Noah Kahan’s fourth studio album—The Great Divide: The Last Of The Bugs—was released just last week. At 21 songs and an hour and thirty-six minutes, this album is chalk full with both experimental sounds, and a classic Noah Kahan vibe. With this new release drawing lots of attention, and the anticipation of a tour planned to begin this summer, here are some highlights of this folk rock/pop album.
1. End of August
As the first track of the album, this sound instantly draws you into Kahan’s world. The longer length of this song effectively sets the tone for the record, grounding you with soft sounds in the beginning and simply beautiful lyrics. This is a perfect song to begin the album, and an elevated work for Kahan.
2. Doors
“Doors,” starts to go a bit deeper into some ideas from Kahan that are displayed throughout this album. The lyrics dive into the feelings of expecting your partner to leave you—prematurely worrying about the ending of a relationship. The title and metaphor of the song represents Kahan hiding behind doors (insecurities) he’s holding up to his partner, keeping his partner from opening them. The lyricism in the chorus thoughtfully expresses internally and prematurely combatting your own insecurities, causing you to avoid intimacy with a partner.
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3. Paid Time Off
This song brings a very relaxed, upbeat sound with its light drums and acoustic guitar. Behind the light sound and themes of bonding with a partner, Kahan weaves in symbols of a love story fleeting away. The balance between the bonding and fleeting of love with a partner, and the simple sound and catchy chorus of this track makes for an instant personal favorite on the album.
4. The Great Divide
The sixth track of the album and title track, “The Great Divide,” lives up to the album name. This song was released on January 30 as the first single of the album and has become a quick radio hit. The passion and vulnerability both existing in this song set a high standard for the listener for what is to come in the latter half of the album.
5. Dan
No better song to end this album than one encompassing the soft sounding and detailed engineering of Kahan’s instrumentation and singing. This song holds in it an opportunity for reflection for your hometown roots, loss, and moving on as you grow as a person. “Dan” serves as a heartfelt closing track, ending the album with a quiet and understated close.
