Silver Scroll Goes to a Song Written Entirely in Samoan for the First Time

On October 14 in Auckland, a four-piece band called LEAO won New Zealand's top songwriting prize with a song written entirely in Gagana Samoa, the Samoan language. That has never happened before. The prize is 61 years old, so it has had plenty of chances.¹²

The song is called "LALELEI," and the prize is the 2026 APRA Silver Scroll Award.¹ LEAO is David Feauai-Afaese, Navakatoa Tekela-Pule, Levi Gemmell and Larsen Taylor, a Pacific neo-psychedelia group. (Neo-psychedelia is a modern take on dreamy, swirling psychedelic rock. Think less "pass the lava lamp" and more "pass the reverb pedal.")³

Here's the part that should worry every other band: this was LEAO's first time as finalists.⁴ Most people need more than one try to pass a driving test. LEAO showed up once and took home the national songwriting prize.

A Love Song Addressed to a Whole Country

"LALELEI" celebrates aiga ma atunu'u, which means family and homeland. It explores distance, yearning and a commitment to fa'asamoa, the Samoan way of life.¹³

Feauai-Afaese has described it as a tribute to Samoa and to all the bands who have built Samoan pop music over the years.¹ In other words, it's a thank-you note, and it happens to have a great chorus.

As he put it to Rolling Stone, in comments reported by RNZ:

"lyrically, there's nothing more iconic in Samoan songwriting than writing a song dedicated to Samoa"

The song was already making history before the envelope opened. When finalists were announced, "LALELEI" became the first song written and performed entirely in gagana Samoa to reach the top five.⁴⁶ Then it went ahead and finished the job.

Judged by the Toughest Crowd in Town

The Silver Scroll isn't decided by sales, streams or a panel of critics in thoughtful scarves. It's voted on by APRA members, roughly 10,000 songwriters, and they judge on artistic merit alone.⁷

That matters. Winning a vote of 10,000 songwriters means impressing people who know exactly how hard it is to rhyme anything, and who have strong feelings about a good bridge (the musical kind, not the kind with traffic).

LEAO beat a strong field: Troy Kingi and MĀ ("Afters"), Aldous Harding ("One Stop"), Deva Mahal and Chris Wethey ("Someone's Daughter") and Fazed on a Pony, whose song "Wrong Party" is, as a title, extremely relatable.⁴⁷

Anthony Healey, head of APRA AMCOS Aotearoa, said of the finalists: "They remind us of the depth, diversity and heart of New Zealand music, and the extraordinary people who bring it to life."⁷

A 100th Birthday Party With Six Trophies

The ceremony took place at the Kiri Te Kanawa Theatre in Auckland's Aotea Centre. It handed out six major awards and marked APRA's 100th anniversary.²³ Most centenarians celebrate with cake. APRA celebrated by staying up late and giving out prizes, which is frankly the better plan.

Neil Finn presented the Silver Scroll.³ "LALELEI" was performed on the night by A.R.T., a vocal trio based in Pōneke (Wellington), so LEAO got to sit back and hear their own song sung to them.³ That is the music-award version of someone else doing the dishes.

The night had another first, too. This year's awards introduced a brand-new Kapa Haka Songwriting Award.⁴⁵

So APRA's second century starts with a new category and a winning song in a language the top prize had never honored before. As for LEAO, they now face the problem every first-time winner faces: four band members and one award.