The Polaris Prize is one of the biggest honors in Canadian music, as the award is given annually to the year’s best Canadian album. Today, the long list for this year’s prize has been revealed, and among the headlining albums are releases by Andy Shauf, Caribou, Daniel Caesar, Dvsn, Kaytranada, Jessie Reyez, US Girls, and The Weeknd.
In total, 40 albums made the long list. This selection was pared down from 223 albums that were considered. The long list will be further truncated when the 10-album short list is announced on July 15.
Of the aforementioned artists, previous winners include Caribou (who won in 2008 for Andorra) and Kaytranada (2016, 99.9%). Previously making the shortlist are Caribou (2010, Swim; 2015, Our Love), US Girls (2016, Half Free; 2018, In A Poem Unlimited), The Weeknd (2011, House Of Balloons), Shauf (2016, The Party), Caesar (2018, Freudian), and Reyez (2019, Being A Human In Public).
Check out the full 2020 long list below.
Allie X — Cape God
Anachnid — Dreamweaver
Aquakultre — Legacy
Marie-Pierre Arthur — Des feux pour voir
Backxwash — God Has Nothing To Do With This Leave Him Out Of It
Badge Époque Ensemble — Badge Époque Ensemble
Begonia — Fear
P’tit Belliveau — Greatest Hits Vol. 1
Caribou — Suddenly
Daniel Caesar — Case Study 01
Chocolat — Jazz engagé
Louis-Jean Cormier — Quand la nuit tombe
Corridor — Junior
Dvsn — A Muse In Her Feelings
Jacques Greene — Dawn Chorus
Sarah Harmer — Are You Gone
Ice Cream — Fed Up
Junia-T — Studio Monk
Kaytranada — Bubba
Flore Laurentienne — Volume 1
Cindy Lee — What’s Tonight To Eternity?
Men I Trust — Oncle Jazz
Nêhiyawak — Nipiy
OBUXUM — Re-Birth
Owen Pallett — Island
Pantayo — Pantayo
Lido Pimienta — Miss Colombia
Joel Plaskett — 44
William Prince — Reliever
Jessie Reyez — Before Love Came To Kill Us
Andy Shauf — The Neon Skyline
Riit — Ataataga
Super Duty Tough Work — Studies In Grey
US Girls — Heavy Light
Leif Vollebekk — New Ways
Wares — Survival
The Weeknd — After Hours
WHOOP-Szo — Warrior Down
Witch Prophet — DNA Activation
Zen Bamboo — GLU
