Not more than a year ago, I was introduced to Noah Kahan. Listening all the way through his 2019 Stick Season album, I fell in love with every song. Each one made my mind go to another place in time. The raw emotion, you can’t help but feel, is the key ingredient to this masterpiece of an album. I felt a certain connection to the songs, including “Strawberry Wine”, “Still”, and “The View Between Villages”. These songs helped me to work through the complicated emotions I went through after my dad passed away last year in April. Those three songs for some reason spoke straight to my heart, allowing me to experience a personal connection with them as I thought about my dad. 

After repeatedly listening to Stick Season, I wanted to hear some other songs from Noah Kahan. So, I went to find his other albums and listened to every last one of the songs. I simply couldn’t get enough.  I was extremely eager for what Noah Kahan would make next.

The day I saw his new album, Stick Season (We’ll All Be Here Forever) pop up on Spotify, I instantly got excited. But when I clicked on it, I was confused to see the songs of Stick Season on there, but with 7 new additions. I learned that the album was a new edition of the original Sick Season. I instantly put in my AirPods and gave them a listen one by one.

The first of the new songs is called “Your Needs, My Needs”. It begins with a soft guitar setting a calm pace. Noah’s voice chimes in as he sings the despairing and complicated lyrics that creates a sense of stillness. Throughout the song he continues to switch up the pace, going from a slow song, to speeding up to more of an indie rock song and transitioning at the end with a slow sad beat. At first, I didn’t exactly like this song too much because of how it had this sad tempo and then switching to a rock song, therefore making me feel confused and uneasy. After a few weeks I gave it a listen again and felt that I had completely different feelings towards it. I felt a sense of stillness as I listened carefully to the slow first half of it. Personally I don’t exactly like the second half of the song because of the angry feel of it. I think overall the song is very unique and captivates a lot of real emotions Noah Kahan is experiencing.

Completely contrasting the mellow feel of “Your Needs, My Needs”, “Dial Drunk” features an upbeat tune on a banjo. It’s impossible to not jam out to this incredibly catchy song, with the banjo riff and the melody acting as a hook. Noah shares his complicated thoughts as he reflects on his past memories of him being drunk and alone. This is the most popular song of the new releases, almost becoming as popular as his hit “Stick Season”. I think this song deserves the attention, for it is a brilliant song that is so fun to listen and sing along to.

“Paul Revere” brings you a totally different feel, where Noah gives a description of this town as the guitar stays at a steady pace. Noah tells us how he isn’t proud that he’s from here and half way through the mood shifts in the guitar chords as he sings, “but I’m in my car, and I see the yard, the patch of grass where we buried the dog… If I could I would’ve already left”. After repeating that group of lyrics, he closes the song with the sounds of different string instruments. I personally really like this song because of the feeling the beat gives you as if you're moving forward. I also like all the cool string instruments in this song that create this cool atmosphere around you. 

“No Complaints” is a slower tempo with the overall low pitch creating a dull, weary feeling that travels from your ears to your heart. He sings “I saw the end, it looks just the middle. I got a paper and pen, but Ii can’t feel the pain…”. He then ends by telling himself, “but who am I to complain”. Although this isn’t the greatest sounding song, the lyrics that he sings are raw and give a deep understanding of how Noah is emotionally. Personally though, I’m not a fan of this song because of how depressing the lyrics are as well as it having an overall bleak sound to it.

Next is “Call Your Mom”—my favorite of all of them. It soothes your ears with a slow strum on the guitar and softly singing, “Oh, your spiralin’ again”. The words he sings are relatable and reassuring, making for an emotional song. There are certain lyrics that really hit home for me like when he says, “Don’t let this darkness fool you. All the lights turned off can be turned on.” I do wish the pitch and the overall sound of the song wasn’t so gloomy and had happier notes or chords, more like his song “Strawberry Wine” where the guitar had a more lighthearted sound, though.

“You’re Gonna Go Far” comes in next with a slightly happier feel to it. In this song he  navigates his complicated emotions that come with saying goodbye to someone who is loved, but also causing pain by leaving. He sings, “We ain’t angry at you love. You're the greatest thing we’ve lost. In the melody he sings, “It makes me smile to know when things get hard, you’ll be far from here.” The song picks up some speed half way through with drums and a few other instruments joining the mix. He ends the song by stating, “If you wanna go far, then you gotta go far”. Other than “Dial Drunk”, this is the only song I put on my “liked songs” Spotify list because of the feeling the guitar in the song gave me. I liked the lighthearted feeling of the overall song as it wasn’t like some of the dreary songs before.

Seeing that the last song is “The View Between Villages - Extended”, I was curious what he did to make it “Extended”. “The View Between Villages” was my favorite of all them on the “Stick Season” album because of how incredibly powerful the song is. I gave the Extended version a listen and it was the original song until the end where there was now a soft guitar beat and recording of an elderly woman talking about the town and then a different person talking about their thoughts on Strafford. The song had an interesting ending after the recording snippet. I liked how he still was able to end it on a soft beat with “I’m back between villages, and everything’s still.” I definitely like this version of the song more than the original because of the added emotion with the recording and the extra flair that it has near the end. 

Although the Stick Season (We’ll All Be Here Forever) album is basically just a deluxe album of Stick Season, I really did come to enjoy almost all the new songs, as they fit in well with the original songs of the album. Each one has such a different element and feeling associated with them making it an emotional roller coaster for you as you listen along. That’s about it for what I have to say about this album, now it’s your turn, put in your earbuds or power on your speaker and give it a listen.