The Polaris Music Prize Long List was revealed, and it includes “obvious” picks like Drake, Justin Bieber, and The Weeknd, along with a few newbies and some tried-and-true mainstays.
Presented by CBC Music and produced by Blue Ant Media, the 40 Long List albums were unveiled at the Yukon Transportation Museum in Whitehorse, Yukon in association with the Yukon Film & Sound Commission and the assistance of Music Yukon.
Here is the 2016 Polaris Music Prize Long List:
Art Bergmann — The Apostate
Justin Bieber — Purpose
Black Mountain — IV
Jean-Michel Blais — II
Basia Bulat — Good Advice
Daniel Caesar — Pilgrim’s Paradise
Tanika Charles — Soul Run
City and Colour — If I Should Go Before You
Coeur de pirate — Roses
Dead Obies — Gesamtkunstwerk
Destroyer — Poison Season
Dilly Dally — Sore
Drake — VIEWS
Essaie pas — Demain est une autre nuit
Fred Fortin — Ultramarr
FOXTROTT — A Taller Us
Grimes — Art Angels
Half Moon Run — Sun Leads Me On
Veda Hille — Love Waves
Jazz Cartier — Hotel Paranoia
Carly Rae Jepsen — E•MO•TION
Junior Boys — Big Black Coat
Kaytranada — 99.90%
Jessy Lanza — Oh No
Majid Jordan — Majid Jordan
Michelle McAdorey — Into Her Future
Nap Eyes — Thought Rock Fish Scale
Safia Nolin — Limoilou
Operators — Blue Wave
Peaches — Rub
PUP — The Dream Is Over
Daniel Romano — Mosey
Andy Shauf — The Party
The Strumbellas — HOPE
Suuns — Hold/Still
U.S. Girls — Half Free
Un Blonde — Good Will Come To You
The Weeknd — Beauty Behind the Madness
White Lung — Paradise
Donovan Woods — Hard Settle, Ain’t Troubled
In all, 183 titles made the first ballots of the 192-member jury.
This year’s Long List features 19 returning and 21 new nominees. With their newest nominations, Basia Bulat (2008, 2010, 2014, 2016) and Drake (2012, 2014, 2015, 2016) now join The New Pornographers, Joel Plaskett and Patrick Watson as the only acts who’ve ever been Polaris-nominated on four separate occasions. This is the third time Black Mountain, Coeur de pirate, Destroyer, Junior Boys, Daniel Romano and The Weeknd have had Polaris-nominated albums.
