Polaris Prize longlist taps Corb Lund, Tegan and Sara

International hit duo Tegan and Sara and Toronto synth-rockers Metric are among the 40 artists nominated for the Polaris Prize, a $30,000 award that aims to tap the best Canadian album of the last year.

The nominees on the eclectic list range from Calgary's Tegan and Sara to Ottawa hip hoppers A Tribe Called Red to Nova Scotia banjo player Old Man Luedecke.

Vancouver's Hannah Georgas brings pop rock, Lindi Ortega offers jazz and Corb Lund adds country to the long list.

Modelled on Britain’s trend-making Mercury Prize, the Polaris is chosen by a jury of music critics and and industry representatives, who celebrate the year’s best album, without regard to music sales or genre.

Past winners have included Feist (2012), Arcade Fire (2011), Karkwa (2010), F--ked Up (2009), Caribou (2008), Patrick Watson (2007) and Final Fantasy (2006).

This year’s nominees are:

• A Tribe Called Red, Nation II Nation.
• Alaclair Ensemble, Les maigres blancs d'Amérique du Noir.
• ANCIIENTS, Heart of Oak.
• The Besnard Lakes, Until In Excess, Imperceptible UFO.
• Louis-Jean Cormier, Le Treizième Étage.
• Daphni, JIAOLONG.
• Mac DeMarco, 2.
• Evening Hymns, Spectral Dusk.
• Hannah Georgas, Hannah Georgas.
• Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend!
• Chilly Gonzales, Solo Piano II.
• Jim Guthrie, Takes Time.
• Hayden, Us Alone.
• Zaki Ibrahim, Every Opposite.
• KEN mode, Entrench.
• Kid Koala, 12 Bit Blues.
• Kobo Town, Jumbie in the Jukebox.
• Pierre Lapointe, Punkt.
• Lee Harvey Osmond, The Folk Sinner.
• Les soeurs Boulay, Le poids des confettis.
• Corb Lund, Cabin Fever.
• The Luyas, Animator.
• Majical Cloudz, Impersonator.
• Metric, Synthetica.
• METZ, METZ.
• Danny Michel with the Garifuna Collective, Black Birds Are Dancing Over Me.
• AC Newman, Shut Down The Streets.
• Old Man Luedecke, Tender is The Night.
• Lindi Ortega, Cigarettes & Truckstops.
• Peter Peter, Une version améliorée de la tristesse.
• Purity Ring, Shrines.
• Rah Rah, The Poet's Dead.
• Rhye, Woman.
• Daniel Romano, Come Cry With Me.
• Colin Stetson, New History Warfare Vol. 3: To See More Light.
• Suuns, Images du futur.
• Tegan and Sara, Heartthrob.
• Al Tuck, Stranger at the Wake.
• Whitehorse, The Fate of the World Depends On This Kiss 
• Young Galaxy, Ultramarine.

Of the 40 longlisted artists, 16 are past nominees for their own work or as contributors to another act, including Louis-Jean Cormier, frontman of former winner Karkwa, and Daphni, which shares members with Caribou.

The Polaris Prize short list will be announced July 16 in Toronto. The Polaris gala revealing the winner will be held on Sept. 23 at The Carlu in Toronto.