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2025 Polaris Music Prize long list: Mustafa, Destroyer, Nemahsis and more
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The 2025 Polaris Music Prize long list, presented by Canada Council for the Arts, has been announced, with 40 albums from Canadian artists vying to be named the best album of the year.
This edition marks the 20th anniversary of the Polaris Music Prize, which has been awarded each year since 2006 to musicians including Feist, Kaytranada and two-time winner Jeremy Dutcher.
The past winners on this year's list include alt-rapper Backxwash, who won the prize in 2020, and producer/composer Caribou, who won in 2008. Rick White, as part of Eric's Trip, was also a Slaight Family Polaris Heritage Prize winner in 2017.
Several artists on the list have been previously shortlisted, such as Mustafa, Cold Specks, Destroyer, Basia Bulat, Kelly McMichael and Snotty Nose Rez Kids.
Sixteen first-timers made their debut on the list, among them Juno-winning pop singer Nemahsis, post-punk band Ribbon Skirt, alt-singer-songwriter Saya Gray, rapper Mike Shabb and more.
WATCH | Jeremy Dutcher performs live at the 2024 Polaris Music Prize gala:
To be eligible for the prize, the albums must have been released between April 1, 2024, and May 1, 2025. A jury of 205 members of the media (including CBC Music producers) assessed 189 albums for the long list, judging works based solely on artistic merit, with no consideration for genre, record sales or popularity.
The short list of 10 albums will be announced on July 10. The winner, who will receive a $30,000 grand prize, will be selected by a grand jury and announced during a live gala in Toronto on Sept. 16 at Massey Hall.
Check out this year's long list below:
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
