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While on the Emmys Red Carpet, Noah Kahan might just have given us the biggest clue yet that he's recorded a song for the new Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping soundtrack.
Kahan performed a deeply moving rendition of Simon & Garfunkel's ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ for the In Memoriam segment of the 2026 Emmys in Los Angeles, California. But it was a moment during a pre-show interview that has piqued fans’ interest.
When asked by ENews about whether he's ever had an interest in “creating a musical or a show or background for like a soundtrack, a score”, the Vermont native smiled wryly.
Kahan remained coy, “Yeah, I have. We actually just had the opportunity to do so, which I'm really excited about...I can't tell you anymore, really. But yeah, we got something”.
Kahan went on, “I got that thing on me right now. So yeah, I got something in the works. I can't speak much about it, or my publicist will throw me into the trash can over there, but very excited about what we have. And it was a really cool opportunity”.
Kahan has been linked with the new Hunger Games prequel, which is based on Suzanne Collins’ new book of the same name, for months now. Reports started emerging last summer that the ‘Stick Season’ singer-songwriter was in talks about being a key part of the Sunrise on the Reaping soundtrack, with Kahan then name-checking the Hunger Games during a recent show at Globe Life Field in Texas.
Then, just last week, the folk titan shared a cryptic video to his @thelastofthebugs TikTok account, which he used to tease his 2026 album, The Great Divide.
Against a sunrise, Kahan looks into the camera as the words “The birds sound louder than the bugs tonight”. Fans immediately starting interpreting this ‘birds’ reference as a thinly veiled nod to the first Hunger Games prequel, The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes.
If this is what we think it is, then it seems an announcement is fast approaching ahead of the Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping movie release on November 20th.
The London premiere is due to take place on November 12th, and coincidentally - or not - Kahan is performing in the UK capital on November 13th, 14th and 17th.
We think it's almost a dead cert at this point that Kahan is on the Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping soundtrack, and honestly, given how previous soundtracks from this franchise have delved into the Appalachian folk roots Collins gave to District 12, its hard to think of a better choice than the ‘Northern Attitude’ hitmaker.
Kahan's visceral, raw songwriting and his stirring, folk-infused instrumentation makes him feel like the perfect artist to lead this soundtrack. We're just curious as to whether he's written a new original song for it, or whether he's going to finally release one of his previously teased offerings, like the much-loved ‘Pain is Cold Water’.
