Tracking Canucks 2025
How the world saw Canadian music this year
The Canadian album of the year is by a French woman. And I don’t mean French-Canadian.
Oklou’s Choke Enough, which is #5 on the critics’ aggregate list site Album of the Year, was entirely co-written and co-produced by Toronto expat Casey MQ, with whom the artist from Poitiers, France, has been working since at least 2020. Now living in L.A., while MQ was in his hometown of Toronto he worked with local artists Cadence Weapon, Austra, a l l i e, Zaki Ibrahim and others.
And yet: I haven’t read a single thing in the Canadian press about this connection to one of the most globally acclaimed pop albums of the year. He’s in her band, playing keyboards here:
My favourite albums of 2025 are here. My favourite songs and shows of 2025 are here. This week’s live music listings are here.
Also in the honorary Canadian category is Mexican singer Silvana Estrada, who made her highly acclaimed 2025 album Vendrán Suaves Lluvias in Montreal with members of Plants and Animals, Patrick Watson’s band, Belle Orchestre, Owen Pallett and more.
The most critically acclaimed Canadian records of the year are all by Ontario artists based in L.A.: Rochelle Jordan, Saya Gray and, uh, Justin Bieber. I quite honestly was not aware the Biebs had such a great year. I’m also happy that it’s not my job to know that.
Gray was shortlisted for the Polaris Prize, and was the subject of several profiles when her album came out in February. Jordan’s album got a Pitchfork rave shortly after its September release, but only in the last couple of weeks have the Canadian press taken any notice. Bieber is Biebin’, thanks in part to his work with Dijon, who himself released an album that landed in the top 10 of most year-end lists.
The big commercial breakthrough for a Canadian was undoubtedly Tate McRae, though she fared less well with critics who don’t work for Rolling Stone.
Personally, there’s only two records on the Album of the Year’s aggregate top 50 that I love (Perfume Genius, Little Simz), and two more that I like (Lady Gaga, Wet Leg). The rest does nothing for me, or very little. I’m clearly out of step with the times and the consensus; even in genres I ostensibly enjoy, the top records leave me cold (Geese, Rosália, Wednesday).
But part of that is definitely regional: on my own list, 15 out of 45 were Canadian, and only Saya Gray caught any serious international attention. The Beaches got a couple of mentions.
Even though there aren’t a lot of Canadians on these lists, either at home or internationally, Canada was nonetheless the #3 music exporter in the world in 2025, according to Billboard — due largely to the Weeknd, an artist whose “final” tour did extremely well but whose latest album was largely ignored due to its association with this dog of a movie that was crucified critically.
What follows is for Canadian music data nerds only — all three of you.
