Noah Kahan Grapples with Fame on New Unreleased Song, ‘Pain Eater’

Noah Kahan continues to stoke the flames of anticipation ahead of his forthcoming Stick Season (Forever) follow-up album, with the Vermont native sharing a brand new song teaser.

The unreleased track, which appears to be titled ‘Pain Eater’, finds Noah Kahan getting candid about the difficulty of adjusting to the limelight following the immense success of Stick Season.

Alongside an intricate guitar, Noah Kahan despondently croons, “Thought I had some small magic forming / From real far back I looked truly important / Stood and laughed at myself in the mirror”.

The song builds in intensity alongside a swelling guitar riff, which feels like it could be scaled out in the studio version to take on the same ferocity of ‘Your Needs, My Needs’ and ‘Homesick’.

Noah Kahan has become renowned for his vulnerability and honesty when it comes to delving into his personal struggles, with Noah even setting up The Busyhead Project, in 2023, to help reduce stigma and raise funds for a variety of mental health organisations. Over the course of his country-hopping We'll All Be Here Forever tour, Noah Kahan has raised a staggering $2.5 million for The Busyhead Project.

‘Pain Eater’ epitomises Noah Kahan's willingness to express his mental health challenges, but we see him exploring these in the new context of Noah now being a global megastar.

As a result, there's an added dimension to the ‘You're Gonna Go Far’ singer-songwriter's feelings of self-doubt, with Noah touching on a sense of guilt at the fact that, from the outside looking in, fans might think he ‘should’ be happy with his wealth and acclaim.

The ‘She Calls Me Back’ chart-topper implies he contends with imposter syndrome, something he's discussed in a number of previous interviews, before he laments, “Ain't it strange all my heroes are anxious / And it all how I asked you to choose / Shed a tear for the rich, sad and famous / Cry for me and I'll tour there next year”.

The line, “Cry for me and I'll tour there next year” is the kind of concise yet tragic witticism that Noah Kahan has become known and loved for, with Noah capturing a specific kind of angst, while lacing a self-deprecating sense of dark humour into the mix.

There's no word just yet as to when Noah Kahan will be releasing ‘Pain Eater’, but we're hoping he decides to include it on his new album, alongside other much-loved teasers such as ‘The Great Divide’, ’Pain is Cold Water’ and ‘Wreckage of You’. The latter is believed to feature a blockbuster guest appearance from Bon Iver.

Shortly after sharing the acoustic performance of ‘Pain Eater’, Noah Kahan returned to X (formerly Twitter), to share what seem to be more lyrics from an unreleased track:

“I’ve been trying to work out the angles

I’m been trying to make this all fit

I’ve been lying to sound less ungrateful

And hoping this darkness is just an eclipse

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Ironing out little wrinkles in my clothes

Even though now I never go out

Reading signs “how I love you” at my shows

And wonder who they are talking about”

It's possible these are additional lyrics from ‘Pain Eater’, or perhaps from a different unreleased track. It certainly feels like the references to Noah Kahan reading adoring signs at his shows align with the theme of imposter syndrome that pervades ‘Pain Eater’.

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