Wet Leg have been named songwriters of the year at 2023’s Ivor Novello awards, which honour the best in British songwriting and screen composition and which have also recognised artists including Sault, Charli XCX and Harry Styles this year.
Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers, the duo who front indie rockers Wet Leg, were hailed by the Ivors judges for songwriting that was “fresh, unapologetic and direct, with surprising melodies that demand attention”.
The pair’s rise has been one of the most meteoric in recent British music history: totally unknown prior to their debut single Chaise Longue, the song’s insistently catchy chants and riffs wowed indie and pop fans alike. Early festival gigs drew raucously overstuffed crowds, and a string of equally loved songs – Wet Dream, Angelica, Ur Mum and more – carried their self-titled debut album to a UK No 1, as well as a No 1 in Australia and a place in the US Top 20.
Their Ivors win is the latest in a series of garlands this year, adding to two Brit awards and – a real rarity for an alternative British act – two Grammys. “The real wins are when you do a good gig or when you make a good song,” Teasdale told the Guardian in December 2022. “That is why you’re doing it, not for these awards, these mysterious overlords.”
Hugely acclaimed neo-soul outfit Sault won the Ivor Novellos’ best album award for 11, one of the five albums the group released simultaneously last November, written by Dean “Inflo” Josiah Cover, Cleopatra Nikolic (AKA soul singer Cleo Sol), Jamar McNaughton and Jack Peñate. The win marks Inflo’s fourth Ivor Novello award since 2017, having previously won for work with Michael Kiwanuka and Little Simz.
The visionary award was given to Charli XCX, “in recognition of the massive impact her musical vision has made on her fellow songwriters” – her knowingly glossy hyperpop sound, pairing classic songwriting with chaotic experimentation, has placed her at pop’s vanguard in recent years. Last year, she released Crash, the final album on the major-label contract she had been signed to since she was 16.
Pop singer Raye – along with guest rapper 070 Shake and producer Mike Sabath – won best contemporary song for Escapism, which Raye performed live at the ceremony. The track, which found huge success after going viral on TikTok, marked the singer’s first No 1 single in the UK, was certified platinum and reached the US Top 30 – a satisfying victory for Raye after a period of stasis in a major label contract she eventually extricated herself from. The judges described the song, the story of a drunken night out to escape feelings of heartbreak, as “daring, brave and empowering songwriting”.
Harry Styles, Kid Harpoon and Tyler Johnson won for most performed work: Styles’ hit As It Was became the biggest song in the UK last year. It’s the second time Styles has received the award, and it is his third Ivor Novello award overall – he also won songwriter of the year in 2021.
In total, 30 songwriters and composers collected Ivor Novello awards across 14 categories at the ceremony at London’s Grosvenor House on Thursday.
Best song musically and lyrically went to King by Florence + the Machine, which contemplates Florence Welch’s own experiences of the tension between one’s career and the prospect of starting a family, as well as the gender expectations placed on women.
Breakout act Victoria Canal became the fourth consecutive female songwriter to win the rising star award since it was introduced in 2020. The judges complimented her “powerful songwriting and compelling sound”.
With more than 40m records sold worldwide, a special international award celebrated the formidable career and influence of Blondie’s Debbie Harry and Chris Stein. The group emerged from New York’s new wave scene in the mid-70s, before going on to release some of the biggest hits of the decade, including Heart of Glass, Atomic and One Way or Another. The former track was performed at the awards by rising indie folk artist Matilda Mann.
Sting received the fellowship of the Ivors Academy, the highest honour the Academy bestows, in recognition of his accomplished songwriting career. As frontman of the Police and as a solo artist, he has sold more than 100m albums; he performed the band’s 1979 single Message in a Bottle at the ceremony. Sting has previously won seven Ivor Novello awards, including the lifetime achievement award in 2022, and will now join the likes of Sir Paul McCartney and Kate Bush in the list of fellows. The Mancunian band James were given the PRS for Music icon award.
John Powell won the award for best original film score for his work on Don’t Worry Darling, which starred fellow Ivor Novello recipient Harry Styles, Hannah Peel won best television soundtrack for her work on The Midwich Cuckoos, and Gareth Coker, Grant Kirkhope and Yoko Shimomura claimed best original video game score for Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope.
Songwriter Kamille was awarded outstanding song collection for her body of work which includes collaborations with Little Mix, Dua Lipa and the Saturdays.
Tom Gray, chair of the Ivors Academy, congratulated the winners: “When we choose to reward one of our number, when we recognise and validate their work, we are saying that as an Ivor Novello award winner, you represent the very best of us.”
