Recognised as a pinnacle of achievement since they were first presented in 1956, The Ivors Academy presents Ivor Novello Awards at The Ivors with Apple Music to celebrate exceptional craft in songwriting and screen composition.
The nominations recognise works written by British and Irish songwriters and composers that were released in the UK in 2019. The Academy held a public call for entries earlier in the year and judging across all categories took place before lockdown restrictions were imposed.
Now in their 65th year, an Ivor Novello Award is particularly important to the music industry as it represents peer recognition. Each category is judged by a separate panel exclusively populated by music creators, except for PRS for Music Most Performed Work, which is based on performance data from PRS for Music. Over 40 award winning songwriters and composers were involved as judges, including past Ivor winners and nominees.
The nominations celebrate works that reflect on personal themes of loss, love, identity and mental health as well as original composition to enhance the narratives of award-winning dramas, powerful documentaries and immersive video games.
In the Best Album category, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds’ ‘Ghosteen’ – written by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis – completes the hat-trick for album nominations of the trilogy ‘Push The Sky Away’ (which won in 2014) and ‘Skeleton Tree’. Also nominated are Little Simz and Inflo for ‘Grey Area’ and spoken word poet Kate Tempest and Dan Carey for ‘The Book of Traps and Lessons’, with both Little Simz and Kate Tempest receiving Ivor nominations for the first time.
In Best Contemporary Song, ‘Black’, the powerful lead single from Dave’s debut album ‘Psychodrama’, is his and Fraser T Smith’s second time nominated in the category together, having won in 2018 for ‘Question Time’. The nod for ‘Firesmoke’ is a second 2020 nomination for Kate Tempest and co-writer Dan Carey and ‘Must Be’ is a first-time nomination for J Hus and JAE5.
The Best Original Film Score category includes first-time nominees Nainita Desai and Bobby Krlic (also known as The Haxan Cloak) alongside previous winner Mica Levi, who won in 2018 for the Jackie Kennedy biopic ‘Jackie’. The scores nominated are for films as varied as a documentary following a mother’s struggle during the uprising in Aleppo, Syria in ‘For Sama’, to folk horror ‘Midsommar’ and Spanish-language thriller ‘Monos’, about a group of teenage guerrilla soldiers.
In Best Original Video Game Score, David Garcia Diaz’s nomination for ‘Arise: A Simple Story’ – which sees players relive the bittersweet journey of two people’s lives – follows his 2018 nomination for ‘Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice’. Also recognised are first-time nominees Simon Poole for ‘Draugen’ – a psychological ‘Fjord Noir’ mystery set in Norway, and Dorian Behner, John Broomhall and Will Morton for ‘Lost Ember’ – where players explore the remains of a fallen world through the eyes of different animals.
Best Song Musically and Lyrically sees a first time nomination for Jamie Cullum for ‘Age of Anxiety’ and Sam Fender for ‘Dead Boys’, from his debut album. Stormzy’s nomination for ‘Crown’ follows his 2018 Best Album win for ‘Gang Signs & Prayer’, accompanied by co-writers Jimmy Napes – who has two Ivor Novello Awards to his name for ‘Rather Be’ in 2015 – and first time nominee MJ Cole.
The Best Television Soundtrack includes nominations for Labrinth’s soundtrack to ‘Euphoria’, HBO’s teen drama starring Zendaya about a group of high school students navigating love and friendship; the score for the third series of popular Netflix series ‘The Crown’, composed by five-time Ivor Novello Award winner Martin Phipps; and BBC Two’s documentary reconstruction ‘Rise of the Nazis’, which delves into how Hitler’s dictatorship took control of Germany, by first time nominee Tom Hodge.
This year’s nominations for PRS for Music Most Performed Work celebrate the songwriters of three smash-hit songs from 2019 – Sam Smith’s ‘Dancing with a Stranger’, co-written with Mikkel Eriksen, Tor Erik Hermansen and Jimmy Napes; Calvin Harris, Jamie Hartman, Rag ‘n’ Bone Man and Troy Miller for ‘Giant’; and Lewis Capaldi, Jamie N Commons and Jamie Hartman for ‘Hold Me While You Wait’.
Crispin Hunt, Chair of The Ivors Academy said:
“Our judges have recognised extraordinary works that reflect on all aspects of the human experience and demonstrate the power and importance of music, in all its forms. Everything begins with the creativity of the songwriter or composer, and this is the building block on which our industry rests. That is why these awards are so important because they celebrate this craft and talent. It is also fantastic to see nearly half of those recognised today nominated for an Ivor Novello Award for the very first time. Congratulations to everyone.”
The Ivors 2020 Nominations are:
Best Album
Ghosteen – Written by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis
Performed by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Published in the UK by Kobalt Music Publishing.
Grey Area – Written by Inflo and Little Simz
Performed by Little Simz. Published in the UK by Universal Music Publishing.
The Book of Traps and Lessons – Written by Dan Carey and Kate Tempest
Performed by Kate Tempest. Published in the UK by Warner Chappell Music and Domino Publishing Company.
Best Contemporary Song
Black – Written by Dave and Fraser T Smith
Performed by Dave. Published in the UK by Warner Chappell Music and Kobalt Music Publishing.
Firesmoke – Written by Dan Carey and Kate Tempest
Performed by Kate Tempest. Published in the UK by Warner Chappell Music and Domino Publishing Company.
Must Be – Written by JAE5 and J Hus
Performed by J Hus. Published in the UK by Black Butter Music Publishing – Kobalt Music Publishing and Warner Chappell Music.
Best Original Film Score
For Sama – Composed by Nainita Desai
Published in the UK by Manners McDade Music Publishing.
Midsommar – Composed by Bobby Krlic
Published in the UK by Kobalt Music Publishing.
Monos – Composed by Mica Levi
Published in the UK by Beggars Music.
Best Original Video Game Score
Arise: A Simple Story – Composed by David Garcia Diaz
Draugen – Composed by Simon Poole
Lost Ember – Composed by Dorian Behner, John Broomhall and Will Morton
Best Song Musically and Lyrically
Age of Anxiety- Written and performed by Jamie Cullum
Published in the UK by Sentric Music Ltd.
Crown – Written by MJ Cole, Jimmy Napes and Stormzy
Performed by Stormzy. Published in the UK by Warner Chappell Music and Downtown Music Publishing.
Dead Boys – Written and performed by Sam Fender
Published in the UK by Kobalt Music Publishing.
Best Television Soundtrack
Euphoria – Composed by Labrinth
Published in the UK by Universal Music Publishing.
Rise of the Nazis – Composed by Tom Hodge
Published in the UK by BBC Studios Distribution Limited obo 72 Films Limited – Universal Music Publishing and Leland Originals Publishing – Decca Publishing.
The Crown (Series 3) – Composed by Martin Phipps
Published in the UK by Du Vinage Publishing and Sony/ATV Music Publishing.
PRS for Music Most Performed Work
Dancing with a Stranger – Written by Mikkel Eriksen, Tor Erik Hermansen, Jimmy Napes and Sam Smith
Performed by Sam Smith and Normani. Published in the UK by EMI Music Publishing, Downtown Music Publishing, Stellar Songs – EMI Music Publishing and Naughty Words – Sony/ATV Music Publishing.
Giant – Written by Calvin Harris, Jamie Hartman, Rag ‘n’ Bone Man and Troy Miller
Performed by Calvin Harris and Rag ‘n’ Bone Man. Published in the UK by EMI Music Publishing, Reservoir Reverb Music, Warner Chappell Music and Bucks Music Group.
Hold Me While You Wait – Written by Lewis Capaldi, Jamie N Commons and Jamie Hartman
Performed by Lewis Capaldi. Published in the UK by BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing and Reservoir Reverb Music.
Previously announced are the nominees for the new Rising Star Award with Apple Music: Amahla, Carmel Smickersgill, Griff, lullahush and Mysie.
Recipients of Songwriter of the Year 2019 and the Academy Fellowship will be announced along with winners across all nominated categories on Apple Music’s Beats 1 Radio from 11am on the Matt Wilkinson Show on Wednesday 2 September 2020.
