Noah Kahan was a part of the music industry for years before he garnered the following he has today. He released his first studio album “Busyhead” in 2019 and his second full-length album, “I Was / I Am” in 2021, but neither of these generated as much buzz as his teasing a new song called “Stick Season” on TikTok in 2020. After his posting, Kahan gained instant popularity and was sent into the limelight of pop music in record time.
After his viral video, Kahan released an album by the same name as the single called “Stick Season” in 2022, which was an instant hit due to both the subject matter of the material, and the illustrative lyricism.
The new album teased a new style of music for Kahan, who previously had a pop-centric sound that had already captured an audience, including myself. But the new song took a much more folk approach to his lyrics that gave them a whole new allure.
In an interview given for an article on the Grammy site about his initial performance of “Stick Season”, Kahan said, “I could really see the desire for sing-along folk anthems after that performance.” But his sound is not the only thing that helped to capture a new audience.
Noah Kahan has spent most of his adult life in a small town in Vermont. Most of his music revolves around the feelings and experiences of living in a small community and therefore has developed a large following of people who relate to these experiences. With songs like “View Between Villages”, “Homesick”, and “New Perspective”, he directly illustrates these topics in a way that is inaccessible to most mainstream music- which majoritively focuses on less personal settings. His use of topics like this makes his listeners feel seen or heard.
“While I may not be going through everything he is writing about or have gone through everything he is writing about, something about his lyrics makes me feel like someone else knows how I feel,” said OH senior Megan Griest.
Kahan also focuses on topics like depression and loss in a way that is different from most mainstream media. Noah Kahan is very open about his struggle with mental health and does a great job of creating songs that cater to people who struggle with the same issues, but in a way that garners hope and catharsis rather than just the emotions present in those moments.
In songs about people leaving, such as “You’re Gonna Go Far”, he addresses the topic with an air of pride and happiness for those people rather than sadness or anger, and even in songs dealing with issues like addiction, like “Orange Juice”, he treats that topic with messages of support and understanding.
“I want my fans to feel like they have an access to me that doesn’t feel manufactured or artificial,” said Kahan in an interview with Today.
The humility of Kahan is something else that makes this artist so magnetic. Despite selling out numerous legs of his national tour and getting his name not only on the Billboard charts but also on a Grammy Nominee list, he manages to continue making music that caters to his fans and making the most of the position he has gotten himself to.
Something that is missing from a lot of modern music in an age of computer-generated sounds or redundant storytelling is the genuine emotions and lyricism that come with the product that Kahan creates. After listening to the music, fans are genuinely able to believe that Noah Kahan has created a sound all his own, genuinely believes in the subjects he covers, and knows that he is trying to create the best records he can put together, and it is that feeling that makes him a force to be reckoned with in the music industry.
“I feel that one thing that makes Noah Kahan appealing to his audience is that a lot of his songs are easy to learn, but they are also emotional and are often a go-to for those who are having bad days, which plays into that reliability factor,” said Griest, “People find that what he is saying helps them through what they are going through.”
I am a senior at OH and so excited to be a Managing and Opinions Section Editor this year! I love working on 42Fifty, but I am also very involved in band and numerous honor societies here. Looking forward to doing great work this year!
Adore Noah Kahan almost as much as I Adore this article. You have a true talent!
LOVE THIS ARTICLE!!!