Quebec duo Angine de Poitrine wins the 2026 Polaris Music Prize

Angine de Poitrine has won the 2026 Polaris Music Prize for Vol.II. The anonymous, masked rock duo from Saguenay, Quebec, received the $30,000 award at a ceremony at Toronto's Massey Hall.

The musicians perform under the names Khn and Klek, avoid speaking publicly in their natural voices, and sing in an invented language. Their manager, Sébastien Collin, accepted the prize on their behalf.

The Polaris is decided by a jury of Canadian music critics and is awarded on artistic merit rather than sales. Since its launch in 2006, winners have included Feist, Kaytranada, Patrick Watson, and Debby Friday.

The result gives a national platform to a deliberately mysterious and musically unconventional act. It also continues the prize's history of elevating work from outside the centre of Canada's commercial music industry.