Over the past year, Vermont-based singer-songwriter Noah Kahan exploded onto the music scene after seven years in the business on the strength of his third album Stick Season. Thus far, the album has generated three hits, including the title track, “Dial Drunk” and “Northern Attitude”. Written during the COVID-19 pandemic, Kahan describes the album as a “love letter to New England.” “Northern Attitude”, which he co-wrote with producer Gabe Simon, addresses what he calls his “northern attitude”, the stereotypical perception that folks from Northern New England can be reserved or even a bit cold, thanks to the “harsh winters that toughen up the locals, with the added challenge of enduring long dark New England nights”.

Kahan teamed up with Irish singer-songwriter Hozier to release a new version of “Northern Attitude” on November 10, 2023, and it’s a match made in heaven! According to Songfacts, the two got to know each other when they both performed at the Iron Blossom Festival at Monroe Park in Richmond, Virginia, in late August 2023, and first performed this song together during a show in Nashville in October. Kahan was thrilled with the harmony Hozier brought to the chorus. “That song was recorded so quickly that we didn’t really have a ton of time or the ability, really, to go back and change a lot of it,” he explained to American Songwriter. “So having the harmony there kind of filled it out a lot. In some ways I feel like his voice lends itself to a specific feeling that maybe mine didn’t. Like, it’s more tender and forgiving in some parts but also more powerful and angry.“

It’s an exuberant Americana song in the style of early Mumford and Sons, and I just love that vibrant banjo and the guys’ gorgeous soaring harmonies. The song has spent several weeks at #1 on the Billboard Adult Alternative Airplay chart and is now #1 on mine.

In other chart developments, “Beautiful People (Stay High)” by The Black Keys climbs four spots to #4, the defiantly boisterous “Blame Brett” by Toronto-based indie rock band The Beaches (which is based on the breakup of lead singer Jordan Miller and Brett Emmons from The Glorious Sons) and the hauntingly beautiful “Winter Cowboy” by English singer-songwriter Frank Joshua enter the top 10. The biggest upward mover this week is “Neon Pill” by Cage the Elephant, leaping 15 spots to #14. Making their debut are two songs I recently reviewed: “Bicycle Away” by Brooklyn, New York-based singer-songwriter Sam Rappaport, his third song to appear on my Weekly Top 30, and “Kool Aid Blue” by wonderfully-named Vancouver, Canada-based jangle pop band The Sylvia Platters.

1. NORTHERN ATTITUDE – Noah Kahan feat. Hozier (4)
2. LOSE CONTROL – Teddy Swims (1)
3. ALL I DIE FOR – SWiiMS (2)
4. BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE (STAY HIGH) – The Black Keys (8)
5. THE AMERICAN DREAM IS KILLING ME – Green Day (3)
6. NOTHING MATTERS – The Last Dinner Party (7)
7. MODERN GIRL – Bleachers (6)
8. WHAT NOW – Brittany Howard (5)
9. BLAME BRETT – The Beaches (11)
10. WINTER COWBOY – Frank Joshua (12)
11. THE TOWER – Future Islands (13)
12. MOTHER NATURE – MGMT (15)
13. ALIVE! – Bakar (14)
14. NEON PILL – Cage the Elephant (29)
15. LOVIN ON ME – Jack Harlow (16)
16. COOL ABOUT IT – boygenius (9)
17. MY LOVE MINE ALL MINE – Mitski (10)
18. NICE TO KNOW YOU – lovelytheband (22)
19. YOUR WORLD NOW – Marc Schuster (23)
20. NORMAL PEOPLE THINGS – Lovejoy (24)
21. MEANT TO BE – Wilco (25)
22. MY GOLDEN YEARS – The Lemon Twigs (26)
23. HOW DID YOU GET HERE? – Antony Szmierek (17)
24. PRETTY VICIOUS – The Struts (18)
25. BLUSH – Vazum (27)
26. LUNAR ECLIPSE – The Vaccines (28)
27. DIAMOND AND THE MISSING SON – Unquiet Nights (30)
28. ATTRACTION – Wild Horse (19)
29. BICYCLE AWAY – Sam Rappaport (N)
30. KOOL AID BLUE – The Sylvia Platters (N)