Noah Kahan has been hinting at a new album for a few weeks now on his different social media platforms. He has released only one hint to the time of the announcement: “when the bugs don’t die” along with the release date for the first single of the album on Friday, Jan. 30. For a while this was the only information about the album that fans had access to, however, he has now released the name and date for the upcoming album: The Great Divide, coming April 24.Â
This album follows Kahan’s hit album Stick Season, released in 2022, which rocketed to fame on TikTok after users fell in love with his soulful and heartfelt lyrics. This is Kahan’s fourth studio album, and his career growth has been on a steady rise since he first started back in 2017. He absolutely blew up after releasing a snippet of his song “Stick Season” on TikTok during COVID-19. The video gained over 10 million views and led people to beg for the song’s release. However, the song wouldn’t be released until 2022, two years after the initial viral TikTok. Before he announced the name of his fourth album, Kahan was once more promoting on TikTok with a vague secret TikTok account posting about “the last of the bugs,” which might be a nod to the lyrics in “The View Between Villages,” which talks about the last of the bugs leaving their homes again. The name of that track is similar to the concept of the single “The Great Divide,” as both talk about that distance—not only emotional but physical as well—that can be felt after leaving your hometown.Â
As for his newest album, Kahan has already teased the title track, “The Great Divide,” during his performance at Fenway during his tour in 2024. It became so popular that he had to apologize to fans after they became upset that the song had yet to be released. Kahan explained at the time that the song was extremely special to him and is the cornerstone of his new album, which he wasn’t ready to release or announce. With the release of the title track on Jan. 30, we are able to gather the vibe of the album that Kahan has decided to bring to this new project. Based on the sound of “The Great Divide,” which can be heard in the reuploaded versions of his live performance, this new album will continue to sound similar to his usual folk and acoustic genres. The song sounds most like “The View Between Villages” and “Stick Season” combined. Though the song does seem to have more passion and energy behind it than some of his more mellow releases, this is solely based on the live version and not the official release.Â
As for what Noah Kahan has said himself about the album, he reports in an Instagram caption that:
 “The music here is my best attempt to delve deeper into the people, places, and feelings that have made me who I am. I am grateful for all of it, for all of you, for listening to them, if you choose to do so.”
Kahan via Instagram Caption
He explains that the album is full of words he cannot say but wishes he could dedicate these thoughts to “old friends, my father, my mother, my siblings, my younger self, the great state of Vermont,” and to all of those across the great divide, hence the album’s name. Many of Kahan’s fans are already making TikToks to the teaser of the album’s title track, building anticipation as they wait for its official release day on April 24.