Bibi Club, Les Louanges, Angine de Poitrine among 10 finalists for 2026 Polaris Prize
The annual award celebrating Canada's most artistically significant album includes three Quebec artists. The Polaris Prize ceremony takes place September 22 at Toronto's Massey Hall.
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Three Quebec artists have been named finalists for the 2026 Polaris Prize, which since 2006 has celebrated "the album most significant from an artistic standpoint" in Canada each year.
Bibi Club's third album Amaro, released in February, is a bilingual exercise in half-tinted electronic pop featuring Adèle Trottier-Rivard and Nicolas Basque. The duo was also a finalist last year. Les Louanges—the project of Vincent Roberge from Quebec City—earned its spot with Alouette!, released earlier this year. Roberge previously appeared on the shortlist in 2019. Angine de Poitrine, whose members Khn and Klek made history by drawing the largest crowd of any Quebec group at the Festival international de jazz de Montréal, is on the list for their album Vol. II.
Six of the 10 finalists are led by women, including Inuit artist Tanya Tagaq, who won the Polaris Prize in 2014 for her album Animism. Other female-led projects include folk-rock artist Charlotte Cornfield from Toronto (Hurts Like Hell), Winnipeg-based indie-pop musician Begonia, also known as Alexa Dirks (Fantasy Life), Toronto alt-r&b artist Rochelle Jordan (Through the Wall), and experimental artist Peaches (No Lube So Rude).
The complete list rounds out with r&b/rap musician Aquakultre (1783) from Halifax and 82-year-old art-pop and ambient composer Beverly Glenn-Copeland (Laughter in Summer), the oldest candidate in the prize's history. Last year's winner was Quebec's Yves Jarvis for All Cylinders.
The Polaris Prize ceremony will be held September 22 at Massey Hall in Toronto.
