Another year, another Polaris Music Prize long list. Nominees for the best full-length Canadian album make it into this list based on artistic merit, regardless of genre, sales, or record label. In total, 204 albums released between May 1, 2020 and May 31, 2021 were examined by a jury of 199 Canadian journalists, broadcasters, and bloggers.
Last year’s Polaris went to Montreal-based, Zambia-born artist Backxwash for her record God Has Nothing to Do With This Leave Him Out Of It. Previous winners include some prominent musicians like Lido Pimienta, Caribou, Feist, Tanya Tagaq, Kaytranada, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Fucked Up, Arcade Fire, and Haviah Mighty.
Some of the notable 2021 nominees include Brampton’s TOBi, who just won the Juno Award for Rap Recording of the Year, as well as Regent Park folk hero Mustafa and buzzing Toronto rapper DijahSB. U2 producer Daniel Lanois, Montreal singer Charlotte Cardin, and R&B Juno winner Savannah Ré also made the cut. The list currently consists of the top 40 Canadian albums, which will later be whittled down to 10 records on July 15.
Check out the 2021 Polaris Music Prize Long List below:
Art Bergmann – Late Stage Empire Dementia
Bernice – Eau De Bonjourno
The Besnard Lakes – The Besnard Lakes Are The Last of the Great Thunderstorm Warnings
Leanne Betasamosake Simpson – Theory of Ice
BIG|BRAVE – Vital
Cadence Weapon – Parallel World
Charlotte Cardin – Phoenix
CFCF – memoryland
Clairmont The Second – IT’S NOT HOW IT SOUNDS
Helena Deland – Someone New
DijahSB – Head Above The Waters
Kathleen Edwards – Total Freedom
Dominique Fils-Aimé – Three Little Words
Fiver with the Atlantic School of Spontaneous Composition – Fiver with the Atlantic School of Spontaneous Composition
Thanya Iyer – KIND
Yves Jarvis – Sundry Rock Song Stock
Rochelle Jordan – Play With the Changes
LAL – Meteors Could Come Down
Daniel Lanois – Heavy Sun
Thierry Larose – Cantalou
Russell Louder – Humor
Elliot Maginot – Easy Morning
Mustafa – When Smoke Rises
Laura Niquay – Waska Matisiwin
Nyssa – Girls Like Me
The OBGMs – The Ends
Dorothea Paas – Anything Can’t Happen
Klô Pelgag – Notre-Dame-des-Sept-Douleurs
Savannah Ré – Opia
Allison Russell – Outside Child
Julien Sagot – Sagot
Sargeant X Comrade – Magic Radio
Shabason, Krgovich & Harris – Philadelphia
Yu Su – Yellow River Blue
Julian Taylor – The Ridge
TEKE::TEKE – Shirushi
TOBi – ELEMENTS Vol.1
Vagina Witchcraft – Vagina Witchcraft
The Weather Station – Ignorance
Zoon – Bleached Wavves
