Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Speed and Glass Beams wave the flag for Australia at the 2025 Libera Awards, the US independent music community’s annual ceremony.
Cave’s Wild God (via Play It Again Sam) is shortlisted for alternative rock record, a category that also features albums by Being Dead, Kim Deal, Kim Gordon and Nada Surf.
Wild God, the alternative rock legends’ 18th studio album and first through PIAS, opened at No. 2 on the ARIA Chart, No. 5 on the Official U.K. Albums Chart, and No. 66 on the Billboard 200.
Cave and his crew are also nominated for the global award and best LP/LP at the 2025 Rolling Stone Australia Awards, set for April 9 at The Ivy, Sydney.
Glass Beams are enjoying a month to remember. Led by the enigmatic, masked Melbourne musician Rajan Silva, Glass Beams has struck a global publishing deal with Concord Music Publishing ANZ, and landed on the lineups for Glastonbury Festival in the UK and Lollapalooza in the US.
Glass Beams’ EP Mahal (Ninja Tune) is nominated for the Libera global award.
Speed races into the heavy record category with Only One Mode (FLATSPOT). The Sydney five piece is nominated in the Readers’ Choice category at the 2025 RS Awards.
Also, Future Classic’s release of Sophie’s posthumous, self-titled album is in the hunt for the dance award, and The Go-Betweens’ G Stands For Go-Betweens: Volume 3 (Domino Recording Company) is selected for creative packaging.
The Libera Awards are organised by FIM (The Foundation for Independent Music) and A2IM (The American Association of Independent Music, Inc.) and presented by Merlin, the independents’ digital agency.
“Huge congratulations to all the incredibly talented nominees for the 14th annual Libera Awards”, comments Dr. Richard James Burgess, president and CEO of A2IM.
“As the world’s largest awards show dedicated to the diverse and vibrant world of independent music, the Libera Awards honor both the artists and the industry that champion them.”
This year’s event, he promises, will be “our biggest and best yet, as A2IM proudly celebrates its 20th anniversary.”
The milestone ceremony will be hosted June 9 at Gotham Hall in New York, with MJ Lenderman, Waxahatchee, and Jessica Pratt among the leading artist nominees. As usual, the Libera Awards kick off the Indie Week conference.
