The shortlist has been announced for this year’s Polaris Music Prize, the award which is given annually to whichever full-length Canadian album is judged to be the ‘best’. The award, which ‘honours, celebrates and rewards creativity and diversity in Canadian music’ is given based on artistic merit, regardless of sales figures, genre or record label. Established in 2006 and modelled after the UK’s Mercury Music Prize, over the past 5 years the prize has seen Final Fantasy, Patrick Watson, Caribou, Fucked Up, Karkwa and Arcade Fire all receive the accolade and the prize money that comes with it (originally $20,000 but increased to $30,000 last year).
This year’s shortlist is as follows:
Cadence Weapon — Hope In Dirt City
Cold Specks — I Predict A Graceful Expulsion
Drake — Take Care
Kathleen Edwards — Voyageur
Feist — Metals
Fucked Up — David Comes To Life
Grimes — Visions
Handsome Furs — Sound Kapital
Japandroids — Celebration Rock
YAMANTAKA // SONIC TITAN — YT//ST
The winner will be announced on September 24th. More information is available at the Polaris Prize website.
