Noah Kahan releases ‘Homesick’ collab featuring Sam Fender

The latest in a string of collaborative singles, Noah Kahan has re-released the fan-favorite track ‘Homesick’ from his 2022 hit album Stick Season, this time featuring Sam Fender.

The release comes as the newest installation in Kahan's Stick Season collaboration series, which has previously featured artists such as Lizzy McAlpine, Hozier, Post Malone, Gracie Abrams and Kacey Musgraves.

The single tackles Kahan’s “complicated relationship” with his hometown in Vermont, describing the simultaneous need to escape and desire to return home. Fender has detailed similar feelings, often writing about his childhood in the working-class English town of North Shields.

Fender’s music touched Kahan on a personal level, articulating shared feelings of pride and bitterness towards their respective hometowns. Kahan was particularly struck by Fender’s ‘Seventeen Going Under,’ which was one of the primary inspirations for his breakout album Stick Season.

“As we sat down in Guilford, Vermont to record this album," Kahan said,  "the very first song we listened to was ‘Seventeen Going Under.’ The song ‘Homesick’ was born out of the confidence instilled in me by listening to someone accurately depict their hometown and what it means to them, for better or for worse.”

While Kahan admits that his upbringing was dissimilar to Fender’s, the pair bonded over the complicated mixed emotions illustrated in ‘Homesick.’

After meeting Fender in England, Kahan explained his experience and the ensuing eagerness for the collaboration, saying, “When I found out I’d be able to spend the day in Newcastle with Sam, I was nervous but excited. He welcomed me with open arms, let me into his world, showed me places in this community that held so much significance not only to the town, but to Sam himself. I felt very much like an outsider, but by the end, I did start to understand where these songs were coming from, and just how special of a guy Sam really is. He did an absolutely amazing job bringing his experience into my song ‘Homesick.’ He went above and beyond and I truly can’t thank him enough. I hope you enjoy this glance into our worlds, and that it offers you the same connection that I felt when I first heard this dude sing.”

Fender later shared that his portion of the song was recorded on the banks of the Tyne in North Shields, overlooking the "static cranes" mentioned in his verse.

"It made me proud of my hometown, and my people," the singer-songwriter explained. "The Geordies are a hilarious bunch, resilient and impermeable to hard times and hard drinking; my hometown is a constant source of inspiration. Noah is great lad, a canny chanter and a mean wordsmith. I love the track, and I can’t wait for people to hear it.”

Following a year of innumerable success, Kahan will head off 2024 with a UK and European tour, headlining sold-out shows in Dublin, Glasgow, Leeds, Cardiff, London and more.

Listen to the new single here!