As if his voice alone wasn’t enough to create and maintain a multimillion-person fanbase, Noah Kahan has provided his audience with several legendary collaborations.
As all folk-pop and indie music lovers know, Noah Kahan’s fanbase has expanded exponentially this past year. According to Boston Magazine, Kahan’s monthly listeners on Spotify grew from 8 million in June 2023 to 16 million by the end of August of the same year and is now nearing 21 million. His recent spike in popularity has brought higher ticket prices with it, frustrating some fans who now find it harder to attend performances.
“I’ve been a fan since 2019 and when I got into the presale my heart shattered. Happy for him but so sad to know it’s not obtainable for me anymore,” @tessa.leblanc1 wrote in the comments of a TikTok video blaming new fans for the spike in ticket prices.
Kahan released his “Stick Season” album in October 2022, and its extended version with seven new tracks titled “Stick Season (We’ll All Be Here Forever)” in June 2023. Since the success of these albums, Kahan has rereleased four tracks from the “Stick Season (We’ll All Be Here Forever)” album featuring other artists that have garnered attention from fans.
The first notable collaboration was the addition of Post Malone’s voice on Kahan’s “Dial Drunk” track. Because Malone is largely known as a hip-hop and rap singer, a collab between him and Kahan was unexpected. Yet, it somehow worked. With over 11 million more listens on Spotify than the original, the version of the song with Malone garnered praise from fans of both artists. Malone’s rap verse in Kahan’s indie song adds an edge to it that will undoubtedly get a crowded room of people singing along.
Two months later, Kahan released a new rendition of “Call Your Mom” with a feature by indie folk artist Lizzy McAlpine. McAlpine’s gentle, soothing voice adds more depth and emotion to the already incredibly emotional song. Kahan and McAlpine’s voices combine to provide their audience with an exceptionally heartbreaking listening experience.
Less than a month after McAlpine made the list of Kahan collabs, country singer Kacey Musgraves joined the list. While still a fun collaboration of uniquely different artists, “She Calls Me Back (with Kacey Musgraves)” has a notable 37 million fewer listens on Spotify than the original. Whether it’s the lack of impact Musgraves has on the overall sound of the song or the lack of overlap between Kahan fans and country fans, this collaboration failed to reach the high success of the two previous iconic features.
The latest of Kahan’s delightful cross-overs came with the release of “Northern Attitude (with Hozier)” on Nov. 10. While it is still too early to tell how successful this rendition will be compared to the original track of the song, the positive response to teasers posted by Kahan on TikTok is very telling of its future success. Hozier is an indie artist with an even larger fan base than Kahan at 28 million monthly listeners on Spotify.
A collaboration between these two artists has been requested by fans long before either of them even mentioned joining forces. This highly anticipated duet will likely be one of Kahan’s most successful collabs. Although nothing can compare to the original track, dominated by the emotion and power of Kahan’s voice alone as he explores navigating relationships and isolation, the novelty of a Kahan and Hozier collab is more than enough to grab the attention of all indie and folk fans.
After Malone, McAlpine, Musgraves and Hozier, who will be next? Fans have not stopped predicting and suggesting new collabs on social media. Kahan himself has expressed his interest in, or perhaps foreshadowed, collaborating with one particular popular indie band: boygenius.
“I’ve been fortunate to collaborate with incredible artists and heroes of mine this year and many years in the past, but I think if I had to collaborate with one artist that I truly love, I would love to collaborate with boygenius,” Kahan said in an interview with Holler. “I think they’re incredible and their writing inspires me so much.”
At the beginning of October, pop singer Olivia Rodrigo performed a live cover of “Stick Season,” Kahan’s second most listened-to song on Spotify. Fans on social media wasted no time and immediately began demanding a future collab between the two artists.
Whether his next iconic collab is with boygenius, Olivia Rodrigo or someone entirely unexpected, Kahan is likely to continue keeping his fans at the edge of their seats awaiting the next astonishing mix of musical talents.
Follow Jenna Murray on Twitter, @Jenna_Murray5
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