kobalt Music)
• LALELEI, written by David Feauai-Afaese*, Navakatoa Tekela-Pule*, Levi Gemmell, Larsen Taylor, and performed by LEAO (*Heard & Seen Publishing)
• One Stop, written by Hannah Topp, performed by Aldous Harding (BMG Publishing)
• Someone’s Daughter, written by Deva Mahal and Chris Wethey, performed by Deva Mahal
• Wrong Party, written by Peter McCall, performed by Fazed on a Pony

More about each finalist below.

Afters

Troy Kingi (Te Arawa, Ngāpuhi, Te Whānau-ā-Apanui) is a multi-award-winning, multi-genre musician described by the New Zealand Music Commission as “Our Northland Treasure” who rose to fame after the release of his first two multi-award-winning albums ‘Guitar Party at Uncles Bach’ and ‘Shake That Skinny Ass All the Way to Zygertron’. A hard task master on his own creativity, he is nearing the end-point of his aspirational 10 | 10 | 10 Series (releasing 10 albums in 10 different genres in 10 years).  

Kingi’s most recent album in the series ‘Night Lords’ is a stacked hip-hop and R&B record and features the who’s who of the current Aotearoa contemporary music scene from SWIDT, Diggy Dupe, MĀ, Tom Scott, Melodownz, and more. Afters is the lead single from this record, featuring the soulful vocals of MĀ, blending atmospheric production with introspective lyrics. 

Listen to Afters by Troy Kingi and MĀ

LALELEI

Formed from a Pacific heart, LEAO is a Samoan musical project formed up of guitarist/vocalist David Feauai-Afaese, bassist Navakatoa Tekela-Pule, steel guitarist Levi Gemmell and drummer Rāhana Tito-Taylor. With a deep adoration for the Pacific musical reference and a desire to contribute contemporary musical ideas, LEAO synthesises non-traditional tonalities with a fa’asamoa spirit, creating what some have called “niu wave” and “Pacific neo psychedelia” music.

LEAO are first time Silver Scroll Award finalists for their song LALELEI, the first time a song written and performed entirely in gagana Samoa has reached the Top Five list. LALELEI is quintessential LEAO; combining yearnful lyricism alongside the brilliant instrumentation. At its heart, this single is a love letter and a dedication to ‘aiga ma atunu’u’ (family and homeland). The song stories a love held strong for a home long missed, capturing themes of distance, yearning and insurmountable commitment to the fa’asamoa. With this song’s sonic palette bringing together classic Samoan garage with new-age production, LEAO continue their dedication to synthesising Pacific nostalgia with the modern age.

Watch the official video for LALELEI by LEAO here. 

One Stop 

In March this year, Aldous Harding shared the compelling first taste of her new album in the form of the single One Stop. Premiered by Huw Stephens on his BBC Radio 6 Music show, One Stop is accompanied by a Harding-fronted video directed by Michelle Henning. It is the third time Harding has found herself in the Top Five – last time was in 2019 when she won the award for the equally enigmatic yet ear-catching song The Barrel. 

Her recently released album ‘Train On The Island’ was co-produced by long-time collaborator John Parish (PJ Harvey, Dry Cleaning) at Rockfield Studios in Monmouth, Wales, where the pair recorded the New Zealander’s previous bodies of work, Party (2017), Designer (2019) and Warm Chris (2022). Joining Harding and Parish on ‘Train On The Island’ were pedal steel player Joe Harvey-Whyte, harpist Mali Llywelyn, synth artist Thomas Poli, drummer Sebastian Rochford (Polar Bear) and Huw Evans (H. Hawkline) on bass, vocals, acoustic/electric guitar and organ.

Watch the official video for One Stop by Aldous Harding. 

Someone’s Daughter 

A rare combination of masterful songwriting and breathtaking vocal talent, Deva Mahal was born with blues in her blood. Deva has spent the last few years in Aotearoa diving deeper into her craft as a composer as well as cultivating her skills as a producer, collaborating closely with Ōtautahi-based producer Chris Wethey.

Politically and emotively charged, Someone’s Daughter sears the heart, with Deva’s soaring vocals fiery with feeling, then delicate with heartbreaking softness, as she sings about her deep sense of rage at the murder of Breonna Taylor and all of the Black women that have lost their lives as a result of police brutality in the US.

“I wanted to tear them all down with my voice,” says Deva. “To write something that could pierce through their souls and demand that our humanity be seen and respected. I’m demanding your attention in this song and daring you not to feel something profound. I’m demanding that you see us. See Black women and all marginalized women as humans who deserve to feel safe in this world. We are not just a statistic, a body, a number. Every one of us is someone’s daughter.”

Watch Deva Mahal perform Someone’s Daughter live on RNZ 

Wrong Party 

Fazed on a Pony is the recording project of Tāmaki-based songwriter Peter McCall. Featuring elements of indie rock, alt-country and emo, McCall’s songs address the uncertainties of life with warmth, wit, and emotional immediacy. McCall is a first time Scroll finalist with Wrong Party being voted onto the Top Five by fellow songwriters. 

Wrong Party comes from latest record ‘swan’. McCall, with bandmates Rassani Tolovaa (Office Dog), Hamish Morgan (Marlin’s Dreaming, School Fair), and Shaun Malloch, expand from the tuneful indie rock of previous releases to include pedal steel, fiddle, drum machines, and synthesisers. While there is a diversity of style, the album is rooted in the hallmarks of McCall’s music: uplifting and catchy guitar lines that serve the song, paired with arrangements that feel both comfortable and surprising. 

Watch the official video for Wrong Party by Fazed on a Pony 

The APRA Silver Scroll Award | Kaitito Kaiaka is a peer-voted award. The top five songs were voted in by APRA members from a longlist of 20 songs - you can read more about the voting process here. 

The winner of the award will be announced at the 61st APRA Silver Scroll Awards | Kaitito Kaiaka, as part of APRA's 100 year anniversary celebrations, this October.

The other awards presented on the night are: 

• APRA Maioha Award | Tohu Maioha
• SOUNZ Contemporary Award | Te Tohu Auaha
• APRA Best Original Music in a Feature Film Award | Tohu Pūmanawa
• APRA Best Original Music in a Series Award | Tohu Paerangi
• Te Tihi o te Maunga Tito | Kapa Haka Songwriting Award

More information: 

• About the APRA Silver Scroll Awards
• Playlist celebrating the Scroll Top 20 & Maioha Top 11
• How the winner of the APRA Silver Scroll Award Kaitito Kaiaka is chosen
• Past presentations and performances 

With thanks to NZ On Air, Te Māngai Pāho, OneMusic NZ, TAG, Radisson RED Auckland, Framingham Wines, Hallertau, and Scapegrace.