In the clip below, Nightwish vocalist Floor Jansen discusses her duet with her sister, Irene Jansen, on the track "Drifting Islands" from the Northward debut album. 

Stepping free from all boundaries Northward's sound is strong, euphoric and straight in the tradition of Skunk Anansie, Foo Fighters and Alter Bridge but also older bands such as Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin, the music comes straight to the point and makes no compromises.

With the help of producer Jacob Hansen (Volbeat, etc.), who mixed the record, they forged a raw diamond composed of heavy riffs and Floor's incomparable voice, free from influences of the musicians' main bands. And although the songs had originally been written in 2008, they just felt as fresh and alive upon a second hearing, as they had on the very first day of their creation. "The music is melodic, but also in your face and kick ass rock. Cool riffs, good melodies, tasteful arrangements. We would simply like to call it 'Good Music'", commented the singer and adds: "We wanted to explore a stripped down sound, with drums, bass, guitar and vocals. Not the heavy layers of keyboards, choirs etc."

Alongside Floor Jansen and Jorn Viggo Lofstad, Morty Black (TNT) handled bass duties, while drums were handled by Jango Nilsen and Stian Kristoffersen (Pagan's Mind). You will also hear a guest appearance by Floor's sister Irene Jansen, singing a duet on the song "Drifting Islands". And finally, Ronny Tegner from Pagan's Mind played the piano on one song.

This year, Northward is ready to break free. Floor Jansen states: "We are happy and exited to be able to release this rock album under Nuclear Blast’s name. They accepted the challenge of bringing this non metal album into the world by believing in us as musicians, and also for the pure love for music that sounds good to them. We have both put our heart and soul into this album. We are very proud of it and we cant wait to show it to you all!"

The cover artwork was created by Hannes Van Dahl and Chris Rörland.

Tracklisting:

"While Love Died"
"Get What You Give"
"Storm In A Glass"
"Drifting Islands"
"Paragon"
"Let Me Out"
"Big Boy"
"Timebomb"
"Bridle Passion"
"I Need"
"Northward"

"While Love Died" video:

"Get What You Give" lyric video: