Ian North Reflects on Loss and Legacy with Nostalgic Folk-Rock Single “Cliffs of Portugal”
Canadian folk-rock artist Ian North returns with “Cliffs of Portugal,” a moving new single that blends elegant guitar work with vivid storytelling and a profound sense of longing. Anchored by North’s evocative lyrics and delivered in his signature “Fallen-Angel Folk-Rock” style, the track captures the bittersweet beauty of travel, memory, and facing the horizon after profound loss.
The song was sparked by North’s time spent on the southwestern tip of Portugal, where he stood at the same vantage point said to have inspired King Henry the Navigator to send his fleet into the unknown. While personal experiences from that trip shape the imagery, the song also resonates with the grief of losing North’s father only months before writing it. “Cliffs of Portugal” becomes a symbolic journey – sailing out over the western sea, beyond what’s familiar, toward something both hopeful and haunted.
“I had some experiences while traveling that ended up in the lyrics, but in the back of my mind was always the idea of sailing over the edge of the known world,” North shares. “Especially after my dad died, it became about what we leave behind and what we find when we cross into the next part of the journey.”
Longtime partner and collaborator Jennifer Claveau joined North in shaping the song’s early acoustic versions, while producer Chris Gartner brought new textures and depth to the final recording. The result is a track that feels at once timeless and deeply personal, layered with nostalgia, elegy, and the quiet courage of moving forward.
“Cliffs of Portugal” follows North’s acclaimed 2024 album Everything is Incomplete, a record that marked not only his creative resurgence but his remarkable survival after a near-fatal double pulmonary embolism. Having endured life support, extensive rehab, and relearning to walk, sing, and play, North’s latest work is imbued with a sharper sense of life’s fragility and its possibilities.