Five New Zealand acts have made the shortlist for the 2016 APRA Silver Scroll Award, recognising excellence in songwriting.

Tami Neilson is back in this year’s list of finalists with ‘The First Man’ co-written with her brother Jay Neilson. It’s a heartbreaking song that reflects on the death of her father, written at a time of deep pain and grief, and yet also written out of deep love and celebration that narrates the time between a child’s life beginning to a parent’s life ending.

The Phoenix Foundation (Samuel Scott, Lukasz Buda, Conrad Wedde, William Ricketts, Thomas Callwood, Christopher O'Connor) also make this year’s cut. ‘Give Up Your Dreams’, is an uplifting nod to the fine line between chucking it all in and soldiering on with a great big smile on your face.

Auckland singer-songwriter Lydia Cole is also up for the award with her song ‘Dream’. It’s a bittersweet two-part tale all about falling in love when you least expect it.

Thomas Oliver is a first-time nominee with his love song ‘If I Move To Mars’, which explores the Wellington singer-songwriter’s fascination with the idea of living on the red planet with your lover.

Also newcomers to the Top 5 are Street Chant (Emily Littler, Billie Rogers, Alex Brown, Christopher Farnham) with their song ‘Pedestrian Support League’. The indie-rockers’ song is loosely about life in their hometown of Auckland and that feeling you get when you return from life on the road, to a crummy flat in Grey Lynn.

We wish them all the best.