Noah Kahan almost walked away from music after the success of his hit album, Stick Season. In a recent interview, he shared that after touring in 2024, he felt overwhelmed and exhausted. “I was just sick of it,” he said, explaining that the pressure to create a follow-up album was making him anxious instead of excited.
At one point, Noah even considered changing careers. He got fingerprinted to become a substitute teacher and thought about taking psychology classes or working as a groundskeeper at a golf course. “I thought that would be such a therapeutic thing,” he explained.
Things started to look up at the end of 2024 when he met Aaron Dessner from The National at his studio. However, in March 2025, Noah faced another challenge during a trip to Joshua Tree, California. He experienced what he called an “OCD meltdown,” which led to troubling intrusive thoughts. After that, he returned to medication and slowly regained his creativity.
The result of this journey is his new album, The Great Divide, which has reached #1. “You find out who you are in the moments when you’re alone,” Noah reflected. He believes that the tough process helped ground him and ultimately brought him back to music.
