Approaches northern listeners (5)
I believe the answer is:
nears
'approaches' is the definition.
(I know this)
'northern listeners' is the wordplay.
'northern' becomes 'n' (abbreviation e.g. N. Ireland).
'listeners' becomes 'ears' (body parts which listen).
'n'+'ears'='NEARS'
(Other definitions for nears that I've seen before include "Becomes closer" , "advances" , "is approaching" , "Draws closer to" , "Uses snare to get closer" .)