{"id":91987,"date":"2025-08-08T10:02:06","date_gmt":"2025-08-08T09:02:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/?p=91987"},"modified":"2025-08-08T10:02:07","modified_gmt":"2025-08-08T09:02:07","slug":"the-north-sounds-what-it-takes-weaves-prairie-grit-and-soulful-stories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/2025\/08\/the-north-sounds-what-it-takes-weaves-prairie-grit-and-soulful-stories\/","title":{"rendered":"The North Sound\u2019s\u00a0&#8216;What It Takes&#8217;\u00a0Weaves Prairie Grit and Soulful Stories\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Coming from the wide prairies of Treaty 6 and 7 Territory, The North Sound comprise Forrest and Nevada Eaglespeaker, and bring with them a glorious celebration of love and raw storytelling, in the form of their new album, &#8216;What It Takes&#8217;.<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You can stream and download &#8216;What It Takes&#8217; <a href=\"https:\/\/ditto.fm\/the-north-sound-what-it-takes\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Indigenous folk rhythms, underpinned by Americana vibes, &#8216;What It Takes&#8217; is an unflinchingly honest examination of the highs and lows of the duo&#8217;s shared journey in both life and music. Opening track, &#8216;Til The Love Runs Out&#8217; sways from the outset with its indigenous inspiration, while second track, &#8216;Hard Way, Easy Livin&#8217;, brings clear influence from Dwight Yoakam and his country shuffle sound. This song came about during a hot summer road trip the couple took in 2023, accompanied by their two young children and Forrest&#8217;s brother, Jaden. The trip took in festival performances, playgrounds, swimming holes, and a hospital visit &#8211; along with the blistering heat and eight hour drives in the van. Backstage at one performance, a friend made an off-the-cuff remark, backstage on a day which hit the 33 degrees C mark &#8211; \u201cthis sure is a hard way to make an easy living\u201d &#8211; and thus was sparked the song. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8216;What It Takes&#8217; had its genesis four years ago, and is filled with life experiences and memories from the couple&#8217;s life, with lyrics crafted by Forrest, and lifted by Nevada&#8217;s striking vocals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The North Sound came together in 2014, and their sound is rooted in Forrest&#8217;s Blackfoot heritage. With an unguarded vulnerability they navigate inter-generational trauma, while inviting others to join them in singing along, thus forging a connection between artist and audience, which lingers long in the minds of listeners, and promotes healing for all. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The ten-track album was released on May 23 this year, via Nashville&#8217;s independent Indigenous label, New Sun Music, and sees the pair narrate the couple&#8217;s lived experiences, no less so than in the track, &#8216;Hard Way, Easy Livin&#8217;, which is accompanied by a striking music video, seen below.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"epyt-video-wrapper\"><div  style=\"display: block; margin: 0px auto;\"  id=\"_ytid_52467\"  width=\"640\" height=\"360\"  data-origwidth=\"640\" data-origheight=\"360\"  data-relstop=\"1\" data-facadesrc=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/zZDLFHIzrqM?enablejsapi=1&#038;origin=https:\/\/essentiallypop.com&#038;autoplay=0&#038;cc_load_policy=0&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;loop=0&#038;fs=1&#038;playsinline=1&#038;controls=1&#038;disablekb=0&#038;color=red&#038;cc_lang_pref=&#038;rel=0&#038;autohide=2&#038;theme=dark&#038;\" class=\"__youtube_prefs__ epyt-facade no-lazyload\" data-epautoplay=\"1\" ><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" data-spai-excluded=\"true\" class=\"epyt-facade-poster skip-lazy\" loading=\"lazy\"  alt=\"The North Sound - Hard Way, Easy Livin\u2019\"  src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/zZDLFHIzrqM\/maxresdefault.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\"  \/><button class=\"epyt-facade-play\" aria-label=\"Play\"><svg data-no-lazy=\"1\" height=\"100%\" version=\"1.1\" viewBox=\"0 0 68 48\" width=\"100%\"><path class=\"ytp-large-play-button-bg\" d=\"M66.52,7.74c-0.78-2.93-2.49-5.41-5.42-6.19C55.79,.13,34,0,34,0S12.21,.13,6.9,1.55 C3.97,2.33,2.27,4.81,1.48,7.74C0.06,13.05,0,24,0,24s0.06,10.95,1.48,16.26c0.78,2.93,2.49,5.41,5.42,6.19 C12.21,47.87,34,48,34,48s21.79-0.13,27.1-1.55c2.93-0.78,4.64-3.26,5.42-6.19C67.94,34.95,68,24,68,24S67.94,13.05,66.52,7.74z\" fill=\"#f00\"><\/path><path d=\"M 45,24 27,14 27,34\" fill=\"#fff\"><\/path><\/svg><\/button><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Find out more about The North Sound and their music online on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/thenorthsoundyxe\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Instagram<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/thenorthsoundyxe\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Facebook<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/artist\/7gopHHMMC0WnY58ktrwt12?si=t66nnCLKSSCyTOSKnzF-pg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Spotify<\/a>, and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/music.apple.com\/gb\/artist\/the-north-sound\/1212710015\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Apple Music<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Coming from the wide prairies of Treaty 6 and 7 Territory, The North Sound comprise Forrest and Nevada Eaglespeaker, and bring with them a glorious celebration of love and raw storytelling, in the form of their new album, &#8216;What It Takes&#8217;.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":91993,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"Coming from the wide prairies of Treaty 6 and 7 Territory, The North Sound comprise Forrest and Nevada Eaglespeaker, and bring with them a glorious celebration of love and raw storytelling, in the form of their new album, 'What It Takes'.","jetpack_seo_html_title":"The North Sound\u2019s\u00a0'What It Takes'\u00a0Weaves Prairie Grit and Soulful Stories\u00a0","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Coming from the wide prairies of Treaty 6 and 7 Territory, The North Sound comprise Forrest and Nevada Eaglespeaker, and bring with them a glorious celebration of love and raw storytelling, in the form of their new album, 'What It Takes'.","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[7,9,21453,21445,21446,21449,640],"tags":[11720,77,370,1945,116,10677,33073,81,22992,33074],"class_list":["post-91987","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music","category-new-releases","category-new-singles","category-reviews","category-single-reviews","category-video-reviews","category-videos","tag-lisa-hafey","tag-new-release","tag-new-single","tag-new-video","tag-review","tag-single-review","tag-the-north-sound","tag-video","tag-video-review","tag-what-it-takes"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5yMhl-nVF","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":78044,"url":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/2022\/10\/sp8ce-owl-shares-with-us-the-voices-in-my-head-in-latest-electronic-release\/","url_meta":{"origin":91987,"position":0},"title":"Sp8ce Owl Shares With Us The &#8216;Voices In My Head&#8217; In Latest Electronic Release","author":"Lisa Hafey","date":"11\/10\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"We've long covered Sp8ce Owl's music, his ethereal sound, that somehow manages to transcend dimensions, both of time and space, really hits the spot with us. 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