Noah Kahan & Hozier - 'Northern Attitude'
Noah Kahan teams up with Hozier for a new version of Northern Attitude.
The collaboration with Hozier is Kahan’s fourth in a series of collabs to celebrate the release of the deluxe edition of his record Stick Season. Previous singles were Dial Drunk with Post Malone, Call Your Mom with Lizzy McAlpine and She Calls Me Backwith Kacey Musgraves.
Northern Attitude with Hozier feels natural, his voice rich and smooth like chocolate. Sonically and instrumentally, the song is the same, yet it sounds like it’s almost in another dimension.
It opens with gorgeous fingerpicking of an electric guitar, then Kahan’s vocals come in, airy and confident. Listening to the track feels like walking through a forest, then a clearing.
“If I get too close/And I’m not how you hoped/Forgive my northern attitude, oh I was raised out in the cold/If the sun don’t rise/Till the summertime/Forgive my northern attitude, oh I was raised on little light” he sings the chorus boldly, a rapid acoustic guitar backing him.
Hozier comes in on the next verse, his lilting voice fitting the track perfectly. “All alone/Late in life/Scared to live/Scared to die” he sings of a loner. The fact that Hozier gets a whole verse is a lovely touch, as did each of the other artists Kahan has collaborated with.
Speaking about working with Hozier, Kahan said: “If you know me at all, you know this collaboration is something very deeply special and important to me. I used to sit down at the table with my guitar and just try to capture a fraction of the emotion and beauty that Hozier encapsulates in each song he writes.”
Hozier also spoke about the experience: “This song left an instant mark on me when I first heard it, I loved it immediately. I’ve had the great pleasure of getting to know Noahmore since we first sang together at Iron Blossom Festival this year, and I’m so glad we could get together on this version of his beautiful song.”
Hozier himself has also had a very successful year, releasing his third studio albumUnreal Unearth, and is part-way through an international tour.
Northern Attitude has a huge instrumental bridge, filled with so much emotion and wonderful vocalisations. It’s incredible how much a powerful tambourine can bring to a song.
For a song about family, loneliness, and isolation, this song doesn’t feel too heavy in the slightest. In fact, it’s rather uplifting.
Words by Lucy Skeet
