The Polaris Music Prize has revealed its 2021 short list, featuring the best Canadian albums of the last year. And the list is stacked.
The selection comes following the long list unveiled last month. A jury of Canadian journalists, broadcasters, and bloggers narrowed the list of 40 down to 10. The short list includes TOBi’s ELEMENTS Vol. 1 and The OBGMs’ The Ends, both of which cracked Complex Canada’s list of the Best Canadian Albums of 2020. Other notable albums that made the cut were Cadence Weapon’s Parallel World, DijahSB’s Head Above The Waters, and Mustafa’s When Smoke Rises.
“This year’s Short List is an excellent snapshot of artists on the genreless, limitless vanguard of Canadian music. Congratulations to the nominees, and thank you to our devoted community of jurors for their time and care spent crafting this list. After the year everyone’s had, we all could use a moment of reprieve. Consider this your invitation to give all 10 remarkable albums a generous spin,” said Polaris jury foreperson Melissa Vincent.
A grand jury will determine which album deserves the Polaris Music Prize, based solely on artistic merit, without consideration for genre or record sales. The winner will be announced on September 27.
The Polaris Music Prize will award $50,000 to the winner. The nine other short listed acts will each receive $3,000 courtesy of Slaight Music.
Check out the full 2021 Polaris Music Prize short list below.
Leanne Betasamosake Simpson – Theory of Ice
Cadence Weapon – Parallel World
DijahSB – Head Above The Waters
Dominique Fils-Aimé – Three Little Words
Mustafa – When Smoke Rises
The OBGMs – The Ends
Klô Pelgag – Notre-Dame-des-Sept-Douleurs
TOBi – Elements Vol. 1
The Weather Station – Ignorance
Zoon – Bleached Wavves
