Noah Kahan Returns with The Great Divide
Photo by Patrick McCormack
On January 30th, Noah Kahan released the first and title track from his upcoming album The Great Divide. “The Great Divide” is a five-minute song that gives fans everything they’ve come to expect from Kahan’s breakout 2022 album Stick Season while also inviting them into a new one.
Although Kahan had released two albums and an EP before Stick Season, he had not found mainstream success with them. The Cape Elizabeth EP from 2020 hinted at what would launch him into the spotlight: leaning into his New England roots and embracing a folk-pop sound. On Stick Season, Kahan got specific about his feelings for his sleepy Vermont hometown, and that resonated with a global audience because while places differ, loneliness, isolation, fear, grief, and mixed emotions toward the place you grew up are universal. Combined with Kahan’s strong vocals and a folk sound that is resounding and epic, catchy and energetic, or haunting and contemplative–whatever the song required–the album was bound with relatable lyrics and a nostalgic aesthetic that resonated with everyone, whether they were raised with a ‘Northern attitude’ or not.
The success of the album was evident even by the various editions that came out over the next two years–the deluxe We’ll All Be Here Forever in 2023 and in 2024 featuring collaborations with A-list artists like Hozier, Post Malone, and Gracie Abrams.
Understandably, the last several years have been dizzying for Kahan as he has adjusted–or not–to his newfound fame. With his upcoming album, he seeks to explore this “great divide” as he’s experienced it.
“The songs are the words I would say if I could,” Kahan wrote on an Instagram post. “The Great Divide” then seems to be the words he would say to an old friend, someone he lost touch with from his own misunderstanding of his friend’s life that made him too “scared to ask.” In the verses he recalls his memories of his time with his friend, gaining an awareness of how his friend’s troubles and his own inability to care for them divided them. In the chorus he wishes the friend well, and hints at the song’s themes of religious trauma.
Sonically, it’s the epitome of a Noah Kahan song: strong melody, roaring chorus, and crashing instrumentals fading into a soft conclusion. It’s an emotional narrative, with all the authentic detail that makes it relatable. As a fan of Kahan, I’m excited to hear the rest of the new album and hear how both his writing and music have deepened. If this first song is any indication, the rest are sure to be hits.
