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In search of new music….

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Dave Amitri on Noah Kahan – Stick Season

My pre Christmas Del Amitri Advent while lovely got me thinking about how deep my musical rut is. It’s Grand Canyonesque as I continue to just switch between the same bands and albums. So not as a resolution just an acceptance that if I’m lucky enough to get another 20 or 30 years on this planet I’m going to need something else to listen to. It’s no secret I enjoy the process of listening and sharing so here we are.

I decided to listen to Radio 1 on my 30 minute journey to work. It worked for me before, why not now. So Tuesday morning I dived into to a world designed for those 30 – 40 years younger than me. First song out of the 8.30 news was Stick Season by Noah Kahan, nope me neither. Anyway it was clearly by one of those earnest male singer songwriters but it had enough for me to decide, right, I’m in. There was a line in the song referencing covid on planes which piqued my interest further.

There he was on Spotify looking like an extra from Deliverance with his gorgeous German Shepherd dogs outside his shack in the Vermont Hills. A quick look at his biography and yes he’s from Vermont. Born in 1997 he’s a year younger than my twin sons.

Before I get to the music I also discovered that the album Stick Season from which the song came from was released in 2022 (new in my world) and the song Stick Season blew up on Tik Tok last year. What does that mean Dave? Well Spotify tells me Stick Season has been streamed 423,153,848 times. His next most popular was a song Dial Drunk with Post Malone a paltry 108,393,650 times. I still don’t really know what that means except that David Bowie’s Heroes stands at 468,221,924 so young Noah and his songs are quite popular.

Listening to the album as I have this week there are many elements I enjoy. His voice is incredibly listenable. Musically you can hear all his influences which include Paul Simon, Cat Stevens, Counting Crows, Hozier and Mumford & Sons. There’s guitar and banjo. There’s loud bits and quiet bits. There’s those drops where the song stops and goes again. I can hear David Gray and Sheeran. None of these are bad things because Noah puts these ingredients to create something quite lovely.

The title track is a stand out no wonder the kids went crazy for it.

Now I am stuck between my anger and the blame that I can’t face
And memories are somethin’ even smoking weed does not replace
And I am terrified of weather ’cause I see you when it rains
Doc told me to travel, but there’s COVID on the planes

And I love Vermont, but it’s the season of the sticks
And I saw your mom, she forgot that I existed
And it’s half my fault, but I just like to play the victim
I’ll drink alcohol ’til my friends come home for Christmas

Come Over is a gorgeous lament of being the moment of losing someone including a reference to ‘takin’ the wrong meds’.

Homesick is rockier gem tucked away among the melancholy. But songs like Strawberry Wine and Orange Juice are where he really excels.

It’s a very modern album lyrically. I hesitate to call it woke but it’s incredibly open and the references to medication, mental health, coping, dealing with life would not find approval among some. Fuck them. If the kids are getting into Noah’s message then that can only be a good thing. Musically in looking for new I’ve found something really familiar and comforting. I wonder how many of his 411 million listeners have done the opposite of me and gone back in time to check in on his influences? The album will remain a regular listen as I really like it. It’s not quite what I was hoping to find but it’s given me the encouragement to continue my experiment. Back to Radio 1 on Monday morning. Right now I’m back into those Vermont Hills with my dogs.

Stick Season

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Comments

  3. I don’t know his music but will make a point of listening now
    His new album had been requested a dozen times in the record shop this week. It is not out yet (February)

  6. Slightly “odd” vocalists seem to be the emergent flavour of the new year, higher pitched and nasal, and not quite what that the song structure or perceived genre might suggest. Conchúr White, from Belfast is another and so is Patrick Turner (of Brown Horse), each of whom issue their debut albums on the 19th of this month.
    Here’s White:

    Here’s Turner and his band:

  7. He was my eldest’s number 1 in her spotify unwrapped. Don’t get it myself but interesting that TikTok is the difference between being, at best, Uncut’s flavour of the month and properly huge.

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