React: Noah Kahan - Stick Season (We'll All Be Here Forever) [Part 1]

I've never heard a single song from him... until now.

With everyone sharing their Spotify wrapped/Apple Music Replayed this past week, I noticed a trend. A lot of people seemed to have one thing in common, outside of Taylor Swift of course. And that was Noah Kahan. I felt like no matter what genres people were into, his name kept popping up.

Obviously, that could only mean one thing: it’s time for me to dive into his music and Stick Season seems to be his most popular record.

So without further ado, here are my first ever reactions to Noah Kahan.

Northern Attitude

The intro reminds me of another song but I can’t put my finger on it.

I really like the ramp on this track. It gets really aggressive after the first verse out of the blue. It’s different, it’s awesome. I like the fast-paced guitar riff here. It adds to the aggression. The layered guitar in the choruses is chef’s kiss.

The drums here are really awesome as well. I like the thumping kick drum and the lack of a snare. It gives that guitar room to breathe.

Vocally, I think the runs that he does near the end of the track are pretty neat. Rather than stuff the choruses at the end, it gives the song a sense of playfulness and space.

I think that’s the best way to describe it. This song is very spacious, even in the stereo mix.

Stick Season

Ed Sheeran? That was my first thought with that vocal pattern at the start.

The guitar on this track is the opposite of Northern Attitude. It’s centered and is very in your face, tactile, and sharp.

Wow. That lyric stood out to me, even as a non-lyrical listener traditionally. "Doc told me to travel, but there’s COVID on the planes," took me back to those years.

I definitely thought this was gonna be a simple guitar and vocal type of song. I was wrong. It has a bit of a country influence that makes it an instant classic, I think.

YES! Speaking of that country influence, that banjo was something I probably saw coming, yet was still not expecting it. That seals the deal. This track is in fact an instant classic. No wonder this is his most streamed song.

All My Love

Noah seems to love his acoustic guitar. The left-panned guitar is great. The intro of this song reminds me of Ed Sheeran’s Castle on the Hill.

Again, the double guitar with one panned to the left and the other panned to the right is great. What makes it better is that it’s not the same guitar, giving you a more "atmospheric" or wider sound. It’s two completely different guitar riffs. The left guitar stays consistent while the right guitar changes over the course of the song. That’s fantastic.

If you’re not listening carefully, you’ll miss the shaker in the right channel. It’s very low in the mix but is some much-welcomed ear candy for eagle-eared listeners.

Of the three songs I’ve heard so far, this one is my least favorite.

She Calls Me Back

Oh wow. The double vocals right off the rip. It’s not quite a layered vocal, just a single vocal track doubled and panned to each channel. I was not expecting that at all.

Again, wow. Going from that to the centered very close vocal for the first verse. If you could audibly hear a sleight of hand, this would be it. There is a bit of reverb, but almost no decay. It hits you and leaves within a split second.

The pacing of the pre-chorus is great. It’ll be hard to try and explain this with words. But every word snaps into place. Think of a metronome. It’s on beat and hits right when you expect it every time. That’s this pre-chorus.

I love the synth in the chorus coming out of the left channel and the guitar on the right. The synth gives the song a bit of a pop vibe, while the guitar gives me country vibes. Of course, the acoustic guitar on the center. The bit-crushed hi-hat gives the song a bit of an electronic sound as well.

If I had to give the track a genre, it would definitely be "experimental". It incorporates sounds from various genres. I love that.

That outro. Y’all know I’m a sucker for breakdowns. That in combination with the echoed last note is chef’s kiss. I can’t praise this song enough and it’ll likely end up being one of my favorites on this album (edit: it was).

Come Over

The intro with just the vocal and soft guitar is great.

Oh my god, Noah can hold a note. I wouldn’t say I’m surprised, but I was not expecting that at all given what I’ve heard so far. Bravo. It gives me chills when he sings, Come over. Come over.

Very obviously a sad song. I love how aggressive his vocals are. It gives me the impression that he’s very passionate about what he’s singing.

That plucked guitar with reverb in the second chorus is everything. It’s the perfect amount of reverb and it’s placed in just the right spot. It’s perfect and gives a sense of distance.

New Perspective

Starting off with the muted guitar. I have a feeling most of the songs on this album are going to feature a guitar. Just a hunch. No evidence 🤣.

The hi-hats in the first verse are genius. It’s played every fourth note and blends in exceptionally well with the guitar. I’d wager if I were using AirPods or a car stereo, I wouldn’t be able to pick it out. But since I’m listening on high-end headphones at my desk, I was able to notice it. Definitely a homage to us audio enthusiasts.

I’d hesitate to call it a banjo, but that banjo-esk guitar is fantastic right after the first chorus. It seems to be the same guitar and plays on both channels, but it sounds like one of the two are pitched slightly lower to help differentiate between the two guitars.

The synth in the right channel and the guitar on the left in the second verse blend really well. So far, this is my favorite song in terms of production. Not a whole lot going on, but a lot of thought went into it.

That bridge is killing me. It’s so soft and smooth. There’s also the very soft whistle in the right channel that breaks the tension. It’s so fucking good. And the fact that everything was stripped away at the beginning of the bridge, only to build back up into the final chorus? Fantastic.

Yeah no, I stand by what I said. This is my favorite song in terms of production thus far. The layered guitar at the end backed my statement up. It adds a bit of fun and whimsicality. Absolute fire.

Everywhere, Everything

The first few seconds of this track remind me of two other tracks: Paramore’s The Only Exception and Christina Perri’s A Thousand Years.

Once again, the blend of the guitar and hi-hat. So good.

I haven’t commented on the use of toms in the other tracks but I think it’s fitting that I mention it here. I love that they use the toms to add dramatic effect to this song. Especially in the first chorus, where it’s subtlety being introduced.

I feel like I’m a broken record at this point. But, the build-up with guitars is excellent as per usual.

What I’ve noticed this time around is what is likely a hi-pass filter being added for the entire track. Anything above 8K or so is greatly reduced and gives the song a much more intimate and warm sound. I noticed it the most with the tambourine, where it sounds a bit compressed.

Lyrically, this song is very sweet. The overarching theme is that he wants to love his partner until the very end. "Till our fingers decompose, keep my hand in yours." That’s quite the image I imagined in my head.

The chaotic breakdown near the end of the song kind of sums everything up quite nicely. He wants everything to work out at all costs.

Orange Juice

I hate to keep calling back to other songs that sound familiar, but the beginning of this one reminds me a lot of Gabrielle Aplin’s Letting You Go. The guitar riffs are very similar.

Wow, an actual bass line. I mean that in the best way possible. So far, all of the other tracks either didn’t have a bass line, or it wasn’t super prominent. This one sticks out and feels like it’s going to be the structure of the song.

My jaw dropped. Period. The instrumentation in the chorus is unique and different. I feel like in any other song, it wouldn’t work. But it works exceptionally well here.

I was right, the bass drives this song. During the first chorus, the bass has a bit of reverb to it. It’s not that it never happens, but adding reverb to bass is very uncommon. But it works so well here. The bass takes up most of the space during the choruses. It’s so good.

The chorus going into the bridge is beautifully chaotic. The transition going into and out of the bridge is equally as excellent. Stripping everything but a single guitar and his vocals.

And yeah, the guitars are great here. But you already knew that.

Strawberry Wine

Don’t worry, this intro doesn’t remind me of another song.

The complete pace change from the first verse going into the chorus caught me completely off guard.

I honestly don’t have much else to say about this track. It’s an excellent ballad with beautiful lyrics. Relative to the rest of the tracks so far, this song is rather short.

I love the fact that in the second half of the song, Noah is singing Ooh over and over and letting the instrumentation take the lead. The whistle at the end is very cool as well.

This is a song you can just close your eyes to and listen to. It reminds me of being in nature.

Conclusion

First of all, I had no idea how long this album was going to be. Hence why I’m splitting up my reaction into two parts.

But, wow. As a person who’s never heard a lick of Noah Kahan before this, I’m impressed. I love his musical style and his production team needs to be recognized here.

Sure, most of the songs reminded me of other songs. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing. If anything, this album (so far) makes me feel super nostalgic.

For the most part, I really love the album so far, and I’m looking forward to listening to not only the rest of Stick Season (We’ll All Be Here Forever), but some of Noah’s past work as well.

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Note: The first half of this album was listened to via Apple Music with Lossless Audio enabled (Spatial Audio disabled), played back in Hi-Res Lossless at 24-bit 96 kHz (where possible, some tracks were only available at 24-bit 44.1 kHz).