Dutcher wins second Polaris award

Singer donating prize to school in New Brunswick

- DAVID FRIEND

Jeremy Dutcher accepts the Polaris Music Prize Tuesday at Massey Hall. His latest album, "Motewolonuwok," expands on ideas from his first album with songs written partly in English.

Jeremy Dutcher has won the Polaris Music Prize for his second album, “Motewolonuwok.”

For the first time in the award’s 19-year history, the $50,000 prize for best Canadian album of the year went to a previous winner.

“Six years ago, I put out my first record; this award changed my life,” he told a cheering crowd at Massey Hall in Toronto.

Dutcher’s “Motewolonuwok” beat out nine other albums vying for the award, including some unusually high-profile names.

Records by Charlotte Cardin, the Beaches, Allison Russell and Elisapie were shortlisted for the prize, which selects its winner based on artistic merit.

Dutcher first won a Polaris prize in 2018 for his debut album, “Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa,” which featured the operatic tenor duetting in the Wolastoq language with archival recordings of his ancestors.

His latest Polaris winner expands on those ideas with songs written at least partly in English.