On Friday, April 24, Vermont singer-songwriter Noah Kahan released his fourth studio album, The Great Divide. This album explores the aftermath of Kahan’s fame since becoming a well-known artist. On this album Kahan belts out gut-wrenching songs about both his relationships with the people in his life and how fame has affected them. The Great Divide features a mix of folk, country, and pop genres. The album is lengthy with 17 songs and an additional four songs on the album’s extended version, The Great Divide: Last of the Bugs.
Noah Kahan first rose to fame with the release of hit-single “Stick Season,” the title track from his 2022 album. Stick Season was Kahan’s third full length album following Busyhead (2019) and I was/I am (2021), and he also has two extended play albums, Cape Elizabeth (2020) and Hurt Somebody (2018). While Kahan’s breakthrough album was Stick Season and many of these other albums are lesser-known, they all still carry his pained stories. These first few albums, long or short, were the starting point of Kahan’s music and have created his sound today. Fans long awaited The Great Divide release and the album rewarded fans with a more emotionally mature and complex sound.
The album opens with a soft melody that draws listeners in. “End of August” starts with simple piano and bugs chirping in the background, drawing in a sense of nostalgia and longing for summer nights. However, once the lyrics start, the listener can feel a sense of melancholy. Kahan uses the lyrics “Late August angst, and a pointless night. Ooh, and the feeling of being alive. For the first time in a long time,” to convey his message of the hardships that sobriety comes with. But, for Kahan, it’s never too late to try and work through it if it makes his life better. The second part of the song picks up with more instruments and a hopeful energy, compared to the downcast tone of the song’s intro.
Closely following “End of August”, track three “American Cars” embraces both joy and pain. “American Cars” starts with an upbeat “stomp-clap” building a rhythm that combines the song’s reflective, sad lyrics with more cheerful production. The chorus starts quickly after creating a higher-tempo strain that aims to hide the pain behind the song’s lyrics. Kahan sings of fixing something that’s broken and only you, a possible old love or connection, can mend. “Cause you’re gonna fix it, you gotta patch it up, honey, we’re fragile.” This song deceptively uses lively sound and beats to relate a more gloomy message of overreliance and strained relations. “American Car” combines the classic Noah Kahan sound, raspy and raw, with something more upbeat and pop.
Track 13 and the second single on the album, “Porch Light” starts slower giving the song a wounded tone, but picks up into a faster pace country song. The song ends with a raw and emotional feeling that Kahan was trying to convey. “Porch Light” carries messages of family and is written from the perspective of Kahan’s mother and how she has dealt with the side effects of her son’s fame. Through the lyrics, listeners can feel the pain that she has felt after Kahan rose to fame. Over time their relationship soured, leading their connection to become a ghost of what it was.
After Kahan released his first 17 songs on The Great Divide, he turned around and released an extended version of the album Friday, April 24, adding four new songs, and calling this new edition The Great Divide: The Last of the Bugs. These new songs include track five, “Lighthouse,” track seven, “Staying Still,” track 19 “A Few Of Your Own,” and track 20 “Orbiter.” These additional songs add to Kahan’s emotional and melancholy storytelling throughout the album, leaving listeners and fans feeling wrecked, in a good way.
An undeniable hit from this extension is track seven, “Staying Still,” which begins with a slow guitar and quickly morphs into a more fast paced song with drums and cymbals. Kahan’s classic whine is combined with a strain on his voice, demonstrating his passion for the lyrics and clearly showing listeners his pain. In “Staying Still,” Kahan uses driving in New England traffic to communicate his fear of abandonment and anxiety. Most of his songs use analogies to convey a deeper meaning and message, which is present in “Staying Still.” The fast tempo and pop elements of the song keep it entertaining and upbeat while also telling a story of emotional instability and uncertainty.
With a total of 21 songs on the album and a total run time of more than an hour and a half, The Great Divide can be quite a tricky and time-consuming album for listeners. Although the album’s songs are powerful with messages of heartbreak and reunion, it takes a lot of time to fully finish appreciating all the songs.
The Great Divide is a fantastic album and definitely worth listening to; however, due to the length of the songs and album, listeners might find it hard to fully understand the messaging that Kahan weaves into his work. Nonetheless, Kahan keeps each song unique and plays with different genres throughout the album. Overall, The Great Divide is excellent, receiving 4.5 out of five feathers.
