Finding Peace in Pain on Noah Kahan’s ‘The Great Divide’

Welcome back, Noah Kahan. 

Following four years of anticipation, the folk-pop singer-songwriter famed for 2022’s “Stick Season” released his fourth studio album “The Great Divide” April 24. 

A lot has changed for Kahan in the four years since his breakthrough record as he skyrocketed from a virtually unknown artist to headlining world famous festivals. From his childhood in a humble Vermont hometown to performing atop New England’s own Fenway Park, Kahan has held fast to his charismatic personality and introspective music. 

His newest release highlights personal growth in quiet, sturdy lyricism while simultaneously harnessing the beauty of his beloved folk sound.

Die-hard fans of the artist are all too aware that pressing play on his music may require a few tissues, so it comes as little surprise “The Great Divide” offers an emotional listening experience.  

The record feels like stepping inside a worn journal that’s long been hidden under a creaky mattress, its pages faded with the weight of lived experience and fleeting memories. 

Serene in its delicate piano melody, “End of August” encapsulates the album’s exploration of passing time as Kahan’s tranquil vocals melt into a story of his town.  

The anticipation of autumn around the corner embodies “the feelin’ of bein’ alive for the first time in a long time” as the nature around him withers away until the only thing left behind is the town that raised him. 

It’s fitting for the record to open with such a somber tone because “The Great Divide” is, at the end of the day, a journey through a life marked by aching loss and wavering joy.

The record is scarce of upbeat tracks, finding its footing instead with raw and agonizing lyricism. 

A fierce rage batters listeners in “Dashboard” and “23,” where intensifying and persistent percussion illustrates the haunting loss of people who left abruptly and never looked back. 

Left in the dust of their escape are the friends and lovers who must glue their hearts back together piece by piece, learning over time to patch up the parts littered with betrayal and anger.

“Haircut” turns the resentment inward, delving into Kahan’s own journey away from his hometown with fame in sight and his subsequent return to Strafford, Vermont where he found himself rattled by a fragile dream yet to reach fruition. 

Supported by an intimate melody created with subtle strings and pulsing percussion, the track tells the story of one man through the perspective of two — a first-person account of his determination to succeed despite decaying mental health and an outsider’s perspective of the person changed by fame. 

Kahan transformed his own experience with depression into a helping hand as his fame grew, founding The Busyhead Project — a non-profit mental health organization fighting stigma and providing resources in rural areas. 

Throughout the album, Kahan wears his heart on his sleeve in nostalgic narratives melding with melancholy folk tunes. 

Nowhere is this portrayed better than in “Dan,” a poignant and soul-crushing track exploring friendship, death and if life really can exist beyond a final breath. 

Warm acoustic guitars blend sweetly with twangy banjo and pensive lyricism, conjuring a tender depiction of Kahan sitting around the campfire with his childhood friend Dan. 

“We’re so alone most of the time / Most of the time we don’t have anyone / Where do we go when we die? / I wouldn’t mind right here, no, I wouldn’t mind at all,” Kahan sings. 

Folk intricacies, harrowing “hometown heroes” and tragic pivotal loss intertwine the album’s 17 tracks together in a fashion familiar to Kahan’s previous poignant records. 

Consistency and catastrophe draw listeners in, but it’s the earthly force of Kahan’s wistful yearning and the authentic reflection of life’s hardships that’ll keep them pressing replay on the record.  

If “Stick Season” penciled Kahan’s name into musical history then it’s “The Great Divide,” in all its tearjerking glory, that traces these lines with permanent ink, marking his everlasting legacy on an industry desperate for sincerity and soul. 

“The Great Divide” is available to stream everywhere now.