Review: Noah Kahan’s Stick Season follow-up had high expectations, but The Great Divide isn’t divisive at all

Something that the recent Netflix documentary Out of Body made clear is that singer-songwriter “with folk-pop tendencies” Noah Kahan cares about what’s next after his breakthrough Stick Season album — enter, The Great Divide, his fourth studio album.

For better or worse, nowadays, it’s easier than ever to break out, especially on social media. That’s how Kahan got famous, constructing the song that would define his career, “Stick Season,” on TikTok.

Understandably, Kahan took his time making his follow-up to Stick Season, released on Oct. 14, 2022. The Great Divide comes over three years later, and he has passed the test of becoming a one-hit wonder — something all pop stars, even the best of the bunch, have to prove.

Admittedly, the album got off to a rocky start with the title track, which was released as the lead single on Jan. 30, 2026, and the second single, “Porch Light,” was released on Mar. 13.

The title track felt like an effort to play both sides of the fence by Kahan. On first listen, “The Great Divide” sounded like a cross between his Busyhead and Stick Seasons work. It created a muddled experience. With a few more listens, what emerged was a song rooted in the same contemporary folk music as Boygenius, which is a compliment on both ends.

That is one of the many examples of how Kahan’s latest album surprises you. His music, above all else, is about vibes. The Great Divide is the perfect album to listen to by a crackling fire, sipping some Dunkin’. Kahan continues his masterful work of making the mundane seem extraordinary.

Noah Kahan’s The Great Divide album review

From the jump, Kahan makes it clear that The Great Divide is the continuation of his artistic evolution after Stick Season. The opening track, “End of August,” is a contemplative piano-driven ballad about the changing of seasons.

As this slow, beautiful piano riff is played, crickets and the sounds of summer can be heard in the background. As if Kahan’s lyricism didn’t do this, these sounds further transport you, the listener, to the place he’s painting.

“End of August” is all about keeping friendships alive, and that theme is sprinkled throughout his fourth album, particularly on the closing song.

The Great Divide ends with a similarly meditative song, “Dan.” As Kahan reflects on mortality, he reminisces about late camping nights with his “best friend” Dan.

It’s easy to lose yourself as an artist. In Kahan’s case, he could’ve churned Stick Season 2.0 out for his fourth album, and instead, he stepped up his game.

His generation’s Bob Dylan

While this is high praise, Kahan has cemented himself as his generation’s Bob Dylan. Surely, there are others in the folk genre that fit this description, but in terms of a mainstream artist, he has made folk music cool again for the first time since the Lumineers and the Avett Brothers.

Nothing better represents this than “Headed North,” which opens with a false start very similar to “Bob Dylan’s 115th Dream” from Bringing It All Back Home. That song’s shindig vibes add to this comparison.

“Headed North” also proves that Kahan can still have fun. Despite the heaviness throughout The Great Divide, he finds moments of fun, like “Deny Deny Deny,” which is more of an alternative rocker than Kahan’s familiar acoustic sound. “Haircut” is like a version of “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” that isn’t insufferable and is pure fun.

He also circles back to familiar themes, like his difficult relationship with his dad. In “Spoiled,” Kahan says he wants to raise his kids “spoiled” so that when they’re older, “they can f**k up all they want, and blame it all on their dad.”

The ghosts of other folk artists, like Simon & Garfunkel (especially Paul Simon), find their way onto The Great Divide. It’s incredibly hard not to hear “The Boxer” when listening to “We Go Way Back,” with the combination of Kahan’s duetting vocals and snare drum in the background (which is much more subdued than Simon & Garfunkel’s classic Bridge Over Troubled Water track).

Kahan’s strength is his brutal honesty. In “Willing and Able,” Kahan walks the listener through the scene of a fight, presumably with a loved one, when he says, “‘Cause if I call you out, I’m an a*shole.”

Should you listen to The Great Divide?

When it comes time to prove yourself after gaining popularity, some artists sink, and others swim. Kahan proves his staying power with The Great Divide, which is full of deeply personal songs.

It is light and day from Stick Season, which features some great songs as well. However, there’s a soul and passion that strikes a chord while listening to his fourth album.

The Great Divide isn’t perfect. Not to be that guy, but it’s a lengthy album at 77 minutes across 17 tracks. For reference, the standard edition of Stick Season was 55 minutes across 14 songs. The (We’ll All Be Here Forever) deluxe edition, bonus tracks included, padded the runtime to 83 minutes.

It’s not that Kahan had any shortage of material. Clearly, he had a wealth of songs to use. The Great Divide is like The Tortured Poets Department in that sense. To be clear, this is a lot better than that album. However, there aren’t any glaringly bad songs, which had to have made it harder to cut the tracklist down.

The final verdict

Kahan remains the spokesperson for the everyman, even if he provides a distinct New England perspective (take, for example, his dig at Cybertruck owners in “Headed North”). He’s like a folkier Sam Fender — especially on “American Cars” — who similarly speaks for the British middle class.

There’s something intrinsically emotional and deep about The Great Divide. It’s almost undefinable, but it’s a clear step up from Stick Season.

After Stick Season blew up to the degree it did, it’d be fair to wonder how much longevity Kahan really had. No one is safe from a flop these days, as evidenced by albums by Taylor Swift and Harry Styles even coming and going.

Above all else, The Great Divide is a complete album, not just a collection of songs. Nowadays, most artists prioritize hit singles over a complete body of work. The Great Divide works best when listening all the way through, and the album tracks are even better than the singles.

Noah Kahan’s The Great Divide is out now.

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