The Polaris Music Prize revealed its 40-album long list on Tuesday, made up of artists both emerging and established, and spanning a wide range of styles and genres.
Among the artists in the running for the $30,000 prize are previous winners Caribou and Backxwash,16 first-time nominees and a long selection of ɫɫ artists, includingMustafa, Cold Specks, Nemahsis, Saya Gray, Basia Bulat and Bells Larsen.
Other notable acts making the list are Vancouver songwriter Destroyer, Montreal dream pop band Men I Trust, Indigenous rap duo Snotty Nose Rez Kids and folk artist Donovan Woods.
The long list was selected by a jury of 205 music writers and critics (including the author of this article) on the basis of artistic merit from a list of 189 albums. A short list of 10 albums will be revealed later this summer, and a winner will be crowned at the Polaris Award Ceremony on Sept. 16.
The Polaris Prize, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, is widely seen as the most prestigious music award in Canada. Between 2015 and 2024, the prize amount was $50,000.
Last year, Wolastoqiyik singerJeremy Dutcherwon the prize for his album “Motewolonuwok,” making him the first artist in Polaris history to win the prize twice. ɫɫ electronic artist Debby Friday won the prize in 2023.
The Polaris prize shared its long list at an event held at Paradise Wine Bar in ɫɫ’s west end. The organization also announced the creation of the SOCAN Polaris Song Prize, a new category that will determine the best Canadian song of the year,based on artistic merit, without regard to musical genre or commercial popularity. The winner of the song prizewill receive $10,000 split between the song’s Canadian performers and the song’s credited Canadian songwriter(s) courtesy of SOCAN.
A long list and a short list for the new category will announced later this summer, with the winner being announced alongside the Polaris Prize on Sept. 16.
Organizers also announced the first ever Polaris Festival, a month-long series of events featuring salons, listening parties, concerts and more. “The aim is to spotlight as many of our 600-plus past nominees as possible while reaching new audiences through expanded programming and diverse venues,” according to a Polaris press release.
Art for the 40 albums on the Polaris Music Prize long list.
Polaris Music PrizeA closer look at ɫɫ artists in the running
Singer-songwriter and poet Mustafa is nominated for his 2024 LP “Dunya.” The album blends North American folk with traditional Middle Eastern music, andgrapples with questions of faith and rootedness. From the Star’s profile:
“Dunya” is a triumphant articulation of Mustafa’s vision, which he once described as “inner-city folk music.” Written and recorded in locales around the world, the album seamlessly fuses North American folk music with sweeping Sudanese strings, Egyptian oud and pulsing flamenco rhythms. Anchored by Mustafa’s aching baritone, each song is delicately adorned with flashes of hip-hop production and subtle electronic flourishes …
Across 12 songs, Mustafa introduces listeners to a host of characters — childhood friends, overseas cousins — each a finely drawn portrait of contrasts and multitudes, of the impossible distance between a hometown and a homeland, of the tension between the ܲԲ and al-Ā.
The songwriter and poet from Regent Park grapples with questions of faith and rootedness on
“Doom-soul” singer Cold Specks is nominated for “Light for the Midnight,” her first album since Ladan Hussein’s career was derailed by mental illness nearly a decade ago. From the Star’s profile:
“Light for the Midnight”is an extraordinary comeback album, one that sublimates pain and inner turmoil into a work of breathtaking beauty. Written and meticulously assembled alongside an impressive list of songwriters and session musicians — including composer Owen Pallett and Portishead guitarist Adrian Utley — the album moves between stripped-back piano ballads and potent rock songs.
It’s an album about loss and separation, and an attempt to put the pieces back together following an intense breakup and series of mental health crises.
Released nearly eight years after mental illness derailed her career, “Light for the Midnight”
Folk singer Bells Larsen is nominated for “Blurring Time,” a unique album that was recorded both during and after the artist’s gender transition. From the Star’s profile:
By the time he wrote the album’s last track, “Might,” Larsen had decided to start taking testosterone. He knew that his voice would change, but rather than recording the entire album in one register or the other, he opted for both. In 2022, he used his higher voice. After beginning testosterone, he recorded the vocals again, harmonizing with himself. The result is a richly layered, folk-forward album whose approach feels peerless …
“Blurring Time” communicates a sort of homecoming — an arrival-to-self that can only be mined from periods of great uncertainty, which can result in what Larsen refers to as “good grief.”
On “Blurring Time,” the artist harmonizes with himself inan uncommon way.
Pop experimentalist Saya Gray is nominated for album “Saya,” a sonically dense album filled with quirky production and big hooks. From the Star’s profile:
When it comes to an album’s narrative, heartbreak is often the knee-jerk interpretation favoured by critics and listeners. While this theme is central to “Saya,” the record has another dimension that goes even deeper for the Japanese Canadian artist.
In her mission to heal, Gray sought to understand and break toxic patterns by digging into her family’s history. In so doing, she learned that her great-grandmother was a performer during Japan’s Edo period — a military dictatorship — in the 1800s and was married to a “horrible” multimillionaire with five wives.
Musician Saya Gray talks about creating her sonically dense new album, “Saya.”
Nemahsis
Palestinian-Canadian singerNemahsis is nominated for her debut album “Verbathim.” The young pop singer recently won the Juno for breakthrough artist of the year — a majorvictory lap for an artist who was dropped by an (unnamed) label for “for being pro-Palestine,” forcing her to release her debut as an independent artist.
“This is dedicated to all the hijabis,”Nemahsis said after accepting the award. “I’ve been wearing a hijab for 20-plus years and all I ever wanted was to turn on Family Channel or YTV and see someone who looks like me. I didn’t think it would take this long and I didn’t think I would be the one to do it, but I’m happy it got to this as a fully independent Palestinian-Canadian Muslim woman.”
“We’re the greatest nation on earth and we’e not for sale,” said host Michael Bublé, setting the
Full list of 40 albums on the long list
- Art d’Ecco, “Serene Demon”
- Backxwash, “Only Dust Remains”
- Quinton Barnes, “Code Noir”
- Bibi Club, “Feu de garde”
- Basia Bulat, “Basia’s Palace”
- Caribou, “Honey”
- Lou-Adriane Cassidy, “Journal d’un Loup-Garou”
- Choses Sauvages, “Choses Sauvages III”
- Cold Specks, “Light for the Midnight”
- Antoine Corriveau, “Oiseau de Nuit”
- Marie Davidson, “City of Clowns”
- Destroyer, “Dan’s Boogie”
- Myriam Gendron, “Mayday”
- Gloin, “All of your anger is actually shame (and I bet that makes you angry)”
- Saya Gray, “Saya”
- Hildegard, “Jour 1596”
- Yves Jarvis, “All Cylinders”
- Kaia Kater, “Strange Medicine”
- Bells Larsen, “Blurring Time”
- Richard Laviolette, “All Wild Things Are Shy”
- Wyatt C. Louis, “Chandler”
- Kelly McMichael, “After the Sting of It”
- Men I Trust, “Equus Asinus”
- Mustafa, “Dunya”
- N Nao, “Nouveau langage”
- Nemahsis, “Verbathim”
- Eliza Niemi, “Progress Bakery”
- The OBGMs, “Sorry, It’s Over”
- Dorothea Paas, “Think of Mist”
- Klô Pelgag, “Abracadabra”
- Population II, “Maintenant Jamais”
- Ribbon Skirt, “Bite Down”
- Ariane Roy, “Dogue”
- Mike Shabb, “Sewaside III”
- Sister Ray, “Believer”
- Snotty Nose Rez Kids, “Red Future”
- The Weather Station, “Humanhood”
- Rick White and the Sadies, “Rick White and the Sadies”
- Donovan Woods, “Things Were Never Good If They’re Not Good Now”
- Yoo Doo Right, “From the Heights of Our Pastureland”
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