With all the disagreements going around these days about the selection and voting process for these large-scale awards shows – The Grammys, Oscars etc. – The Ivor Novello Awards are one of the most prominent cases of an award show being judged and presented by the songwriting community, not publishers and records companies, as most of the others are. This year, Britain and Ireland’s most celebrated writers, composers, and performers will see a chance to bag some awards after the frankly underwhelming turnout at this year’s Grammys. Renowned record producer, Inflo, has bagged the most nominations this year, with 3 of them being credits in the Best Album category.
The 5 nominations for best album are, admittedly, quite a breath of fresh air. With the general niceties that The Grammys keep going for, it’s good to see bands like Sleaford Mods get a shred of attention, their album, Spare Ribs, may not be the best in their discography, but it’s dealing with COVID at the time was almost quite new on the scene. Cleo Sol’s Mother, SAULT’s Nine, and Little Simz’ Sometimes I Might Be Introvert are the 3 albums that got nominated, and all give production credits to Inflo. Laura Mvula’s fantastic Pink Noise rounds out the list. Listen to “Got Me” below.
Ivors judge, and previous winner in 2001, Shaznay Lewis commented on the awards, “It’s been a standout year for music and I am full of admiration for the 77 talented songwriters and composers we are celebrating this year,” adding, “Their work and words touch on a dizzying range of emotions, and I count myself lucky to have heard their stories. As it has every year since 1956, The Ivors celebrates the outstanding creation of music, and I’d like to say a huge congratulations to every nominee.”
The Best Contemporary Song category also has its own almost hidden gems, in terms of awards shows anyway; Russ Millions and Tion Wayne’s “Body”, James Blake’s “Coming Back”, FKA Twigs’ “Don’t Judge Me”, PinkPantheress’ “Just For Me”, and Inflo’s fourth and final nod with Little Simz’ “Sometimes I Might Be Introvert”. Slightly less interestingly, but arguably the most important award for the night, Songwriter of the Year throws in some particularly boring choices; Adele, Coldplay, Dave, Ed Sheeran, and RAYE. I thought the fact that Sheeran is still getting nominations for songwriting was a thing of the past. How foolish of me, he’s been nominated for 3 awards throughout the evening. Adele, and Little Simz also took 2 nominations.
