Arcade Fire is a Canadian indie rock band from Montréal, Quebec, consisting of husband and wife Win Butler and Régine Chassagne, alongside Richard Reed Parry, Tim Kingsbury and Jeremy Gara. The band's current touring line-up also includes former core member Sarah Neufeld and multi-instrumentalists Paul Beaubrun, Dan Boeckner and Eric Heigle. Each of the band's studio albums features contributions from composer and violinist Owen Pallett.
Michael James Owen Pallett is a Canadian composer, violinist, keyboardist, and vocalist. Under their erstwhile moniker of Final Fantasy, Pallett won the 2006 Polaris Music Prize for the album He Poos Clouds. Pallett is also known for their contributions to Arcade Fire, having toured with the band and been credited as an arranger and instrumentalist on each of their studio albums. In January 2014, Pallett and Arcade Fire member William Butler were nominated for Best Original Score at the 86th Academy Awards for their original score of the film Her (2013).
Tamara Lindeman, also known by the name Tamara Hope, is a Canadian actress and musician. Her starring roles include Guinevere Jones and The Nickel Children, as well as a recurring role on CTV's Whistler as Leah McLure. In her music career, in which she is credited as Tamara Lindeman, she has worked with the band Bruce Peninsula and has her own music project, The Weather Station.
The Polaris Music Prize is a music award annually given to the best full-length Canadian album based on artistic merit, regardless of genre, sales, or record label. The award was established in 2006 with a $20,000 cash prize; the prize was increased to $30,000 for the 2011 award. In May 2015, the Polaris Music Prize was increased to $50,000, an additional $20,000, sponsored by Slaight Music. Additionally, second place prizes for the nine other acts on the Short List increased from $2,000 to $3,000. Polaris officials also announced The Slaight Family Polaris Heritage Prize, an award that "will annually honour five albums from the five decades before Polaris launched in 2006." Details about the selection process for this prize are still to be revealed.
PUP is a Canadian punk rock band formed in Toronto, Ontario in 2010, originally under the name Topanga. PUP's self-titled debut album was released on October 8, 2013, on Royal Mountain Records. In December 2013, PUP signed with SideOneDummy Records and re-released their debut album in the United States on April 8, 2014. The group was in the studio in late 2015 recording their second album The Dream Is Over which was released on May 27, 2016, through SideOneDummy. The band's third album, titled Morbid Stuff, was released on April 5, 2019. This Place Sucks Ass, a six-track EP, was released on October 27, 2020. Their fourth album, The Unraveling of PUPTheBand, was released on April 1, 2022.
The 2015 edition of the Canadian Polaris Music Prize was presented on September 21, 2015 at The Carlu event theatre in Toronto, Ontario. The event was hosted by children's entertainer Fred Penner.
Jahmarie Wishart Adams, known professionally as Jazz Cartier, is a Canadian rapper, singer, and songwriter. He is best known for his mixtapes: Marauding in Paradise and Hotel Paranoia.
Pierre Kwenders is the stage name of José Louis Modabi, a Congolese-Canadian musician. His 2014 album Le Dernier empereur bantou was a shortlisted nominee for the Juno Award for World Music Album of the Year at the Juno Awards of 2015, and a longlisted nominee for the 2015 Polaris Music Prize. Kwenders, who sings and raps in English, French, Lingala and Tshiluba, is noted for blending both African music and western pop music influences, including hip hop and electronic music, into his style.
Milk & Bone are a Canadian electropop duo based in Montreal, Quebec, consisting of Laurence Lafond-Beaulne and Camille Poliquin. Their debut album Little Mourning, released in 2015 via Bonsound, was a longlisted nominee for the 2015 Polaris Music Prize. Although both of the band members are francophones, they write and record in English.
Dilly Dally were a Canadian alternative rock band from Toronto. The band consisted of Enda Monks, Liz Ball, Annie Jane Marie (bassist) and Benjamin Reinhartz (drummer). They announced their breakup on March 2, 2023.
Andy Shauf is a Canadian singer-songwriter from Regina, Saskatchewan. He plays several instruments, including, guitar, drums, and clarinet.
Weaves is a Canadian indie pop band from Toronto, Ontario, consisting of vocalist Jasmyn Burke, guitarist Morgan Waters, drummer Spencer Cole and bassist Zach Bines.
iskwē is a Canadian singer-songwriter and activist.
Clairmont II Humphrey, known professionally as Clairmont The Second, is a Canadian rapper from Toronto, Ontario. His 2017 album Lil Mont from the Ave received a Juno Award nomination for Rap Recording of the Year at the Juno Awards of 2018. He also won the 2019 Prism Prize Hi-Fidelity Award and is a finalist for the 2020 Prism Prize.
Charlotte Day Wilson is a Canadian contemporary R&B singer-songwriter. She came to prominence in the mid-2010s with her single "Work" and collaborations with other Toronto-based artists like BadBadNotGood and Daniel Caesar. Wilson released her debut album Alpha in July 2021.
Partner is a Canadian rock band, originally formed in Sackville, New Brunswick, and later based in Windsor, Ontario. The band is most noted for winning the SOCAN Songwriting Prize in 2018 for their song "Play the Field".
Haviah Mighty is a Canadian rapper from Brampton, Ontario. She rose to prominence in 2016 as a member of the hip hop group the Sorority, before releasing several EPs on her own, most notably Flower City, in 2017. Her first album, 13th Floor, was released in 2019 and won the Polaris Music Prize. After her debut, XXL named her one of the "15 Toronto rappers you should know" and CBC Music called her one of the "New Faces of Canadian Hip Hop".
Ignorance is the fifth studio album by Canadian band the Weather Station. It was released worldwide on February 5, 2021 through Fat Possum Records in the United States, and a small part through Next Door Records in Canada. The album's lead single "Robber" was released on October 14, 2020.
How Is It That I Should Look at the Stars is the sixth studio album by the Canadian folk band the Weather Station, released March 4, 2022, by Fat Possum Records. The album was recorded over three days in March 2020 in Toronto. It has received mostly positive reviews from critics who also frequently compared the album to the band's previous release Ignorance, mainly noting the stark differences between the two despite the songs from both all coming from the same writing sessions in 2018.
Allison Ho-Sang, who records and performs as a l l i e, is a Canadian rhythm and blues singer and songwriter from Toronto, Ontario.
