Polaris Music Prize longlist prediction 2019

-->

Marie Davidson – Working Class Woman

Every year I attempt to predict the Polaris Music Prize long list, based on past juror behaviour, current conversations among jurors, and entirely subjective intuition. Usually I get about 30/40 correct. This year I won’t bother with the longest end of the tail and focus on the 35 I’m almost certain we’ll see when the list is announced next Thursday, June 20. These are records I believe have broad juror appeal beyond the usual confines of genre and geography. 

There's about 20 records that might fill the five empty spots I've omitted below; I won't bore you with those, I will say only three of them have any real name recognition—and none of them are the Arkells. I expect that, for most people, this year's Polaris pool will be rich for discovery. 

(Apologies in advance to anyone who sees themselves on this list and not the real one next week.)

In alphabetical order, by artist:

Akua – Them Spirits

Black Mountain – Destroyer

Tanika Charles – The Gumption

Clairmont the Second – Do You Drive?

Marie Davidson – Working Class Woman

Digawolf – Yellowstone

Elisapie – The Ballad of the Runaway Girl

Fet.Nat – Le Mal

Dominique Fils-Aimé – Stay Tuned

Fucked Up – Dose Your Dreams

Haviah Mighty – 13^th Floor

Yves Jarvis – The Same But By Different Means

Jayda G – Significant Changes

Carly Rae Jepsen – Dedicated

Kaia Kater – Grenades

Kimmortal – X Marks the Swirl

La Force – s/t

LAL – Dark Beings

Laurence-Anne – Premiere Apparition

Salomé Leclerc – Les choses exterieures

Lee Harvey Osmond – Mohawk

Murray Lightburn – Hear Me Out

Les Louanges – Le nuit est une panthere

Loud – Tout ça pour ça

Motherhood – Dear Bongo

Doug Paisley – Starter Home

Orville Peck – Pony

Pup – Morbid Stuff

Jesse Reyez – Being Human in Public

Shad – A Short Story About War

Snotty Nose Rez Kids – Trapline

Alexandra Stréliski – Inscape

Sydanie – 999

Voivod – The Wake

Hawksley Workman – Median Age Wasteland

Prediction for eventual shortlist, assuming all of the above make the longlist:

Marie Davidson – Working Class Woman

Fucked Up – Dose Your Dreams

Haviah Mighty – 13^th Floor

Carly Rae Jepsen – Dedicated

Kimmortal – X Marks the Swirl

Orville Peck – Pony

Pup – Morbid Stuff

Shad – A Short Story About War

Snotty Nose Rez Kids – Trapline

Alexandra Stréliski – Inscape

Not that I want to jinx anything, but prediction for eventual winner:

Snotty Nose Rez Kids – Trapline

This record is as musically and lyrically strong as it is timely. It gets better every time I put it on. Prime Polaris bait, right here. If they do win, they’d be the first straight-up hip-hop act to do so (some heads questioned Kaytranada), and the Kitimaat duo would be the first Polaris champ from west of… Cambridge Bay, Nunavut. (Unless you count Saskatchewan-born, Boston-raised Hawaii resident Buffy Sainte-Marie.)

The long list will be announced in Winnipeg on Thursday, June 20, at 11 a.m. local time (noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific, 1 p.m. Atlantic), and broadcast on the official FB page.