TORONTO -- The mysterious Quebec rock duo Angine de Poitrine took home top hardware from the Polaris Music Prize on Tuesday, winning for their album “Vol II” and song “Fabienk.” About 200 music industry experts selected the costume-clad couplet’s second album for the $30,000 prize, naming it the best Canadian record of the year based solely on artistic merit. Angine de Poitrine, who claim to be extraterrestrials from another planet, took the stage at Toronto’s Massey Hall to accept the awards in their signature black-and-white polka-dot outfits, complete with masks with elongated noses. The pair communicate only in a made-up language consisting of chirps, squeaks and guttural sounds to remain anonymous. They showed their gratitude for the prizes by bowing to the crowd. Their manager, Sebastien Collin, later paid tribute to the fellow nominees and thanked the Polaris Music Prize for recognizing “weird and complex” music. Only moments before, the duo -- with Khn on guitar and Klek on drums -- closed out the evening with an electrifying performance that had the crowd nodding their heads and clapping along to the captivating rhythms that have propelled the band’s stratospheric rise over the last year. Angine de Poitrine also took home the $10,000 song prize for “Fabienk,” becoming the first double winner since the second award was introduced last year. Other nominees included punk rock band PUP and R&B singer-songwriter Charlotte Day Wilson. After the concert, Collin expanded on his onstage remarks, saying it feels like a “parallel world” when complex indie music is rewarded. “I also feel that they’re kind of proud that it’s more an artistic prize, more than marketing or something about statistics. It’s about music,” he said. Winning Canada’s most prestigious music prize continues a breakout year for the friends from Saguenay, Que., who play sophisticated microtonal math rock and describe themselves as 333-year-old aliens. Within the last year, the French-Canadian duo have gone from virtually unknown to music sensations, drawing huge crowds at festivals, selling out tour dates and performing on American late-night TV. Their singular act garnered worldwide fame after a clip of their otherworldly performance for Seattle radio station KEXP went viral in February. The next day, Collin said he woke up to hundreds of emails asking about the band. Demand for their music has since grown. Show dates listed on the band’s website for the remainder of the year are mostly sold out, including in cities such as London, Paris and Los Angeles. The band has been making -- and experimenting with -- music since they were teenagers. They released their debut album, “Vol I,” in 2024 and built a following in their hometown before buzz around them took off this year. Angine de Poitrine beat out nine other acts to win the Polaris prize, which this year was selected by a voting pool instead of an 11-person jury, as in previous years. Other nominees included folk artist Charlotte Cornfield, indie pop duo Bibi Club and singer-songwriter Beverly Glenn-Copeland. Glenn-Copeland, who publicly disclosed his dementia diagnosis in 2024, opened the concert with an emotional performance alongside wife and frequent collaborator Elizabeth Copeland and backed by a choir. Fellow nominee Begonia, who has drawn comparisons to Adele, later gave a powerful vocal performance that elicited whoops from the crowd. Aquakultre, nominated for his concept album “1793” exploring the history of Afro-Nova Scotians, sang several songs with former “Canadian Idol” contestant Gary Beals. Nunavut throat singer Tanya Tagaq used her set to condemn war and directed expletives at U.S. President Donald Trump, prompting cheers from the crowd. The Slaight Family Polaris Heritage Prize, which celebrates albums released before the Polaris Prize existed, went to late singer-songwriter Willie Dunn for his self-titled 1971 album, and Winnipeg rock band The Watchmen for their 1993 album “McLaren Furnace Room.” This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 22, 2026. By Kaitlyn McGrath
