Troye Sivan took home the top prize at the Australian Performing Rights Association (Apra) awards on Wednesday night, winning song of the year for his track Rush.
The lead single from Sivan’s acclaimed 2023 album Something to Give Each Other, Rush is a lascivious ode to queer nightlife inspired by the gay clubs of Melbourne’s Smith Street. “I wanted to go ballistic,” Sivan told the Guardian last year, of his time in the clubs post pandemic lockdowns.
Sivan’s win at the Apra awards continues a string of accolades over the past six months. Rush earned the Australian pop star his first Grammy nominations for best pop dance recording and best music video earlier this year, while Something to Give Each Other appeared on year-end lists issued by Billboard, NME, Nylon, the Hollywood Reporter and the Guardian as well as topping the Aria charts.
Sivan shared the Apra award with music producer Styalz Fuego, who co-wrote Rush. Both have won Apras in past: Sivan was named breakthrough songwriter of the year in 2017 and Fuego won the same prize in 2013. The award has been renamed emerging songwriter for the 2024 ceremony, held at Sydney’s International Convention Centre.
Song of the year is the only peer-voted category at the Apras, where most awards are determined by airplay and royalties. The Apra board of directors does have discretion over a few categories, including songwriter and emerging songwriter of the year.
Dean Lewis was also a big winner this year, taking home both most performed Australian work and pop work for his track How Do I Say Goodbye, written in the aftermath of his father’s cancer diagnosis.
“Thank you to my dad,” Lewis said in a pre-recorded message. “He’s doing great, doing fine. He’s just had the best time coming on tour with me.”
Blues duo the Teskey Brothers won songwriter for the year, while emerging songwriter went to western Sydney indie artist Grentperez, who became a viral sensation from his covers on YouTube and TikTok.
“As a Filipino Australian artist I feel seen, as well as coming out from western Sydney … the creativity is emerging from everywhere,” Perez said.
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Perez was one of several first-time winners this year. Taylor Swift also became an Apras debutante, winning international work of the year for Anti-Hero, after three previous nominations for Love Story, Blank Space and Style.
Other first-timers included garage duo Polish Club, who won most performed rock work for Good Time; drill group OneFour, who won in the hip-hop category for Comma’s (featuring CG); Parkway Drive, who won the inaugural hard rock/heavy metal award for Darker Still; and electronic duo Shouse, who won in the dance category for Never Let You Go, their collaboration with Jason Derulo.
Multiple previous winners also returned. Pop star Sia won her 12th Apra award for Gimme Love while beloved alternative band Birds of Tokyo took home their seventh Apra award for Daylight. Both Casey Barnes and Ziggy Alberts won their second prizes – the former a country award for Summer Nights and the latter a blues and rock award for Dancing in the Dark.