Published: January 1, 1970
KEN mode has been announced as a Long List nominee for the 2024 Polaris Music Prize! Last night (June 11th, 2024), nominees were unveiled at a ceremony presented by Canada Council for the Arts at Sonic Boom Records in Toronto, ON – where KEN mode was included alongside 39 other Canadian musicians / bands for their latest album, 'VOID'.
The Winnipeg, MB band's ninth studio album (and companion piece to their 2022 album, 'NULL') was released in September of 2023 via Toronto's Artoffact Records and was also nominated for the 2024 JUNO Award for Metal/Hard Music Album of the Year.
On the nomination, KEN mode's Jesse Matthewson comments:
“It’s nice that a few people over at Polaris seemed to like part 2 of this album arc…we haven’t had an album longlisted in over a decade, so we must be doing something right with these negative emotions in this year of our lord, twenty-twenty-four. We know we don’t have a chance of winning this, but it’s nice to be included!”
The Polaris Music Prize Short List will be announced on July 11th and this year’s winning album reveal will take place during the Polaris Gala, presented by long-time partner CBC Music. The Gala will be held on September 17, 2024 at Massey Hall in Toronto, ON, for the second consecutive year at the venue. Tickets to this year’s Polaris Gala are on sale now HERE.
The Polaris Music Prize is a not-for-profit registered charity that annually honours and rewards artists who produce Canadian music albums of distinction. A select panel of music critics judge and award the prize without regard to musical genre or commercial popularity. Winners are determined by an 11-member Polaris Grand Jury, selected from the greater Polaris juror pool.
"Taken individually, both NULL and VOID are brilliant albums from a collective who understand music’s role as a vessel for emotional articulacy. Put them together, and they are creatively anything but their combined title, while also somehow perfectly expressing a feeling of being both. The full thing is a hell of a trip, where you’ll definitely feel a sense of catharsis, but not necessarily much better. A perfect pairing from a genuinely unique band." – Kerrang!
"VOID claws the walls of a misery pit with Sisyphean acceleration, failure recognition, misanthropic melodies that feel as frighteningly familiar as they do too masterfully and meticulously executed" – Angry Metal Guy
MORE ABOUT KEN MODE:
Ever wonder what KEN mode stands for? Look no further and wonder no more, because it's a name that's hard to forget the meaning behind once you get it. KEN mode = Kill Everyone Now mode: an ethos legendary Black Flag frontman Henry Rollins would use to describe the band’s state of mind while taking the stage for the endless touring cycle of their genre defying classic album ‘My War’. This proved to be the psychological foundation and attitude for the project Royal Conservatory of Music trained brothers Jesse Matthewson, B.Comm (Hons) and Shane Matthewson CA/CPA, B. Comm (Hons), would dedicate their entire adult lives to, seeing them spread a manic form of metal and hardcore infused noise rock across the globe.
