Noah Kahan Defines the ‘Northern Attitude’ in New Album “Stick Season”

Written by Zoe Tevyaw, Photography by Patrick McCormack

Pop-turned-folk artist Noah Kahan’s new album Stick Season has propelled the musician into the center of New England’s new musical epicenter since its release on October 14, 2022. Under Mercury/Republic Records, this third studio album has taken the folksy sounds Kahan has only previously touched on and run with it completely, using his skills as a stream of consciousness, conversational yet widely relatable songwriter to paint the picture of what it means to grow up in the Northeast.

The title track “Stick Season” released in July and immediately found a home online amongst the “granola” sound and aesthetic that quickly spread outward, touching many with its sentiments. An acoustic-oriented piece, “Stick Season” is about that hopeless, barren time of year that northerners dread when all the leaves have left the trees, but there’s yet to be any snowfall. The lyrics are both timely and timeless, as Kahan grapples with the grief of lost love during the pandemic in lines like “I am terrified of weather 'cause I see you when it rains /

Doc told me to travel, but there's COVID on the planes.” Despite its summer release, it spurred an early onslaught of fall vibes and feelings among Tik Tok and Instagram users that related to the song’s devastatingly harrowing lyricism.

Another stand-out track that’s found a home in current internet trends is “Homesick,” a gritty, high-intensity song bemoaning the monotony and stagnation in Northeast towns and the cultural effect of growing up in such a place. Lines like “I'm tired of dirt roads named after high school friends' grandfathers” and “This place is such great motivation for anyone trying to move the fuck away from hibernation” or even the morbid “I’ll die in the house that I grew up in” perfectly set the scene for the clear-cut chorus: “I’m mean because I grew up in New England.” The simple, explanatory line is Kahan shamelessly describing why he is the way he is, a sentiment that has been adopted into a TikTok trend using this same audio clip.Though not quite to the degree of “Stick Season” or “Homesick,” several other tracks have also become somewhat widespread online in admiration of the expert songwriting that went into them. “All My Love” combines aspects of both previously mentioned songs as a high-energy recapitulation of a former lover, but this time with a sense of satisfied resignation and acceptance. Kahan’s raw and honest vocal belting in the chorus of this song really drives home the emotion and adds dimension to the storytelling that sets this track apart. 

Many listeners, after being given “Stick Season” and “Northern Attitude” as singles, couldn’t have expected anything but a nihilistic record filled with sad songs about breakups and COVID. However, the album is filled with surprises like “Everywhere, Everything,” a song about and for lovers that extends the idea of “‘til death do us part” for four minutes, and “She Calls Me Back,” a reverent description of a girl whose path never quite crossed with Kahan, yet whose impact was most certainly felt. There’s hope in these tracks that lift Stick Season out of perpetual despair with a glimmer of hope for life moving forward. “Orange Juice,” while devastatingly soft, also has a similar effect as it contrasts the hopelessness of other songs against simple comforts that can still be found. Flashing back and forth between past and present, it tells the story of wreckage left by addiction and the connections found through sobriety.

With the new record’s release, Kahan sent a message to all those on his email list, describing his headspace while writing the album, explaining the notable changes between his past, poppier work and Stick Season: 

“I did love writing and releasing pop songs, and was eternally grateful for the success and platform they provided for me, but I would write these little folk stories on my own because they felt natural and fun and reminded me of what I loved listening to growing up. They were 3 minute water breaks from the exhausting game of professional songwriting that I had been burning myself out on for so long.”

The record sums up life in the north: the insistent yearning for new scenery clashing with an aversion to change and a reluctance to leave, cut apart by individual moments of clarity and uplifting sincerity where you know you don’t want to get left behind.