Polaris Prize Special Selective Listening | Cindy Lee, TOBi and The Beaches

The list of Polaris finalists was revealed Thursday night. While we already know Charlotte Cardin, Elisapie and Allison Russell, all three finalists for the Best Canadian Album Award to be presented on September 17, some of the names listed are – perhaps – lesser known to the general public. Here are three artists in the running who deserve more than a passing ear.

Listen to the finalist artists and other recent releases

Cindy Lee, Diamond Jubilee

Calgary rocker Patrick Flegel uses his drag queen character Cindy Lee to take the stage and tell his twisted stories. His discography included, before the pandemic, two lo-fi rock albums where musical explorations were numerous. Let’s just say that the artist seemed to be looking for his way… which he found with this Diamond Jubilee. We dive into a soundtrack of more than two hours telling stories of impossible loves, all wrapped in rock sounds from the 1960s – think Beach Boys –, from the 1970s – think Pink Floyd –, noise, lo-fi and orchestral rock – violins abound! This album has been praised by critics, and for good reason: it is the history of rock that Cindy Lee offers us here, nothing less. (Note that this album is not available on streaming music platforms, but rather on the artist’s YouTube account.)

TOBi, PANIC

Nigerian-Canadian TOBi is betting on utilitarian, denunciatory and societal hip-hop. With this second album – his first under a major label, thanks to RCA… and Snoop Dogg for opening the eyes of majorsa few years ago – the young thirty-something already seems to have mastered his musical puppet, pulling the strings of soul, RnB and rap in a beautiful way like an old hand. This is not his first appearance among the Polaris Prize selection, as he was a hit with Elements Vol. 1 in 2021: he won the Juno for best rap recording that same year.

The Beaches, Blame My Ex

Okay, here, there is a good chance that this band, this record and especially this song are already well registered in your music playlists. This second album from the Toronto girls is inspired by a breakup experienced by the singer, Jordan Miller. Painful experience, certainly, but which also allowed the band to experience an unusual wave of popular love in 2023: the song Blame Brett went viral on TikTok (and for good reason, what a beautiful pop-rock refrain!), was listened to nearly 60 million times on Spotify, spent 16 weeks at the top of the Canadian alternative radio charts, ended up in the top 20 alternative radio stations in the United States and on NPR’s Top Plays list for that year. A selection in Billboard Canada’s 2023 Artist of the Year category followed. That’s what you call a big year for The Beaches. Credit to Brett.