North’s new song “The Beautiful City” is a beautiful vision in a time when the world could use more positive imagination. This is a melody-rich and image-laden song that will stick in your head. It’s an eclectic, sophisticated layering of modern sounds, blending electronic-folk, roots, pop and gospel music.
Canadian singer-songwriter Ian North celebrates some important milestones this year with the release of his new single “The Beautiful City”. This new track is a freshly recorded version of the song that first appeared on his debut album “Emptiful” in 2001. The original version by a shorter title called “Beautiful City” received an honourable mention in Nashville’s “Positive Pop Song Contest” in 2005 and since then has become an anthem for fans of his work. This year (2024) marks the 30th anniversary of the writing of the song. As Ian explains, “The song was inspired by a lyrical idea that came from the traditional folk song, ‘Twelve Gates’”, which Ian also performs in a cover version on the same album. The release of “The Beautiful City” has a lot to do with life circumstances, timing and luck.
Ian North is lucky to be alive and celebrates the two-year anniversary of coming back from the brink of death. Two years ago, in the fall of 2022, Ian suffered a double-pulmonary embolism while living deep in the forests of Muskoka, Ontario. A string of fortunate events led North to the Bracebridge hospital in time before he collapsed. North flatlined three times through two hours of emergency resuscitation, then was airlifted from Bracebridge Hospital to Orillia. At age 70, with the support of his wife Jennifer, he had to relocate to the big city, learn how to walk, sing and play guitar again. Music helped him through a lengthy rehabilitation period and sparked a new lease on life and renewed interest in recording and releasing music again. During his time in a coma, his wife Jennifer recalls “One of the things I missed most was hearing Ian’s voice. It made me realize how we can take seemingly small things for granted. I dug into his old albums and would listen to them constantly while waiting to see if Ian would make it. During that time, I made the promise that if he did make it, we were going to make sure that his unrecorded songs would eventually see the light of day.”
Relocating to Toronto for rehabilitation was a major upheaval for the songwriter and artist duo. They had to pivot in all areas of their life and adjust to a new normal. During that time, they struck up a conversation with musician and producer Chris Gartner and the new album “Everything is Incomplete” slowly became a reality. In those early days, North had trouble singing and getting his guitar playing strength back. The life-support tubing in his throat did a number on his vocal cords, but he eventually got his voice and falsetto back. Between recording sessions, North was receiving multiple therapies, a wide range of services that would not be accessible in the remote forest village where they had been living. Between recording sessions, he progressed through physiotherapy, hydrotherapy, chiropractic treatments to get his pain under control and to get the nerves in his legs working again so that he could walk without a “foot drop”, caused by lying in bed in the ICU for so long. Eventually, once he was rehabilitated and the album was near completion, North was clear to leave Toronto at the request of his wife so they could be closer to Muskoka. In January, the pair moved to Orillia, the place where North eventually came back to life.
Though it had been almost two decades since Ian was in the studio, he never stopped playing and making music in private. Releasing the new album broke the dry spell and once again, Jennifer got involved as North’s business and marketing partner. His new album “Everything is Incomplete” marked the beginning of a new “Fallen-Angel Folk-Rock” era. His new self-proclaimed brand and genre that pays respect to many of the characters that North writes about within the context of myth making , cultural meaning and narrative style in songwriting and storytelling. As North says, “we all have a dual nature, striving for perfection but falling short.” The new album was born on August 4th in Orillia and for the first time, Ian North celebrated his first vinyl recording with a release party in Toronto in September. During that two-year rehabilitation/recording period, the song “Beautiful City” took on new meaning. Taking stock of his music career, the near-death experience and relocation to a city where he had lived for many years provided new perspective.
“The Beautiful City” is a modern, non-denominational gospel tune and arrives just in time to be home for the holidays. It has a hopeful vision and theme, arriving at a perfect time, when “all the parted will be reunited and all the weary ones will sleep”…this is our beautiful city, our forever home and where we belong. It’s a place that we’ve made our own and where we feel comfortable and safe. It may be the place of peace where we finally find ourselves. “The Beautiful City” comes from the folk music tradition. The mood of the song is warm, peaceful and united. It represents a loving, hopeful and healing wish for everyone on the planet that home and the idea of home is possible in every corner of the globe. Contemporary alt-country/gospel feel with hints of glockenspiel and choir. Sounds like Jackson Browne meets early U2.
Ian North is often called a “songwriter’s songwriter” for juxtaposing familiar and off-beat references from music history, literature and pop culture. Many of his stories and images come from real life journeys and some from fictional ones. His lyrics are smart and his message is sharp and edgy at times, covering a wide range of topics, from lost love to politics to existential theory. With a scathing take on the world, tempered by occasional musings on life in utopia, Ian North offers unique perspectives and poetic insights on subjects surrounding the human condition. At the same time, he provides a measured glimpse into the nature of the man behind the poetry.
