Shawn Mendes, Jessie Reyez and Snotty Nose Rez Kids make the Polaris long list

By David Friend, The Canadian Press

The latest albums from Shawn Mendes, Carly Rae Jepsen and Jessie Reyez have been longlisted for the Polaris Music Prize.

The juried award for best Canadian album of the year was narrowed down to 40 contenders who qualify for the short list, which will be revealed on July 16.

Other artists in the running include Haisla Nation rap duo Snotty Nose Rez Kids and Inuit pop singer Elisapie.

Projects from numerous Montreal artists made the long list, announced Thursday in Winnipeg. Among them are breakout electronic composer Marie Davidson, rapper Loud and classic soul-inspired singer Dominique Fils-Aimé.

Other buzzworthy musicians who picked up a nod include Hamilton rockers The Dirty Nil, Toronto punk band Pup, and rappers Shad and Clairmont The Second.

The Polaris Music Prize is awarded to the artist or group that created the best Canadian album of the previous year — irrespective of genre or sales — as chosen by a large team of journalists, broadcasters and bloggers. The long list was selected from 233 albums that made the first ballots.

Last year, the prize went to operatic tenor Jeremy Dutcher whose “Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa” melded his own voice with century-old recordings of people speaking the Wolastoq language. The album went on to win a Juno Award earlier this year.

The Polaris winner will be awarded $50,000 on Sept. 16 at a gala presentation held at Toronto’s Carlu, which will be webcast by CBC Music. The other short list nominees each receive $3,000.

 

Follow @dfriend on Twitter.

David Friend, The Canadian Press

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