Stick Season
You may have first heard it on TikTok like the rest of the world as Noah Kahan spread his way across America like wildfire with his folky-pop hit. As Noah Kahan is preparing for the tour of his fame-breaking album, Stick Season, which is kicking off in the US on April 20th, 2024 in North Charleston, SC, I will be doing a review of the original Stick Season album.
To preface, Noah Kahan’s music uses an infused blend of indie, folk, pop, and country instrumentals, while his lyricism elicits deep sentiment. This combination evokes many emotions for the listener to interpret. Specifically for me, it invokes a type of nostalgia for something that I have not yet experienced. Anemoia: a word that I have recently discovered which I can attribute to learning from the novel that I recently finished and reviewed, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, by Gabrielle Zevin, is defined as being, “nostalgia for a time you’ve never known”. What this entails is entirely up to the interpreter, whether it be the feeling as if you’d been born in the wrong decade, or a shared worldly experience for which you have not yet felt, such as moving away from home for the first time. For me, Noah Kahan’s lyricism and melody make me long for my hometown which I have never truly left. Or maybe anemoia is making me long for a hometown to which I never truly belonged and which does not exist in this time-space continuum. Either way, Noah Kahan is the epitome of the nostalgic experience.
For this review, I will be taking into account lyrics, instrumentals, and melody, and I will give each song a score out of 10 and holistically review the album as well.
“Northern Attitude”
Kicking off the start of the album is “Northern Attitude”. I really enjoy the instrumentals of this song, starting off on an upbeat note that’s not quite happy but more of a lost and confused beat that centers around a man who has grown up but is still sad and confused about what the purpose of his life is. My favorite part of the song is how it becomes more energetic at the chorus, and how it really emphasizes the begging for forgiveness for being distant in a relationship. 9/10
“Stick Season”
Oh, the infamous “Stick Season”. The song has a nice simple guitar line that follows through the entire song, I wish that the guitar chords had been more complex, and perhaps more instruments would enhance the body of the song. I do enjoy the lyrics and how the barren look of Vermont, a place seemingly beautiful from all of the photographs, is allegorical for the end of a relationship when the good memories of a person have turned sour. 8/10
“All My Love”
“All My Love” is a changeup from “Stick Season”, as it is a more upbeat and happy song on the album. I really enjoy the ukelele and beat of this song, it is the perfect combination of happiness, although the lyrics aren’t necessarily the most uplifting, the lyrics tell a story of how a hometown love has moved out of their small town onto bigger and better things, while the singer has stayed behind and is still in love. I like the twist on sad lyrics being in an upbeat song. 9/10
“She Calls Me Back”
The instrumentals of this song are simpler but there are certainly more of them. This song is certainly catchy and flows very well. The lyrics are about how the singer longs for his ex back but is greeted with a cold shoulder. The lyrics aren’t very deep in meaning, but the song and instrumentals are catchy. 8/10
“Come Over”
The instrumentals in this song are again much simpler with just the acoustic guitar, but it resonates with the sadness that the tone and lyrics contain. In the lyrics, the singer is self-reflecting on his loneliness that he has and his longing for the human connection that he desperately needs. 7.5/10
“New Perspective”
This song is compelling to me because the lyrics are harder to interpret to the listener, the instrumentals and melody offer insight into a nostalgia for a time that has passed, and upon returning to his hometown, the singer realizes that nothing is as glamourized as it once was when he was growing up. 9.5/10
“Everywhere, Everything”
This is another rare upbeat song on Noah Kahans album. As one of the happier songs on this album, the lyrics are about living life in the moment and loving deeply because you only have one life. I like the message in this song and the upbeat melody and instrumentals of this one. 9.5/10
“Orange Juice”
This is perhaps one of my favorite songs on this album. From the depth of the themes of the lyrics to the brilliant key changes between the dialogue of the characters, this song is certainly a masterpiece. The lyrics take you on a deep journey between two friends who share a dark past. On one hand, the one friend has moved on from the incident and has not been changed from it, while the other friend has changed his whole life becoming sober, and losing his toxic friends who are telling him to just “move on”. Whether the lyrics are about someone dying in a drunk car accident, or a different incident is unsure, but Noah Kahan really put his heart and soul into the lyrics and instrumentals of this song. 10/10
“Strawberry Wine”
This is a softer song with a soft acoustic guitar line in the background. This makes the song have a sad twinge to it, which is fitting for the lyrics that represent the bittersweetness of a love that never worked out. This song had minimal lyrics and more guitar moments that could have been more powerful. 7/10
“Growing Sideways”
This song has a depressing melody and instrumentals, and the lyrics offer insight into Kahan’s struggle with mental health, but the chorus offers a message that even when you want to give up and have an “empty tank” it’s important to keep pushing. I think this is a good message hidden in a sad song. 8.5/10
“Halloween”
This song has a chilling melody and instrumentals that almost feel haunting, like Halloween. The lyrics depict how Kahan had lost himself in a bad breakup to drugs and alcohol, and how the ghost of his ex is haunting him. The melody with the lyrics provides a deep and haunting song which is unique on this album. 9.5/10
“Homesick”
Ah yes, “Homesick”, is one of the classic songs about nostalgia on Noah Kahan’s Stick Season album. This nostalgic song has a twist to it though as Noah Kahan is speaking about how he can’t seem to leave his home state, despite wanting to pursue his dreams, and how he will die in the house that he grew up in still homesick for a town that once was but is now tainted by his reality. 9.5/10
“Still”
This is another song that is depressing in its melody and instrumentals. The song depicts a relationship where one person is still stuck on the other but they have moved on. “I don’t, I don’t, I don’t want to say goodbye,” are lyrics that repeat over and over in the song, emphasizing Noah Kahan’s unwillingness to let go of his previous partner. 8/10
“The View Between Villages”
This song marks the end of Noah Kahan’s Stick Season album. The lyrics and instrumentals really take us on a journey of Noah Kahan’s childhood and his current state mental state as the story spans from being hesitant about embarking on a journey, and then being taken back to the joy and pain of childhood, and then again back to the peace that is found during the journey. The song and album end with 30 seconds of silence which feels like a time to reflect on the song and album experience. 9/10
Overall I very much enjoyed the listening experience of the Stick Season album. I would recommend to anyone to listen to the album in the order that Noah Kahan has put it in to gain the full listening experience. I would give the album overall a 9/10, I really enjoyed the songs they were very personal and relatable and they make a person feel as though they are less alone in their struggles.
