New Singles, Same Charm: A look into Harry Styles and Noah Kahan’s new singles

There are two songs you’re bound to find me listening to nonstop while studying, hanging out with friends or, really, any other occasion in which a JBL speaker or AirPods are present: "Aperture" by Harry Styles and “The Great Divide” by Noah Kahan. 

Yes, I’m a folk music junkie who loves quiet — and sometimes sad — songs. Yet, anyone with an ear for music (or frankly, anyone with an ear at all) will be quick to add these two singles to their playlist. 

Released on Jan. 23 and Jan. 30, Styles and Kahan’s new singles each bring refreshingly new tracks with a twinge of their usual charm. And, the best part? They both announced new album releases in the spring.

Let’s just say that Styles is so back.

If you’ve been feeling like something is missing from your daily music rotation, it’s probably because the last Styles album dropped in 2022. It’s been four hard, long years without new music from Styles, but he graced us with his release of “Aperture.” 

And it was so worth the wait. I was surprised by the beginning of the song when Styles chose to include a 45-second instrumental intro. Then, he chose to add the consistent, pounding rhythm of a bass drum through the five-minute song. It reminded me of a house music beat — something that I hadn’t previously heard in his music. 

In an interview with Capital Breakfast, Styles said that the feeling of “going out” was a major influence in the songwriting, nodding to the fact that he might be experimenting with his sound to avoid fading away from the music industry after his absence. 

While I enjoyed the laid-back intro for about the first 15 seconds, I soon started to get a slight headache from the back-and-forth beat. However, Styles must have anticipated my complaints, because just as the headache began to form, he added three more instruments and counter melodies, which added more depth. As each new sound, like techno beats and soft bass drums, was added I started to enjoy “Aperture” even more.

After the intro had ended, Styles maintained the same rhythm to tie the song together. This formed a beat so clear that any amateur dancer, such as myself, could have had a kitchen dance party, spatula microphone in hand. 

I expect nothing less than spectacular for Styles’s March 6 release of “Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally,” and I’ll be blasting the album on my JBL speaker, with “Aperture” on the top of my list.

Everybody has a go-to artist. One that, no matter what, you can click play on their Spotify and know you’re going to like their music. For me, it’s been Noah Kahan. Yes, I’ve been a fan for over five years, and also yes, I was in the top 1% of Kahan’s global listeners this year. 

I knew that Kahan was planning on releasing a new single and album, because of his secret TikTok teases of his song and exclusive concert performances, but it didn’t stop me from incessantly talking to my family and friends about his latest single, “The Great Divide,” when he announced the release. 

My worst fear for “The Great Divide” was that it would sound exactly like Kahan’s other work, namely his popular “Stick Season” song and album. However, within the first 30 seconds of the single, I was no longer concerned about the similarity, because not only did the underlying beat of the song keep me grounded, but Kahan’s voice is more mature and has a different tone than in past songs.

Although Kahan’s tone was different, it didn’t diminish his classic scream-in-your-car euphoria I always experience when listening to his music. 

And, Kahan didn’t come short when writing the chorus of “The Great Divide” — after all, it’s been echoing in my mind for the past two weeks since my first listen. Kahan belts from the bottom of his throat, “I hope you settle down, I hope you marry rich / I hope you’re scared of only ordinary s***.” This lyric comes in the middle of Kahan’s narrative-like storytelling of an old friendship that he no longer holds. 

Listeners have the opportunity to learn about Kahan’s friendship and how he wishes that his ex-friend only has to worry about things such as “ghosts” rather than deeper, more personal matters. I was able to pick up on these deeper matters and identify them as spiritual worries, as Kahan ends the song with “I hope you threw a brick right into that stained glass” — symbolic of fracturing the pressure of religion.

As if the powerful lyrics weren’t already enough, Kahan graced us with “The Great Divide” lyric video. Released on Jan. 29, the video added a nostalgic sensation that only enhanced the already impeccable songwriting. I was entranced by the scrapbook style of different montages of Kahan, along with vintage footage that looked like it could have been taken by a 17-year-old Kahan in his Vermont hometown. The family video feeling added to Kahan’s narrative of losing an old, childhood friendship.

With just 74 days (who’s counting?) until the release of Kahan’s full album, I’ll be talking about “The Great Divide” right up until April 24. And there’s nothing else I’d rather be doing.