Pierre Kwenders' José Louis And The Paradox Of Love has won the 2022 Polaris Music Prize, the award honoring the best Canadian album of the year. It beat out records by Destroyer, Hubert Lenoir, Charlotte Day Wilson, Shad, Ouri and more.
The award, which comes with a $50,000 cash prize, was given out Monday night at the annual Polaris gala which featured performances by all 10 nominees (apart from Destroyer, who were replaced by Fresh Pepper).
During his acceptance speech, Kwenders said, “life is a motherfucker,” but noted, “I remember the reason I do what I do and the reason why I do the music that I do and I tell the story that I tell with my music is to tell the story of the people that inspire me. And all those three people that I mentioned inspired me as fuck.”
One of those three people was his aunt, who moved to Toronto in 1992 and urged her sister, Pierre's mother, to come as well. “I’m here in front of you because of all those people,” he said. “I know those people weren’t perfect. They had their own struggle as I had. My album is called José Louis and the Paradox of Love because love is a paradox, and I still don’t know what love is. I’m still trying to figure it out.”
José Louis And The Paradox Of Love features contributions from Tendai Maraire (Shabazz Palaces), Branko (M.I.A., Buraka som Sistema), Win Butler (Arcade Fire), Michael Brun (J Balvin), and Uproot Andy (Poirier). You can listen, and see the full list of 2022 Polaris nominees, below.
Pierre has a few live dates on the horizon, including Netherlands festival Le Guess Who? in November, and a NYC show at Nublu on December 8 with Uproot Andy and more. He'll also be on a short Canadian tour in February. All dates are listed below.
Cadence Weapon's Parallel World won the 2021 Polaris Music Prize.
Pierre Kwenders - 2022/2023 Tour Dates Nov 10 Utrecht, Netherlands Le Guess Who? Dec 8 New York (NYC), NY, US Nublu Feb 8 2023 Victoria, BC, Canada Capital Ballroom Feb 9 2023 Vancouver, BC, Canada Fox Cabaret Feb 16 2023 Ottawa, ON, Canada Club SAW Feb 17 2023 Toronto, ON, Canada Adelaide Hall Feb 24 2023 Montreal, QC, Canada Ausgang Plaza
Polaris Music Prize - 2022 Shortlist: Charlotte Day Wilson – ALPHA Destroyer – LABYRINTHITIS Hubert Lenoir – Pictura De Ipse: Musique directe Kelly McMichael – Waves Lisa Leblanc – Chiac Disco Ombiigizi – Sewn Back Together Ouri – Frame Of A Fauna Pierre Kwenders – José Louis And The Paradox Of Love Shad – TAO Snotty Nose Rez Kids – Life After
