Noah Kahan released his fourth studio album, “The Great Divide,” April 24, and later that day released a deluxe version, “The Great Divide: The Last Of The Bugs,” with an additional four tracks.

As someone who has listened to Kahan for years, with his music being a remedy during my toughest moments, I was really excited for some new music, considering his last album was released in 2022. I can confidently say the wait was worth it.

I definitely don’t relate to this album like I do “Stick Season,” but I do think the music itself sounds better. Some songs are really upbeat, like “Deny Deny Deny” and “American Cars,” while others are slower, like “Willing and Able” and “We Go Way Back.” I think he does a good job of balancing it out throughout the album, so he can keep the listener engaged.

He starts the album with a song called “End of August,” which I think was a good decision because it begins with a story about what happens in Vermont, his home state, when summer ends, and it starts to get colder. He sings, “Endin’ of August, the bugs are just starting to die,” which leads the listener into his stories about Vermont throughout the rest of the album.

My favorite songs on the album are “Dan” and “Willing and Able.” I really like “Dan” because it’s about his best friend, so it feels very genuine and sentimental. I also like that it refers to someone he wrote about on his first album, named Carlo, who was his best friend when he was younger, before Carlo suddenly died. I find “Willing and Able” appealing because he’s very vulnerable and writes about his desire to be known fully and to know others fully.

While I will always love “Stick Season” because of how much I relate to it and how he is able to put so many difficult and specific feelings into words, I think the lyrical content and musical content on his new album is better. I also like that we get to see a side of him after being in the spotlight for years, and how it has changed his life.