2024 Polaris Music Prize long list: the Beaches, Tobi, Elisapie, Beverly Glenn-Copeland and more

The 2024 Polaris Music Prize long list is here.

Forty albums are vying for the chance to be considered the best Canadian album of the year — scroll down to view the entire list below. The Polaris Music Prize has been awarded every year since 2006; past winners include Kaytranada, Feist, Arcade Fire and Caribou. This year's longlisted albums were selected by a panel of 208 Canadian jurors (including several CBC Music producers). In total, 236 albums were put up for consideration. 

First-time nominees are always well-represented on the long list, and often first-timers go on to win the big prize (Haviah Mighty, Jeremy Dutcher, Debby Friday). This year, 35 per cent of the list is made up of artists who have never been nominated before, including the Beaches, Bambii, Talk and Haley Blais. 

Previous winners Dutcher (2018) and Karkwa (2010) are in the running once more. Never in Polaris Music Prize history has an artist won the award twice. 

Musicians from Ontario and Quebec have made up a similar percentage of the long list in year's past, but Quebec is pulling well ahead in 2024 with almost 48 per cent of the nominees. Ontario artists, including Allie X, Beverly Glenn-Copeland and DijahSB, make up 30 per cent of the list. The rest of the nominated artists hail from Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba and New Brunswick. There are no nominees from Prince Edward Island, Saskatchewan, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, the Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia or Nunavut. 

Last year's winner, Toronto-based singer and producer Debby Friday, took home the prize for her debut album Good Luck. 

Eligible albums must have been released between April 1, 2023, and May 1, 2024. Judging is based solely on artistic merit, with no consideration for genre or record sales.

The Polaris Music Prize top 10 short list will be announced on July 11. The winner, who will receive a $50,000 grand prize, will be chosen by a grand jury and revealed at a live gala event in Toronto on Sept. 17 at Massey Hall. 

Here are the 40 longlisted albums:

Allie X, Girl With No Face
Bambii, Infinity Club
Big|Brave, A Chaos of Flowers
The Beaches, Blame My Ex
Haley Blais, Wisecrack
Charlotte Cardin, 99 Nights
Beverly Glenn-Copeland, The Ones Ahead
Corridor, Mimi
Helena Deland, Goodnight Summerland
DijahSB, The Flower That Knew
Jeremy Dutcher, Motewolonuwok
Elisapie, Inuktitut
Annie-Claude Deschênes, Les Manières de table
Devours, Homecoming Queen
Ducks Ltd., Harm's Way
Dominique Fils-Aimé, Our Roots Run Deep
Shane Ghostkeeper, Songs For My People
Karkwa, Dans la seconde
Kaytraminé, Kaytraminé
Ken Mode, Void
La Force, XO Skeleton
La Sécurité, Stay Safe!
Cindy Lee, Diamond Jubilee
Sean Leon, In Loving Memory
Terra Lightfoot, Healing Power
Loony, Loony
Jon Mckiel, Hex
Myst Milano, Beyond the Uncanny Valley
Nobro, Set Your Pussy Free
Nyssa, Shake Me Where I'm Foolish
Pelada, Ahora Más Que Nunca
Peter Peter, Éther
Population II, Électrons libres du québec
Allison Russell, The Returner
Arielle Soucy, Il n'y a rien que je ne suis pas
Super Duty Tough Work, Paradigm Shift
Talk, Lord of the Flies & Birds & Bees
Teke::Teke, Hagata
Tobi, Panic
Tomb Mold, The Enduring Spirit