Heartbreak House: The New Genre For Those Who Want To Dance the Pain Away

Noah Henderson shares insights on his new genre of the summer, Heartbreak House, and details about his upcominging single, music creation process, and inspirations

PHOTO BY ANGEL MARTIN

I’m not sure why, but I’ve always gravitated to slow, emotive music. As a sad girl at heart, something about the vulnerability and sensitive nature of the lyrics made them more relatable to me. I’ve always had big feelings, and hearing them reflected by my favorite musicians is always a cathartic experience that can take place any time, anywhere. 

As fate would have it, I had the pleasure of chatting with Noah Henderson, a singer/songwriter from Sacramento, California who also appreciates a nostalgic, in-your-feels ballad. 

Henderson is now located in Los Angeles, and got started in the music scene as a producer before slowly starting to develop his own taste and style, which looked different from some of the artists he was producing for.    

He took that as a sign to really hone in on his songwriting skills, and soon enough was able to write, sing and produce his own tracks. 

“I saw a lot of songs that I don’t think really reached their full potential, so I decided I wanted to do it myself,” he said. 

Since his first single release in 2021, Henderson has put out six singles, all of which reflect the intersection of heartbreak, regret and introspection. His most recent track, “nothing worse than almost having you,” took over a year to complete because he found it challenging to piece together the lyrics in the exact way he wanted to say them. Henderson said he also tries to make the instrumental say what he wants the listener to feel before he starts singing, which requires a lot of trial and error to find exactly what works.

“I always try to capture what feelings I’m going through in the simplest way, but also in a way that has some dimensions to it,” he said. The song does so successfully and tugs at the heartstrings, refusing to let go. 

Henderson tried to record and write this song in a few different studios and settings to try and “catch a vibe” somewhere. Because this song is a little more on the folk side, he decided to fly up to Oregon to be in nature, and really embody the sound of the song. “That is when it finally clicked,” he said. 

I’m so glad it did, because the lyrics left in “nothing worse than almost having you,” reflect an honest heartbreak that many artists do not expose the truth of. 

I don't deserve this

You hurt me on purpose

There's nothing worse

Than almost having you

Henderson noted that he wrote this chorus to “nothing worse than having you” on the same day his other hit single, “i think you loved me,” blew up on TikTok. (The debut video is currently sitting at 372.4k views and 80.1k likes.) Henderson has racked up a respectable social media following by posting clips of his songs backed with artsy clips and relatable relationship content. He boasts 67.3k followers on TikTok and 34.5k on Instagram, and with that audience, Henderson said it's actually been a mostly positive place to post his content and generate a new following. 

“I think it’s been a great tool. Some of my friends bash on making content because they say they’re not content creators, they’re artists,” he said. “But in my opinion, no one cares unless you make them care, and when else has there been a way to show your music to the entire world at once?”

Henderson also said social media has been a great way to connect with fans and other artists that he would not have been able to connect with otherwise. 

However, sharing sneak peaks of his music with his followers have also created challenges in his creative process. While creating and promoting a song, he posts samples of an incomplete verse or chorus as he's creating them. Once he does this, Henderson said his comments are flooded with requests to put the song out immediately. In reality, it could be months until the song is ready for publication. 

“People are sometimes pushy about when songs are being put out. I care a lot about the song and capturing the weight on my chest accurately,” he said. “Crafting that perfectly takes either ten minutes or two years. So, the biggest challenge is waiting on my creative process. ” 

We talked about what’s next for Henderson, and he said he’s in the process of creating a new sub-genre for the summer: “Heartbreak house.” As a musician turned producer, Henderson said the idea stemmed from combining his mixing skills and emotionally driven lyrics.  

Heartbreak house will make its debut in Henderson’s upcoming single, “Bring your love (to the light),” which will be released on August 16. This song was also brought to life on TikTok, after a viral video of the instrumental pushed Henderson to finish it off.

“For heartbreak house, I wanted to keep my nostalgic, healing vibes and combine it with something you could dance to,” he added. 

To wrap up the interview, I asked Henderson who his musical inspiration was, to which he quickly said Jon Bellion. As a producer and singer, Henderson said he really related to Bellion’s ability to do both. Henderson also remarked that Bellion writes his lyrics from a “vulnerable, honest place,” which is something he tries to emulate in his own work. 

“[Bellion] showed me what it means to make music such a big space in your heart and who you are as a person,” he said. “His music really connects the dots for a lot of people. He writes more than just a pop song.” 

He added that a lot of his content creation and video production style has been inspired by Bellion’s, specifically his behind the scenes content. 

“I want to be able to inspire other people to create things down the road,” he said. 

Henderson has not done much touring yet, but plans to make it happen this fall and spring, so keep him on your radar, Pleaser Nation!