Noah Kahan Talks Landing Lead Single For ‘Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping’ Soundtrack: ‘You’re Not Coming to Me For Heartwarming’
Billboard ·
The folk-pop star scored the soundtrack’s lead single with “Draw You Out.”
The Hunger Games franchise has a proven track record of landing a high-profile artist to deliver a heart-wrenching lead single for each of its film’s soundtracks, including Taylor Swift, Lorde, Coldplay and Olivia Rodrigo. Its forthcoming title, Sunrise on the Reaping , is no different; folk-pop star Noah Kahan joins their ranks, and has the honor of introducing the soundtrack with his single, “Draw You Out.”
The haunting song arrives Friday (Oct. 2), while the soundtrack drops Nov. 13, one week before the film hits theaters on Nov. 20.
When reminded who has recorded a Hunger Games lead single before him, Kahan quips: “That sounds like my playlist on my phone.” He says it is “an insane opportunity” and something he’s always wanted to do. “I’ve read all the books,” he adds. “I’ve seen all the movies.”
“Music is such a massive part of the Hunger Games in a lot of ways,” he continues. “And to be able to speak to what the director sees in these characters, what Suzanne Collins wrote these characters for, and to try to match that is a big task – but a really fun challenge.”
While speaking with Billboard for his Grammy preview cover story, Kahan explained he’s a big fan of the franchise – and aware of the responsibility that comes with recording the lead single for its soundtrack.
“Not just because of the company that you’re keeping with Taylor, Lorde, Olivia, Coldplay,” he says, “it’s more doing justice to a bunch of people that have a really deep, intimate connection with these characters and these stories, and the trust from a director to be like, ‘We trust that you could do this,’ is really special. I take that very seriously.”
Kahan says the process of writing “Draw You Out” required a lot of research and that while he felt excited by the new experience and challenge of writing a song for a film, “I want[ed] there to be part of me in it, as a way to find parts of me in part of this character, and making sure that I didn’t feel like I was sacrificing either one.”
Sunrise on the Reaping is a prequel within The Hunger Games universe, created by author Suzanne Collins. This particular film takes place during the 50th Hunger Games (24 years before the events that take place in the original trilogy) and focuses on a then-16-year-old Haymitch Abernathy. In the trilogy, Haymitch is known as Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark’s mentor.
“I think if you’re like, ‘I’m just going to write a song about, Haymitch,’ if I have to play it for the rest of my life or if I have to sit there in the studio and put a lot of love into it, I don’t know if I can connect with it if I don’t feel like parts of me are in there,” Kahan continues. “And I really do feel proud of being able to find that balance on this song. It’s a really cool experience, and I just can’t believe that I get to be a part of it.”
“Draw You Out” is the first bit of new music from Kahan since the release of his acclaimed Billboard 200 No. 1 album The Great Divide and its deluxe edition The Last of the Bugs . He co-wrote and co-produced the song with album collaborator Aaron Dessner.
True to form, as Kahan admits, “it is sad, but you’re not really coming to me if you’re looking for heartwarming. This is not the scene where they’re all like, fighting back,” he teases. “I guess there is some hope in it, I’m not exactly the optimistic kind of artist. There are some uplifting things in there, but if you really listen, [I’m] still saying sad stuff. It just happens to have a cool beat behind it.”
Read Kahan’s Billboard cover story here.