As mentioned on Pitchfork.net, the Polaris Music Prize, Canada’s annual prize honoring the best albums of the year, announced its shortlist today. The nominations include Alvvays, Feist, and Daniel Caesar. See the complete list of nominees below. The $50,000 grand prize winner will be announced on September 19 at Massey Hall in Toronto.

The nominees are chosen by a panel of 205 writers, programmers, and broadcasters who reviewed 221 albums and narrowed them down to a shortlist before today’s 10-album announcement. Last year, Pierre Kwenders received the award for his CD José Louis and the Paradox of Love.

The Polaris Music Prize is an annual music prize given to the best full-length Canadian album based on artistic quality, regardless of genre, sales, or record company. The award was created in 2006 with a $20,000 cash prize; for the 2011 award, the value was doubled to $30,000] The Polaris Music Prize was upped to $50,000 in May 2015, with an additional $20,000 funded by Slaight Music. Second-place awards for the nine other acts on the Short List have also raised from $2,000 to $3,000. Polaris also announced The Slaight Family Polaris Heritage Prize, which will “honor five albums from the five decades preceding Polaris’s launch in 2006.” The details of the selection process for this prize are yet to be released.

Polaris Music Prize Short List 2023

Alvvays – Blue Rev
Aysanabee – Watin
Begonia – Powder Blue
Dan Mangan – Being Somewhere
Daniel Caesar – Never Enough
Debby Friday – Good Luck
Feist – Multitudes
Gayance – Masquerade
The Sadies – Colder Streams
Snotty Nose Rez Kids – I’m Good, HBU?