Albums by Edmonton’s nêhiyawak and Wares land on Polaris long list
Two of Edmonton’s brightest beacons in the local music ecosystem have made it to the Polaris Prize long list, a regional inclusion that most definitely doesn’t happen every year.
Nominated alongside the likes of The Weeknd, Sarah Harmer and Joel Plaskett are Edmonton’s hypnotizing three-piece nêhiyawak for their album nipiy — meaning water in Cree — while, led by the dynamic Cassia Hardy, Wares is also among the 40 nominees for its album Survival.
Kris Harper (vocal, drums), Marek Tyler (drums) and Matthew Cardinal (synth, bass) dedicated the beginning and end pieces of nêhiyawak’s debut full-length to ki siskâciw an isîpiy— the North Saskatchewan River — the album produced by the New Pornographers’ Colin Stewart, and is a multi-lane intersection between traditional, rousing pop and experimental.
Wares’ punchy and frantic 10song album Survival is a raucous, defiant insider view of the trans experience by one of the city’s most natural rock stars with more than a glint of Bowie, dedicated “to decolonial activists, anti-fascist agitators, prairie queers fighting for community and a better life.”
Jamie Mclean, Matthew Gooding, Holly Greaves and Mason Pitzel brought their musical talents to the recording.
Both exceptional albums are well deserved nominations, available on vinyl and downloadable on Bandcamp, if you’d like to support some local music getting national attention.
The past five winners moving backward in time are Haviah Mighty, Jeremy Dutcher, Lido Pimienta, Kaytranada and Buffy Sainte-marie — other recipients since 2005 including Arcade Fire, Caribou and the incomparable Tanya Tagaq.
Chosen by a jury from across the nation, the short list will be announced a month from now on July 15, then the winner declared Sept. 21, where a cheque for $50,000 awaits — with $3,000 each to the two runners up.
It’s a tough time for bottled-up musicians currently separated from their audiences, so congratulations, one and all, you continue to make us proud.