Love, heartbreak and hope mesh together in Noah Kahan’s third album “Stick Season.” The indie-folk singer has created a touching, acoustic guitar-driven piece that is relatable to most young adults but especially to those raised in areas subject to the harsh cold.
The album heavily touches on themes of heartbreak and romantic loss. The title track, “Stick Season” is an emotional gut punch for all of those who have felt left behind in a relationship, detailing a former lover who moved on and left Kahan behind, with lyrics such as “You once called me forever, now you still can’t call me back” acting as a pure emotional gut punch.
“She Calls Me Back” does something similar, describing a relationship in which one person is more dedicated to the other, where the mere act of getting a call from that person is enough to make everything okay for the other.
But the album also looks at heartbreak from a different perspective, as seen in the song “Strawberry Wine.” It describes a love that Kahan wants to work out, but simply can’t last due to incompatibility and an inability to make a relationship last. He implies that they have tried many times, but that it hasn’t ever, and will likely never work out.
Outside of heartbreak, the album also goes in-depth on more complex but equally universally relatable subjects. For example, “New Perspective” describes the experience of seeing someone you once knew, be it a friend, a family member or a lover, come back to your town as a completely changed person, in a way that you don’t like. The song takes this experience and runs with it, expressing a desire to take the subject and drag them back to where they once were, despite the fact that it might be for the worse.
However, fewer melancholic topics still appear on the album and are just expressed in a more depressing way. “Everywhere, Everything” is a morbid yet sweet song about loving someone so much that you want to be with them until death, and even after that. Kahan explains the moments he and his lover have had and expresses the desire to keep having moments like that until either the world ends or the two of them die.
But, the theme that I think is most relatable to most young adults is the theme of self-destruction and mental health. No song portrays this better than “Growing Sideways”, in which Kahan explains his anger at his parents, his manic episodes, and his fear that he will never grow in the way that he sees people around him doing. Although not all of us struggle with generational trauma and manic episodes, most of us have struggled with the fear surrounding growing up in comparison to others, making it an anthem for all those struggling with similar fears.
However, the album’s relatability is juxtaposed against a very personal niche that Kahan finds himself. The album contains a certain melancholy that is only found in the depths of a New England winter, something that the Vermont-based artist knows all too well. This is expressed in “Northern Attitude”, which details how Kahan was raised to mirror the weather of his home state, retaining the same cold harshness that the winters of the area are associated with. Even though he loves his home state, he knows that he’s become jaded because of it.
This theme continues into “Homesick”, which further explains his belief that he’s become jaded and cold due to his New England roots. As a result, he expresses the desires of a part of him that wants to leave Vermont but ultimately can’t bring all of himself to do.
Although most of us can’t relate to the harshness of a New England winter, the themes of becoming jaded, heartbreak, love and watching others change are something we can all relate to, making it an overall amazing album.
