Stick Season

Stick Season is Noah Kahan's third studio album, released October 14, 2022. The album is categorized as a folk album, with tracks ranging from upbeat songs such as "All My Love," to more somber songs like "Orange Juice" and "Strawberry Wine." The album touches on themes of loneliness, alcoholism and unrequited love.

While I was admittedly late to the Noah Kahan train, Stick Season has quickly become one of my favorite albums of all time. I've recently been leaning more into artists like Zach Bryan, Hozier and Tyler Childers, and in my opinion, Kahan is a wonderfully unique blend of all three. He has incredible vocals and well-thought out lyrics that I can relate to.

Some of my favorite songs on the album are about love. "Everywhere, Everything" is the seventh song on the tracklist with a chorus that I'm obsessed with. Kahan sings, "Everywhere, everything, I wanna love you until we're food for the worms to eat, until our fingers decompose, I'll keep my hand in yours." I love the message behind the song -- the sentiment that not even death can diminish true love.

A sadder track from the album is titled "Homesick," a song riddled with nostalgia and desperation. He writes, "I got dreams, but I can't make myself believe them, spend the rest of my life with what could've been, and I will die in the house that I grew up in, I'm homesick." Kahan is essentially dreaming for a life outside of his hometown, while simultaneously yearning for the familiarity and nostalgia that comes with staying.

This is definitely an album that one should listen to track by track, as one digestible project, rather than listening to each song at random times. Each song is brilliantly written and sung, and the emotion behind it is almost tangible. For strangers to Kahan, I would definitely recommend giving his songs a listen, because I can almost guarantee that you'll like it no matter what genres of music you typically listen to.

Review by Lily Saylor