By Maggie Baring
Recently, my father and I, both avid music listeners, formulated a revolutionary new musical theory: that the average listener of mainstream music is either a music or lyric listener. They either pay attention to how the melodies, rhythms or atmosphere of a song make them feel, or they listen avidly to what the singer is saying; unpicking each line and its possible contexts, meanings and implications. If you, like me, are in the latter category, and prefer songs crammed with intelligent, poetic and often deeply emotional lyrics, then you will, or at least should, be familiar with Noah Kahan’s music.
Noah Kahan, on 19th June 2023, released a deluxe version of his third studio album, Stick Season (We’ll All Be Here Forever), which came out in 2022. This re-release of songs, with the addition of seven brand new tracks, has prompted a resurgence in its popularity. Kahan, who has referred to himself as both “Jewish Capaldi” and “Folk Malone”, rose to stratospheric and mainstream popularity only in 2023, with the title track of his recent album, “Stick Season”, earning huge popularity due to TikTok. A long overdue review of Kahan’s seminal album is what follows.
The album is unified by the strain of memory which flows throughout; Kahan’s history of mental health struggles, childhood memories and his path to fame. The result is an album which reads as a letter of love, and hate, to his Canadian hometown in Vermont. The opening track, “Northern Attitude”, introduces the mood of Kahan’s writing for this album as autumnal, with “Stick Season” meaning a local term for “this really miserable time of year when it’s just kind of grey and cold, and there’s no snow yet and the beauty of the foliage is done” (Kahan, 2022, interview for Genius). A mood of bitterness also pervades, with the song containing nostalgic (and, at moments, negative) depictions of Kahan’s hometown and community: “Forgive my northern attitude, I was raised on little light.” The final track completes this bookending technique of framing the album whilst also retaining a sense of journey as we listen. “The View Between Villages – Extended” also contains passionate lyrics about Kahan’s hometown, with the deluxe version spinning the song in a particularly sentimental direction, as the song echoes out of earshot with spacious guitar and Kahan’s stunningly sustained vocals. These give the impression of driving in the stillness of the countryside around one’s home, elated by a feeling of freedom and acceptance. Throughout the song unknown voices of hometown locals pierce the soundscape, talking lovingly about the town where they spent their lives. One female voice notes, “For me personally, I found the town big enough for anything that I wanted.” This draws attention to generational differences between Kahan’s elderly community and the youth of Vermont who, like Kahan, seek something better outside its small community. It develops upon the idea presented in “You’re Gonna Go Far”, which is written from the perspective of a parent encouraging their child to embrace their dreams and not feel guilty for leaving home. The sense of parental self-sacrifice in lines such as “while I clean shit up in the yard, you’ll be far from here”, convey the powerful contrast in life experience between the rural farmers of New England and their ambitious children. Whilst the album begins in bitterness and a feeling of stagnancy, the ending of the album suggests a sense of growth and catharsis, which comes to a crescendo in the final track. The most refreshing aspect of Kahan’s album is that he has not underestimated the power of an album as an impactful body of work, rather than a collection of unrelated singles. Not only as a songwriter did Kahan find this unifying motif helpful when creating the album, but it also reminds the modern listener of minute attention span that, in a world of thirty second TikTok snippets and catchy choruses, to stick with an album for the full hour-and-a-half experience can be just as rewarding.
The beauty of the album, in my opinion, also comes from the fusing of modern issues, modern metaphors and modern subjects, with natural, historical and emotional imagery and language. The “good land”, the “curve of the valley”, “hibernation” and a pervading autumnal mood fuse combine with the modern world, perhaps even standing for Kahan’s own feelings when returning from the busy world of fame into the agriculturally dominated lifestyle of his hometown. Folk music’s reputation of pinpointing the specific and relating it to the greater picture can be spotted here profoundly, with mentions of travel restrictions due to COVID (“Stick Season”) signifying a greater sense of entrapment. Additionally, orange juice (“Orange Juice”) at a party signals the strength to battle alcoholism, and dialogue within a voice message (“Dial Drunk”) communicates an inability to move on from a past relationship. This technique of specificity is a hallmark of folk music; one which often tells stories in relatable ways to engage a listener. Kahan is following in the footsteps, perhaps in a slightly more mainstream way, of another Jewish-Canadian folk singer, Leonard Cohen, who died in 2016. His influence, especially in the Canadian music tradition as a whole, is profound, and there can be no doubt about his lyrical influence over the artists who came after him pursuing a career in the folk genre. Noah Kahan has taken this baton proudly and continues to elate fans with every new single he releases. His tour, which comes to England in February, is widely popular and selling out fast. This artist is definitely one to watch.