The end of a relationship, especially if one party hasn’t exactly been ethical, can be incredibly destabilizing and crazy-making. With that, Montreal-grunge punkers Bad Skin find the sweet spot between sad and pissed off in their angry-melancholy new breakup single, “Completely Insane.”
Laden with wailing guitars, melodious pop harmonies, and sludgy, driving bass, “Completely Insane” starts out with a woman reminding her ex (yeah, she’s gotta remind him) ‘Hey, it’s me/ The girl you say you’ll always love/ And, yeah, I know that love can hurt.’ Soon, we learn that he’s with someone else – ‘It’s so hard/ To know that you feel for her and not me.’
The song manages to perfectly replicate that all-women ’90s grunge-band sound, particularly in the chorus — and the corresponding music video uses a creative stop-motion technique of stills to show the band suspended briefly in time while performing. It’s particularly striking and effective as the band wears an array of colorful outfits against a white backdrop and, at times, is shown sitting sullenly on a bright yellow sofa, reflecting the somber mood.
Bad Skin consists of Dope (lead vox, rhythm guitarist), Caro (lead guitar), Aurély (bass), and Christine (drums). As the group continues to lay down the singles one after the other off their sophomore release Live Fast Die Punk, they’ve recently announced a slew of 2022 dates, as well, presented by IndigoBravo Promotions. Bad Skin will take the stage overseas on a UK blitz this coming July to coincide with their upcoming Breakup Tour EP.
A band raising their voice for the voiceless, talented and brazen, refusing to back down, bow down, or explain themselves, Bad Skin isn’t afraid to call it like it is or say it like it is – refusing to comply or conform.
Upon the City of Toronto’s proclamation of June 14 as Massey Hall Day, The Corporation of Massey Hall & Roy Thomson Hall and CBC, Canada’s public broadcaster, today announced a new five-year partnership that includes the naming of CBC as the official media partner of Massey Hall and Allied Music Centre. Building on their extensive shared history, the two established Canadian cultural institutions will develop new programming initiatives to amplify emerging and established homegrown musical talent. The partnership includes a new dynamic live concert series for national audiences that will be available across CBC platforms, beginning this fall.
The concert series will feature performances by Canadian artists available on CBC platforms including CBC TV, CBC Gem, CBC Listen, CBC Radio and CBC Music, recorded from all of the venues within the Allied Music Centre including the 100-capacity community theatre, the 500-capacity club, and the mainstage at Massey Hall. The spotlighted artists and CBC schedule will be announced closer to the concert series launch this fall.
“The relationship between Massey Hall and CBC is built on a remarkable history of bringing once-in-a-lifetime performances from our stage to Canadians across the country,” said Jesse Kumagai President & CEO, Massey Hall. “As we look to the future, we will build on this legacy by connecting artists and audiences in new and innovative ways, and we can’t imagine a better partner to highlight and share the next generation of incredible music we will host at Massey Hall and Allied Music Centre.”
“In bringing together these two iconic Canadian cultural brands, this groundbreaking new partnership will further elevate CBC and Massey Hall’s shared commitment to nurture, support and showcase the very best of this country’s musical talent across all genres,” said Barbara Williams, Executive Vice-President, CBC. “We are so proud and excited to work closely with the teams at Massey Hall and Allied Music Centre to shine an even brighter spotlight on Canadian music by offering audiences across the country a front row seat to performances from this historic and revitalized venue.”
Today’s announcement is preceded by a long-standing history between Massey Hall and CBC dating back to the 1940s, including a time when performances were recorded live from a CBC broadcast booth overlooking Massey Hall’s historic Allan Slaight Stage.
This collaboration also introduces new studio spaces for CBC at Allied Music Centre, located on the fifth floor of the new building adjacent to Massey Hall. On-site performance content will be produced at these state-of-the-art audio & visual production studios, which will also offer an alternate location for CBC Radio and TV hosts to conduct artist interviews, and for producers and editors to create other original CBC content.
Massey Hall fans can expect additional exciting Massey Hall content and livestreaming news very soon.
Simple Minds release “Vision Thing”, the first track to be taken from the band’s eighteenth studio album Direction Of The Heart.
Currently playing acclaimed shows throughout Europe (“Back in fashion and back on thrilling form.” The Times), Direction Of The Heart is Simple Minds’ first album of new material since 2018’s outstanding UK Top 5 album Walk Between Worlds.
Throughout its nine tracks Direction of The Heart, which is scheduled for release October 21 via BMG, finds the band at their most confident, anthemic best on an inspired celebration of life, none more so than on lead track ‘Vision Thing’.
‘Vision Thing’ is a euphoric song – all pounding drums, synth washes and the unmistakable guitar-playing of Simple Minds’ lifelong six-string wonder, Charlie Burchill. With music written by Burchill and lyrics by frontman Jim Kerr the song is a tribute to Kerr’s “best pal”, his late father who passed away in 2019.
Direction Of The Heart’s opening track, ‘Vision Thing’ sets the pace for a concise nine-track album. One which manages to perfectly encapsulate the essence of past and present Simple Minds, a band whose reascent over the past 10 years has seen them, once again, capture the magic and critical praise of their early days.
Most of Direction Of The Heart’s tracks were created and demoed in Sicily, where both Kerr and Burchill live. Unable to come to the UK because of quarantine rules, the album was recorded at Hamburg’s Chameleon Studios. Here they produced the album – later enlisting Andy Wright (Massive Attack, Echo & The Bunnymen) and Gavin Goldberg (Simply Red, KT Tunstall) for additional production. Band members, bassist Ged Grimes (who co-wrote two of the new songs, ‘First You Jump’ and ‘Solstice Kiss’), drummer Cherisse Osei and vocalist Sarah Brown joined them on some of the tracks, recording their parts separately in London. Album guests include, Sparks’ frontman Russell Mael (‘Human Traffic’) and songwriter and former Grimes music partner from Danny Wilson, Gary Clark (‘Vision Thing’, ‘First You Jump’ and ‘Natural’), recorded their respective parts in home studios.
All of this disparate work is belied by an album which sounds like a cohesive record – one of the most exciting and invigorating of Simple Minds career to date.
Over the past 10 years Simple Minds have rekindled the magic that made them a vital artistic force in their early days, found themselves referenced by younger artists and playing to tens of thousands of people every year, all over the world. They have been the recipient of the Q Awards Lifetime Achievement and received universal critical acclaim for their recent albums. 2015’s Big Music was described by MOJO magazine as “their best album in 30 years”, and 2018’s Walk Between Worlds was acclaimed across the board and became their most successful album in over two decades, culminating in their largest US tour to date.
Simple Minds are: Jim Kerr (vocals), Charlie Burchill (guitars, keyboards), Gordy Goudie (acoustic guitar), Ged Grimes (bass), Cherisse Osei (drums), Berenice Scott (keyboards) and Sarah Brown (vocals).
The votes are in! Music fans declare “Welcome to the Garden,” written and performed by Emily Steinwall of Toronto, the winner of the 17th annual SOCAN Songwriting Prize.
In addition to the prestige of winning, Emily Steinwall receives a $5,000 cash prize, a Yamaha Workstation, and a $500 gift card from Long & McQuade to support her creative process and songwriting journey.
This is Steinwall’s first foray into songwriting, and fans and critics alike are thrilled she made the leap. First recognized and celebrated as an emerging composer, saxophone player, flautist, and bandleader, Steinwall is no stranger to the spotlight. Before releasing her debut concept album “Welcome to the Garden,” Steinwall graced the stage as a back-up singer for Alessia Cara.
“Just as a flower and the Earth are one, synergistically connected and inseparable, an artist cannot exist without the community of people from which they grow. We cannot be separated from our history or environment. This is the message I hope comes across with ‘Welcome to the Garden’,” Steinwall said. “Thank you to everyone that took the time to vote, without whom I would not have received this award. I think this is a clear indication that music grows from the ground up – its roots in community, its meaning and value in how it resonates with others. Thank you so much to SOCAN and all of the sponsors for creating this award to encourage and celebrate young songwriters.”
SOCAN is pleased to also present cash prizes of $500 to the writers of each of the remaining nine nominated songs along with a $50 gift card from Long & McQuade.
“Congratulations to Emily Steinwall,” said Jennifer Brown, CEO of SOCAN. “Her talent as a songwriter is clear in ‘Welcome to the Garden.’ It has an emotional depth rarely seen this early in a career. Canada is fortunate to have such strong songwriting talent and the ten songs nominated for the 2022 Songwriting Prize are representative of a very bright future for Canadian music.”
Matt Bobkin, eminent music and arts journalist and a SOCAN Songwriting Prize panelist, said this about the song: “There’s so much to love about ‘Welcome to the Garden,’ and not just because it’s 10 minutes long: the daring blend of jazz, psych and progressive rock; the lush arrangements mirroring lyrics that praise the power of womanhood, community and nature; and the many stellar performances, from the vocals to the climactic sax solo. It pushes forward plenty of ideas, narratives and sounds that are too often ignored or pigeonholed in popular music, and it’s amazing to think that this is only the beginning for a visionary like Emily.”
The SOCAN Songwriting Prize is the only major songwriting award in Canada where fans vote to determine the winner. Ten outstanding songs created by Canadian songwriters over the past year are nominated by a panel of 15 esteemed music industry experts. The public is then invited to vote once a day for their favourite song for one week to determine the winner.
SOCAN plays no role in determining the nominees or winners, apart from ensuring that they meet eligibility criteria.
The winner of the Prix de la chanson SOCAN, the competition conducted separately for songs in French, was “Secret,” written by Hubert Chiasson, Félix Petit and Julien Chiasson; performed by Hubert Lenoir; and published by Leclerc Lenoir Inc
Also featured in the English category were the following extraordinary songs:
“24hrs” – written by Johann Deterville, Adam Pondang, Savannah Ré Simpson; performed by Savannah Ré; Savannah Ré and Johann Deterville published by Sony Music Publishing, Adam Pondang published by Warner Chappell Music Canada Ltd.
“By Myself” – written by Kahdijah Payne; performed by DijahSB and Harrison.
“Can’t Let Go” – written by Jeanne Gariépy, Gabrielle Godon; performed by Laroie; published by Arts & Crafts Music Publishing.
“Container” – written by Liam Cole, Thomas Gill, Dorothea Paas, Paul Saulnier; performed by Dorothea Paas.
“Find A Home” – written by Andrew Lennox, Eric Lourenco, Kirsten Kurvink Palm, Adam Sturgeon, Joe Thorner; performed by Status/Non-Status.
“Paper Thin” – written by Brendan Grieve, Nemah Hasan, Stevie Solomon; performed by Nemahsis.
“Stacy” – written by Kevin Ekofo, Jordon Manswell, Jonathan Martin, Evan Miles, Jon Vinyl, Corey Wong; Kevin Ekofo published by ST Music Circle, Jon Vinyl published by Warner Chappell Music Canada Ltd; performed by Jon Vinyl.
“Trust Issues” – written by Erik Fintelman, Robyn Ottolini, Mark Schroor; performed by Robyn Ottolini; published by Warner Chappell Music Canada Ltd.
“want you more” – written by Amaka Queenette, Joshua Stanberry; performed by Amaka Queenette.
The 2021 winner of the SOCAN Songwriting Prize was “Western Skies” written and performed by Billy Raffoul. Previous winners are available to view at SOCAN Songwriting Prize.
Canadians are incredibly fortunate to call a breathtakingly beautiful, culturally and naturally diverse, awe-inspiring country home. From coast to coast to coast, there’s A LOT to love about this great land. Canada is where International singer, actress, and award-winning performer Harriet Chung makes her home, and she offers a musical love letter to one of the shiniest jewels in this country’s crown with this, her new single “Vancouver.”
An uplifting and exuberant journey propelled by piano, guitar, and strings and Chung’s bright, earnest vocal, “Vancouver” is a personal and sentimental destination for the multi-honoured artist.
“The song is about a road trip across Canada that ends in Vancouver,” Chung explains. “Having lived there in the past, the song is about my love for the city.
“Warren Robert’s arrangement and guitars with a fabulous solo give the song the energy to take you across Canada and the beautiful city of Vancouver,” adds Chung.
The song also features Robert on guitars and bass, Christopher Siu on piano, Randy Cooke on drums, and Rique Franks on background vocals.
“Vancouver” details a bucolic cross-country trip we may not have all taken but have certainly imagined with our own perceptions of this country’s wildly varied landscapes. Chung’s “quest” takes her from Ontario’s “jaggy shield” through the prairies, up and down the Alberta foothills and over the Rocky Mountains “kingdom come,” leading her through the “peaceful” Okanagan with “every kind of plum” and down the Fraser River “where all the salmon run” to finally end up where “we can all be free.” Sounds ideal and so very Canadian, doesn’t it?
I headed to the west to run away from home
And escape the pain and rest
Now, I’m never going home
Advancing Chung’s upcoming debut album, “Vancouver” is the follow-up single to Chung’s 2021-released “A World Away (Remix).” Chung’s debut single was adapted from Taiwanese-Canadian singer-songwriter George Chiang’s score for the award-winning musical The Golden Lotus, in which she played the title character.
Chung’s work in the musical earned her a Best Actress nomination from the Hong Kong English Drama Awards while the production itself won Best Original Work. Her performance in the glamorous music video for “A World Away (Remix)” won Chung a Best Actress award from the Europe Film Festival.
Chung has also released a lyric video for “Vancouver,” which features footage from a return visit to her former west coast home last summer.
As an accomplished triple-threat performer — singer, actress, and dancer/choreographer — Chung has the innate ability to connect with audiences on many levels. She was Canada’s first Asian actress to be cast in The Phantom of the Opera and has also appeared in Cats (in Germany), The King and I, Iron Road, Fiddler on Fire, and more. She shares her expertise, experience, and love for her crafts with students from all over the world through her school – Harriet Chung Performing Arts (HCPA).
Even with a world full of experience and accolades in her career passport, it’s easy to understand why Harriet Chung is putting her newest musical focus on Canada’s wondrous west coast.
A mother’s love for her child is pure, enduring, and unbreakable, and we celebrate that inviolable bond between mothers and their children. Acclaimed Canadian soprano Tonia Evans Cianciulli marks this lifelong bond as she releases two songs she created with her daughter and son when they were both children — “Always Her Home” and “Hold His Heart” are both available now.
Written and recorded with both of Cianciulli’s children when they were each just six years old, “Always Her Home” and “Hold His Heart” are tender reflections on Cianciulli’s relationships with her daughter and son. “Always Her Home” is a tear-inducing duet with her daughter Sophia, created at a time when Sophia needed the kind of comfort and care only a mother can give. Also a duet, “Hold His Heart” expresses the unexpected bond between Cianciulii and her son, Anthony. Both loving tributes were brought to life with the help of another of Cianciulli’s longtime loves, her high school bestie Ambre McLean, along with producer Dima Graziani.
The heartfelt videos for both songs were filmed on iPhones by family members and illustrate the bittersweet and sentimental bonds between mothers and their children.
A multi-talented performer, public speaker, award-winning author, mentor, opera company foundress, songwriter, recording artist, and self-described “unabashed fan-girl of the creative spirit”, Tonia Evans Cianciulli is combining most of these creative skills in this close-to-her-heart project. With her two new song releases and a second book Cianciulli has authored called Flick Your Heart-Light On, Let Your Fears Be Gone, she hopes to start an important conversation with her audience, particularly mothers and their children. Illustrated by her daughter Sophia, the book has already received early praise from celebrated authors as a game-changer and must-read for parents and children at a time when mental health is an overwhelming concern.
“The first version of the book was written in a couple of hours for one of my cousins to read with her seven-year-old whose unexplained anxiety had started overwhelming her and her mother,” explains Cianciulli. “It seemed the book effortlessly spilled out onto the pages but it was only because of the years of trial and error with herself and her own children. This is a perfect example of how we can help others through the pain we have already endured.”
This wisdom and insight come from both experience and education. Cianciulli has home-schooled her children for the past seven years and is also currently completing her Master’s in Counseling Psychology with Yorkville University. Cianciulli has been with her children every step of the way as they’ve navigated the often-rough waters of growing up. They’ve faced the tragic death of a friend, crippling anxiety, and the dangerous psychological pitfalls of social media.
“I thought perhaps teaching my children long division and fractions would be the most challenging part,” she notes. “What proved to be the most heart-wrenching and helpless feeling part of the journey has been standing with them while they process the many emotional, psychological, and physical aspects of being children and teenagers.”
Having experienced her own struggles with anxiety and depression, Cianciulli started a personal journey when her first child was born. She set out on what has now been a 16-year quest of self-development, self-analysis, and study resulting in major certifications. She understands healing her own inner child while raising her two children is the best gift she could have given herself and her family.
Knowing that her job as their mother is far from over, Cianciulli hopes that Sophia and Anthony, now 14 and 16, have been given the foundation to navigate the rest of their lives with compassion, mindfulness, and ongoing conversation.
“Always Her Home” and “Hold His Heart” pay tribute to those foundational years and Flick Your Heart-Light On, Let Your Fears Be Gone aims to pass it forward to help other families.
These new creative projects follow closely on the heels of Hymns of the Heart, an album of beloved hymns Cianciulli released In September 2021 in an effort to reconnect with the spiritual music of her past during the period of grief and uncertainty that the global pandemic has brought.
Preserving and promoting her cultural heritage of Newfoundland has also been a focus of late for Cianciulli. She’s the award-winning author of The Heart’s Obsession – An Intimate Biography of Newfoundland Songstress Georgina Stirling (1867 – 1935), which has received glowing reviews from CBC, Opera Canada Magazine, and singer Alan Doyle of Great Big Sea. Cianciulli also released two companion albums with the book that shine a spotlight on Stirling as well as renowned Newfoundland folk hero Ron Hynes.
Cianciulli is also the founder of non-profit Wish Arts, focusing on the psychological aspects of being an artist/performer with her coaching program, An Artist’s Journey. She further dives into the artist’s psyche with her print interview series, Artist’s Spotlight, and more recently her HEART to H-ART Instagram Live interviews, both highlighting and shining the spotlight on Canadian artists.
Our two pandemic years also served to bolster Cianciulli’s songwriting. “Writing and recording seemed to be the glue that held me together in such uncertain times,” she says.
Throughout 2022/2023, the very busy and prolific artist plans to release a collection of original music called Love Me Till I’m Me Again to discuss poignant matters of the heart and painful memories that resurface long after you think you’ve healed them. Cianciulli says it will be an album of layered complexity, vocally and psychologically, much like the process of going to therapy. Peeling back the layers of the onion.
Now, however, it’s time for Cianciulli to celebrate motherhood and the very special bond she has with her children.
One upside of the pandemic is that many of us rediscovered the healing power of Vitamin D-infused sunshine and the glory of the outdoors. In that spirit, Canadian alt-folk songstress Jackie K pays reverent tribute to the panacea of lush greenery in her ‘70s-inspired new single “Green Heals Me.”
With the soothing meander of a lazy day on the veranda or a leisurely hike through the woods, “Green Heals Me” features folky guitar, jazzy piano, and Jackie K’s signature plain-spoken, candor-filled voice, like that of a trusted friend. ‘I spent today living outside in the sunshine/ To shake the lack of sleep, and way too much drink,’ she begins. And then she describes with rich imagery the perfume of the lilac-tinged air, the shade-giving pine trees, the canopy of the woods, and then the cool night air at the end of an outside-filled day.
“’Green Heals Me’ is really about feeling grateful for Spring,” Jackie K shares. “I just sat on my back deck on a hungover Saturday morning and wrote it down; I needed outside, and our winters are so long. Despite everything, I was just thankful.”
After hearing the song, some friends asked – wink, wink – if it was about another kind of green. “I did have several people ask me if it was a song about pot,” she muses. “I hadn’t been thinking that, but it would work! Green does heal in that capacity, too.”
While writing the song, the piano section was stumping her until her husband Tom suggested a very worthy influence and form of inspiration. “He said, ‘try something like [Thelonious] Monk’ and so I did,” she reveals, adding that the piano she used was a 100-year-old Mason & Risch. “It’s gorgeous and has a big, warm sound — sounds a little kooky, and outside. Perfect!”
“Green Heals Me” is off Jackie’s four-song EP Look for the Little Things, which also plays host to the song “Night at the Opry,” a tune inspired by a field trip to Memphis and Nashville Jackie took with her music students in 2020 right before Covid shut everything down. “Dandelions Everywhere” is another nature-infused, hope-fueled track. Rounding out the release is “In My Oasis,” a high-energy song also inspired by nature and the little things and written about a teacup full of purple flowers.
Jackie K’s musical endeavors are mainly a family affair; her husband, Tom Kroczynski, is her bass player, while her son Connor Newton is her sax player, and her son Sean Davis Newton, on guitar and percussion, also engineered, produced, and mastered her album. The rest of the band is rounded out by Phil Rodda, a drummer from Edmonton, and Patrick Whelan on fiddle.
When she isn’t writing or performing, Jackie teaches band and guitar to high school students at North Battleford Comprehensive High School. She holds a Bachelor of Music in Music Education and a Bachelor of Arts in Visual Art and is a member of SaskMusic, SOCAN, AFM#553, BMI, SAC, and the Americana Music Association.
The forceful music that rolled out of Muscle Shoals in the 1960s and 1970s shaped hits by everyone from Wilson Pickett and Aretha Franklin to the Rolling Stones and Paul Simon. Authored by Christopher M. Reali, assistant professor of music at Ramapo College of New Jersey, the book is in-depth look at the fabled musical hotbed examines the events and factors that gave the Muscle Shoals sound such a potent cultural power. Many artists trekked to FAME Studios and Muscle Shoals Sound in search of the sound of authentic southern Black music—and at times expressed shock at the mostly white studio musicians waiting to play it for them. Others hoped to draw on the hitmaking production process that defined the scene. Reali also chronicles the overlooked history of Muscle Shoals’s impact on country music and describes the region’s recent transformation into a tourism destination.
Multifaceted and informed, Music and Mystique in Muscle Shoals reveals the people, places, and events behind one of the most legendary recording scenes in American history.
The Polaris Music Prize, presented by CBC Music, has revealed its 40 album Long List:
AHI – Prospect
Arcade Fire – WE
Backxwash – I LIE HERE BURIED WITH MY RINGS AND MY DRESSES
BADBADNOTGOOD – Talk Memory
Jean-Michel Blais – aubades
Basia Bulat – The Garden
Tanika Charles – Papillon de Nuit: The Night Butterfly
Chiiild – Hope For Sale
Destroyer – LABYRINTHITIS
Julie Doiron – I Thought Of You
The Garrys – Get Thee To A Nunnery
The Halluci Nation – One More Saturday Night
Joyful Joyful – Joyful Joyful
Adria Kain – When Flowers Bloom
Lydia Képinski – Depuis
Pierre Kwenders – José Louis And The Paradox Of Love
Ada Lea – one hand on the steering wheel the other sewing a garden
Lisa Leblanc – Chiac Disco
Hubert Lenoir – PICTURA DE IPSE : Musique directe
Luna Li – Duality
Les Louanges – Crash
LOONY – soft thing
Kelly McMichael – Waves
Men I Trust – Untourable Album
Haviah Mighty – Stock Exchange
myst milano. – Shapeshyfter
Cedric Noel – Hang Time
Ombiigizi – Sewn Back Together
Orville Peck – Bronco
Ouri – Frame of a Fauna
P’tit Belliveau – Un homme et son piano
PUP – THE UNRAVELING OF PUPTHEBAND
SATE – The Fool
Shad – TAO
Sister Ray – Communion
Snotty Nose Rez Kids – Life After
Stars – From Capelton Hill
Tanya Tagaq – Tongues
The Weeknd – Dawn FM
Charlotte Day Wilson – Alpha
In total, 223 albums were considered for the Long List by the 197 member jury this season.
This year’s Long List was revealed at the Numbers event space in Toronto’s downtown west end with a video directed by Daniel Tal and produced by Vox Future. This was the first public Polaris-related gathering in 33 months. The Long List reveal video also premiered simultaneously on the Polaris Facebook page and YouTube channels.
The 10 album Short List will be unveiled live on July 14 as part of a two-hour special during Drive on CBC Music. An encore broadcast of the special will be available on CBC Music, Sunday, July 17. The 2022 Polaris Music Prize-winning album will be revealed in the fall via CBC Music. More details on this will be announced in the coming weeks.
The winning album will be revealed during the Polaris Gala, taking place Monday, September 19 at The Carlu in Toronto. To celebrate our return to the venue that has hosted the likes of Glenn Gould, Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra, and multiple Polaris events, Polaris has just opened up 100 early-bird general admission Polaris Gala tickets for sale to the public. These specially priced tickets ($40 plus tax) are available now via Ticketmaster while quantities last.
The Polaris Music Prize awards $50,000 to the artist who creates the Canadian Album of the Year, judged solely on artistic merit, without consideration for genre or record sales. The nine other nominated acts whose albums make the 2022 Short List will receive $3,000 each courtesy of Slaight Music. Additionally, Polaris Music Prize has partnered with Play MPE to award the winning artist with a global music promotion distribution package for one release (single or album) worth up to $3,025 CAD. Play MPE will also gift all nine remaining Short List artists with distribution packages worth up to $1,000 CAD each.
Albums eligible for 2022 Polaris Music Prize consideration must be released between May 1, 2021 and May 31, 2022. An independent jury of music media from across Canada determines the Long List and Short List. Eleven people from the larger jury pool are then chosen to serve on the Grand Jury. This Grand Jury convenes at the Polaris Gala to select the Polaris Music Prize winner.
The past winners are Cadence Weapon (2021), Backxwash (2020), Haviah Mighty (2019), Jeremy Dutcher (2018), Lido Pimienta (2017), Kaytranada (2016), Buffy Sainte-Marie (2015), Tanya Tagaq (2014), Godspeed You! Black Emperor (2013), Feist (2012), Arcade Fire (2011), Karkwa (2010), Fucked Up (2009), Caribou (2008), Patrick Watson (2007) and Final Fantasy / Owen Pallett (2006).
Music is powerful; it can store memories for us – good and bad – so that we may call upon them at seemingly anytime. Michael Graff’s new single “History” is a testament to the power that music has when housing our most intimate memories.
An ethereal pop composition that houses the feelings of a beautiful night with a beautiful girl, “History” sees Michael Graff telling the tale of two Texas kids in LA, caught in a moment of magic.
“For me, music is a great way of capturing moments,” Graff reflects on the feeling of nostalgia. “Nothing takes you back to a time, place, and even a feeling quite like a song. In this instance, we were just a couple of Texas kids far away from home and, for some reason, it was magical.”
And it’s true; music has an uncanny ability to remind us of times long ago. “History” has all the right ingredients to drum up memories of Coldplay on the school bus, slow pop playlists under the stars – even that one song you dedicated to your ex back in 10th grade. Graff works his magic in this lyrical recounting of “that one night” with lyrics such as:
‘You wore those blue jeans / Hair pulled back, so I can see / That look in your eye like / Tonight is gonna be history…’
Michael Graff is an emerging recording artist from the United States. Finding his sense for music at a young age, Graff would often play piano at church, embedding a strong passion for the craft into young Graff. From there he took up learning more instruments adding guitar, bass, drums, and eventually vocals to his repertoire of talent.
Graff’s passion for music played a critical role in his life, allowing him to develop a sense of identity and direction. He has found music to be a therapeutic outlet, allowing him to express some of the deepest parts of himself.
All of this self-discovery and practice has led Graff down the path of pop music; renowned for his ability to fuse heavenly synth-dripped walls of electronic sound with pop-perfect melodies, he is currently in the midst of launching a new EP that showcases his uncanny ability to bend the boundaries of his genre, crafting a distinctly uplifting combination of pop and EDM.
Michael Graff aims to soon break into the mainstream with his unique brand of upbeat, motivational pop, so he can bring the same joy to as many other people that music has for him. Often finding himself being compared to artists like LAUV, The 1975, Coldplay, and Post Malone, his songs are inspiring, motivational, and explore a range of powerful emotions.
