Noah Kahan recently released his new album Stick Season (Forever). The album has 30 songs and a run time of two hours. Last year 21 songs on this album were released on June 9th in a separate album, Stick Season (We’ll All Be Here Forever). The difference is now Kahan has added one new song and eight new recordings with features by miscellaneous artists.
This new album showcases Kahan’s talents for working with others and creating music that can be universally enjoyed. Top streamed songs on the album are “Stick Season”, “Northern Attitude” (with Hozier), and “Dial Drunk” (with Post Malone). All three of these songs can be seen as different styles of music within the same genre. “Dial Drunk” has more of a country twang to it, whereas “Northern Attitude” is more of a pop and folk mixture. On the other hand Kahan’s “Stick Season” is by far the most successful song on his album with over 650 million streams. I originally heard the song “Stick Season” because of its popularity on TikTok. This is how I came to like Kahan’s music, and as I kept listening to the rest of the album I really enjoyed his style.
Apart from Kahan’s most popular songs, I really enjoyed his style on the less popular songs on the album. For the less-streamed songs, my favorites are “Strawberry Wine” and “Come Over.” I like listening to Kahan’s new album more than his old albums because I think he has made such a significant evolution in his songwriting.
This album tends to have an upbeat mood but sometimes the lyrics often convey a gloomy or saddening idea. My favorite song on the new album is “Homesick” (with Sam Fendler). I like this song because I think the vocals are unmatched and the song is enhanced with the collaboration with Fendler. On that note, my favorite collabs are Gracie Abrams on “Everywhere, Everything” and Kasey Musgraves on “She Calls Me Back.” I like that there is a female voice mixed with a male voice, and I think these songs unlock a new level of Kahan’s music and create a song that is unskippable.
Overall, Stick Season (Forever) has brought Kahan to a new level of music with collaborations. Additionally, fans of artists Kahan has collaborated with have started to engage in Kahan’s music, ultimately allowing for his music to grow in popularity while adding new fans to his growing group of listeners.