Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker wins APRA Music Awards for writing Dua Lipa’s hit song Houdini

Kevin Parker says winning two awards for writing a pop anthem by Dua Lipa is one of the proudest moments from his 20-year music career.

The psychedelic mastermind behind Fremantle’s Tame Impala was honoured at the APRA Awards in Melbourne on Wednesday night, where he snapped up the most performed Australian work and most performed pop work awards for global hit Houdini.

The event is a celebration of Australia’s finest songwriters honouring those who have achieved artistic excellence and outstanding success in their fields.

The Sydney-born but Perth-raised star couldn’t make it to the ceremony but said via a pre-recorded acceptance speech: “Thank you for my award for Houdini. I had so much fun making it and writing it, and we are super, super proud of what we came out with.

“I think it might be one of my most proud moments, in songwriting, and, collaborating. So, yeah. Thank you. Appreciate it.”

As well as co-writing the tune with Lipa and a few other talents, Parker played bass on the song and contributed backing vocals.

Houdini is the second track on Lipa’s third studio album, Radical Optimism, which was released in May last year.

Parker co-wrote seven songs and co-produced the album alongside Danny L Harle, Ian Kirkpatrick, and Andrew Wyatt.

Last year, the 39-year-old shared some insight about Lipa’s working process, labelling her a “meticulous” editor.

“Her editing is brutal,” Parker says, revealing Houdini took months to get right.

“I’d kind of recoil in horror and go, ‘Oh, no, it’s a great verse!’

“But then an hour later, we’d have something that I can’t imagine not being in the song.”

Lipa has also spoken out about working with Parker, saying it has always been a “dream collaboration”.

“I’ve always looked up to him as someone that I’m really inspired by, and he has always been on my dream board of people to work with,” she told Triple J.

It seems the musical duo works just as well on stage together as they do in the recording studio.

During Lipa’s Glastonbury Festival in June last year, the Londoner brought Parker out for a duet of his 2015 song The Less I Know The Better.

They also performed together at a concert in Sydney while on her Radical Optimism tour.

Perth band Coterie also won big, taking home the award for most performed alternative work.

Brothers Tyler, Joshua, Brandford and Conrad Fisher were born in New Zealand but grew up in Perth, where they formed the indie band in 2016.

Other notable wins included Troye Sivan receiving an award for songwriter of the year and Kylie Minogue recognised with the Ted Albert Award for outstanding service to Australian music.

Minogue couldn’t accept the award in person due to her upcoming concert in LA but said her “17-year-old me would not be able to compute the life that music has given me”.

“This is such an honour. I am completely over the moon. I’m only sad that I’m not with you in person. If I was with you in person, we would all be celebrating together. But I am celebrating here on tour,” she said via a pre-recorded speech.

“I mean, we all know it’s work. You work for it. But I feel like whatever we give and whatever it might take from us, we receive more.

“And as I’m on tour at the moment, I’m singing songs throughout my entire catalogue. So, from the first one, The Locomotion, right up to songs from Tension. And I’m really aware of, I guess, the passage of time and how much more music means to me.

“I do have some family there tonight to accept the award on my behalf, so behave. I’ll be checking in on you.”