Meet this year's ARIA Award nominees - ABC News & Headlines – Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Tame Impala, Genesis Owusu and Ecca Vandal lead this year's ARIA Award nominations. (Supplied: Isaac Brown, Julian Klincewicz, Sean McDonald)
This year marks the 40th anniversary of the ARIA Music Awards, and the nominees vying for the iconic pointy trophy this November have just been announced.
A host of Australian musicians, artisans and performers are lined up across 29 categories, following the induction of six legendary acts being inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame earlier this year: Gurrumul, Jenny Morris, Kate Ceberano, Spiderbait, The Living End and Vika & Linda.
Leading the pack, landing eight nominations each, are Genesis Owusu and Tame Impala.
Owusu's third genre-bending album, Red Star Wu & The Worldwide Scourge, has placed the Ghanaian-Australian rule-breaker in contention for Album of the Year, Best Solo Act and the public-voted Best Australian Live Act.
The 28-year-old's first two records each won Album of the Year, along with five additional ARIAs already in the trophy cabinet.
Tame Impala, aka West Australian polymath and 15-time ARIA winner Kevin Parker, extends a huge year behind fifth album Deadbeat, featuring the global hit Dracula.
On the eve of a national arena tour, Parker is up for Album of the Year, Best Solo Artist, and nominations in the Best Pop, Dance/Electronic and Alternative categories.
Netting several impressive nods is first-time solo nominee Ecca Vandal. South African-born with Sri Lankan (Tamil) heritage and Melbourne-raised, her loud, empowering music mixes punk, neo-soul, metal, hip hop, and more.
Her second album, Looking For People To Unfollow, puts her in the mix for Album of the Year, Best Solo Artist and Breakthrough Artist.
Ecca Vandal, Genesis Owusu and Tame Impala all square off for an award returning for the first time since 2016: Best Alternative Release.
The category also includes Gang of Youths' comeback single Things Take Time and Meg Mac's fourth album It's My Party.
Last year's breakout winner, electronic producer Ninajirachi, has scored five nominations.
So too has Yolŋu sensation Baker Boy, singing-drumming star G Flip, tough-talking independent indigenous woman Miss Kaninna, and soulful Australian-Samoan visionary Boy Soda.
Clocking in with four ARIA chances each are pop auteur Troye Sivan, rock trio DMA's and Dom Dolla, the world-renowned DJ playing to 50,000-plus people at Marvel Stadium this month.
There is a host of iconic Australian musicians in the mix, too, including Paul Kelly, Vika & Linda, Keith Urban, Hilltop Hoods and impending Grand Final entertainer Kylie Minogue.
Elsewhere, The Wiggles face off against former member Emma Memma and a Bluey record for Best Children's Album.
The best music festival award is back for a second year, featuring CMC Rocks, Laneway, Spilt Milk, Victoria's Beyond the Valley and the Lismore leg of Groovin The Moo.
The winners will be revealed on Wednesday 18 November at a glitzy ceremony, hosted at Sydney's Hordern Pavilion on Gadigal Land and broadcast on Paramount+ and 10.
