At this point, I think we all know who Noah Kahan is. If you haven’t heard “Stick Season” you might actually be living under a rock, and after what’s felt like forever, Kahan graced us with new music through the release of his new album “The Great Divide.” There is also an extended version titled “The Great Divide: The Last of the Bugs.”
This album is everything I could’ve dreamed of: 21 long songs, phenomenal lyricism, recorded at Long Pond Studios and work from Aaron Dessner.
The album opens with “End of August,” which has a piano opening that lets you know you’re in for prime emotional damage for the next hour and a half. The song uses the end of the summer as a metaphor for moments in life that come to a close, as memories are starting to slip away from you and reminds us that everything is temporary. Some of my favorite lyrics from the album come from this song’s second verse, like “Oh, and the feelin’ of being alive / For the first time in a long time”.
“Doors” is when Kahan starts to amp things up. It’s more upbeat while talking about tendencies to hurt people he loves, which is such a relatable feeling. From what I’ve seen, this is a fan favorite and for good reason. In this track, Kahan’s vocals are rich and intense.
“American Cars” dabbles into folk-pop as Kahan tells a story of calling a sibling who left home to fix something or someone.
A personal favorite is “Downfall.” It’s lyrically dense but speaks on the complex feelings of loving someone who leaves while secretly rooting that they’ll fail and come back, which is such a classic situation for Kahan to write about. In a TikTok interview with Billboard, Kahan said it would be fun to have Phoebe Bridgers featured on this song, and I need that immediately.
“Lighthouse” is haunting and sounds like it came right off a Bon Iver album, which is funny because Justin Vernon, Bon Iver’s frontman, is credited on this track. It’s about remembering someone who has left the town you’re from.
“Paid Time Off” goes full folk and plays with the metaphor of PTO, where instead of taking time off from work, Kahan is hinting the deeper need to step away from things, whether that be fame or relationships or even expectations, and the guilt that can come from that.
After debuting “Staying Still” last November, fans have been hoping it’d be featured on the new record, and it wasn’t at first but was added to the extended version. The song mixes Kahan’s hatred for Boston’s Logan Airport with his desire to make the distance in a relationship go away.
“The Great Divide” opened Kahan’s new era with a bang. The song has rock influences and even though the concept is depressing as hell, it’s also really catchy. It has underlying religious trauma themes but overall, it talks about the divide that can occur within human relationships.
“Haircut” talks about coming home after changing and the tension that comes with it. It focuses on the people who stayed behind and the feelings they have toward feeling used for growth in someone else’s story.
“Willing and Able” is insane. It’s another one of my favorites from the album, but it’s also so depressing. It talks about sibling relationships and the strain that comes from trying to love a difficult person. It’s got a simple acoustic melody that helps the lyrics and Kahan’s melancholy voice really punch you in the gut.
“Dashboard” was teased a couple weeks before the album’s release, and fans immediately fell in love. It plays with a rock sound and is about someone trying to change themselves and run from their past, but the people who know them see right through it.
It’s hard to pick favorites when the album is so good, but I think “23” might be the winner. The song is basically saying: I want you back in my life but not this version of you. I love the chorus, specifically the lines “ ‘Cause if I never see you again / You could be anything I want.”
“We Go Way Back” is where Kahan mellows out and goes down the ballad route. The song is beautiful and pretty quiet with no crazy production, allowing the lyrics to really take over. The song is about how while Kahan has seen the world and felt the love of millions, the only opinions that matter to him are from the people he’s known forever.
“All Them Horses” is an emotional tribute to Vermont after a flood devastated the area in 2023, but it’s also about the complicated relationship Kahan has with his hometown, especially with the fame he’s found. It’s another one of my absolute favorites from the album, and I’ve already sobbed to it.
For the closing track “Dan”, Kahan goes down the nostalgic route with this ode to his best friend. The song is a love letter to friendship and those people that you want to be with you forever.
Kahan did not come to play with “The Great Divide,” and it’s the kind of album that I know is only going to get better with time.
Rating: 5/5