When you sell out two nights at Fenway Park and become buddies with Bernie Sanders in the span of a year, you must have done something right. Or maybe you just happen to be well-versed in the places and people who make up New England. Either way, Noah Kahan did both — and he has not stopped there.
Kahan, 29, the singer-songwriter who rose to fame during the pandemic and with the release of his 2022 album “Stick Season,” has returned to the spotlight with his new album, “The Great Divide,” and an accompanying documentary, “Noah Kahan: Out of Body,” which were released on April 13 and 24, respectively.
Kahan is no stranger to sharing his life through songs. If you listen to “Stick Season,” it does not take long to start imagining Kahan’s childhood and life before fame. As Kahan puts it in his song, Homesick: “I’m mean because I grew up in New England.” Attendees of the “Stick Season (We’ll All be Here Forever) Tour” could be found screaming such lyrics at Kahan around the world.
“Out of Body” gives a look into Kahan in the midst of his rise to massive fame, opening with the lead-up to Kahan’s two nights at Fenway Park in Boston. With fans beginning to line up outside of the park as early as 2:00 A.M., running to get as close to the stage as possible once the doors opened, chanting Kahan’s name while waiting, to say that the singer was stressed would be an understatement.
Suddenly, the noise cuts out. Viewers are transported to Kahan’s hometown of Strafford, Vt., where everyone has seen his success, from local residents with favorite songs to store owners selling merchandise with his face on it. It is also where several of his family members live and where Kahan enjoys spending time when possible, as it is free of the usual chaos in his life. Home videos of Kahan growing up — he describes himself as a typical middle child — show him and his three siblings yelling and shouting, and his mother playfully saying to the camera, “I hope you all watch this before you decide to have kids.” In Strafford, Kahan has the opportunity to bond with his brother, Richard, who works in Hanover, New Hampshire, as a firefighter, where he jokes, “What’s more dangerous — a firefighter-blacksmith or singer-songwriter with folk pop tendencies?” Home is where the heart is, and, as much as he loves his “dangerous” job, Kahan’s heart remains in Strafford despite the familial changes since his childhood.
Kahan’s parents divorced during the pandemic, a theme in many of Kahan’s most popular songs. This was around the time when Kahan rose to fame online, primarily through TikTok and Instagram. Based out of his dad’s house, Kahan wrote hits such as “Homesick” and “Come Over” on his desk and performed them online. After years of songwriting, it was around this time that, according to Kahan, “It finally felt like there was some kind of story in the music.”
But as his fame grew, Kahan found himself getting lost in it and missing home, noting in a conversation with his sister that, “I’m always homesick.” The stress that accompanied touring, including doing press for “Stick Season,” and facing huge crowds while singing about some of the most personal aspects of one’s life, is a daunting task, and for Kahan, it was no different. This affected Kahan’s life in numerous ways, from his mental and physical health to the production of his music post the massive success of “Stick Season.” In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Nick Sweeney, the director of “Out of Body,” mentioned that these effects impacted the material shot for the documentary, explaining that, “The thing that really interests me is seeing people at crossroads in their life as they grapple with these big questions. As soon as Noah and I started talking, it was so clear that he was dealing with these really significant questions in his life about who he was, where was his home and what was he going to do next after this gargantuan album.”
Kahan experiences imposter syndrome throughout “Out of Body.” In one sequence, he struggles through over a dozen takes to record the beginning of a song, growing increasingly frustrated with himself in the process. Other clips show him getting ready for a press day and writing on a piece of paper for the camera (Kahan was on vocal rest): “They are putting lipstick on a cow.” However, the candour Kahan shows about his mental health is important and adds a lot to the documentary.
In particular, Kahan is extremely vulnerable about his struggles with his physical appearance. He addresses a 15-year struggle that he has had with exercising regularly, body dysmorphia and disordered eating — and the regret he has in not discussing it. He gets visibly emotional as he explains that, “I have done myself a disservice by not opening up about it.”
Kahan is trying to change that narrative; however, he is the founder of The Busyhead Project — a non-profit mental health organization that “aims to end the stigma around mental health and improve access to resources.” The organization has raised over $6.6 million to support community-based organizations globally since its founding in 2023.
I have not been a fan of Noah Kahan for very long — I really got into “Stick Season” in 2024 and 2025 while he was not releasing new music — but in surrounding myself with friends who were huge fans, I continued to listen to his work, slowly expanding my knowledge and beginning to understand how he gained such success.
There has certainly been an upward trend in what some may consider to be “sad girl music,” but Kahan’s songs are different. His music has such specificity about growing up as a middle child in a small-town New England, surrounded by chaos yet still cherishing it. He addresses the complexities in having divorced parents and processing the effects of witnessing his father’s recovery from a traumatic brain injury as a teenager, which he notes as a significant turning point in the two’s relationship. But above all, Kahan’s presence in the music industry is reassuring to his millions of fans, many of whom have faced similar challenges, whether familial, mental or otherwise. At an event hosted by The Busyhead Project, many of Kahan’s fans express just this, with one fan noting that “His music has become an outlet for so many people, talking about mental health, and it’s okay to not be okay.”
At the end of the day, Kahan embraces vulnerability and mental health challenges he has faced, primarily as an adult, not to “cure” them, but to address them in a more constructive manner — or as he puts it, “poking it with a stick.” “Out of Body” and “The Great Divide” are perfect examples of that poking, as Kahan demonstrates his dedication to staying open in his music and navigating the challenges that come with it. It is not an easy task, but given the massive success Kahan has had thus far with “The Great Divide,” listeners seem to really resonate with the album and viewers with the documentary. As Kahan puts it, “There is no…happy ending or full-circle moment. It’s waking up every day and trying.”
