Cameron Whitcomb Announces Debut Album 'The Hard Way' With New Single 'Fragile'

Acclaimed singer-songwriter Cameron Whitcomb has announced the release of his hugely anticipated debut album, The Hard Way, arriving on Friday 26 September via Atlantic Records. Pre-order HERE.

"This record is every piece of who I am," says Whitcomb. "And I sincerely hope you enjoy it."

The Hard Way sees Whitcomb offering up a deeply personal look at his turbulent journey, from his struggles with addiction at a young age through to his recovery and adulthood. The album is heralded by today's premiere of the vulnerable new single, "Fragile," available everywhere now. Listen HERE.

"'Fragile' is about being told to man up your whole childhood and pushing away everyone that cares because of your own insecurities," shares Whitcomb. "It's a song that came from a place of finally starting to understand why I was the way I was " and wanting to change that."

Produced by frequent collaborator Jack Riley (Grace VanderWaal, Knox) and co-written by Whitcomb, Riley, Nolan Sipe, and Cal Shapiro (co-writer of Alex Warren's #1 hit single, "Ordinary"), the tender track explores the universal hope of finding a partner who can love you in spite of your past and any trauma you've endured.

Currently boasting over 6M monthly listeners on Spotify, more than 3M fans across social platforms, and over 400M worldwide streams and counting, Whitcomb is well into what is shaping up as a landmark 2025, with the recent released of the singles "Gasoline & Matches" and "Bad Apple,".

Recently featured globally on the cover of Apple Music's Today Country and named to both Spotify and Amazon Music's 2025 Artists To Watch lists as well as Shazam's Fast Forward 2025, Whitcomb also joined forces with rising indie folk artist Evan Honer for the raw collaborative single, "My Expense" along with his own emotionally vivid "Options" and larger-than-life anthem "Hundred Mile High." The latter earned first-week streams in excess of 1.6M and critical applause from MTV, Entertainment Tonight, UPROXX, Ones To Watch, and ELLE, which named it among "The Best New Songs We Heard In January," writing, "The return of modern folk was written in the stars… Cameron Whitcomb enters the conversation with 'Hundred Mile High.' The banjos pump the song forward, beckoning listeners on a cross-country road trip."

All this follows a breakthrough 2024 that featured the release of Whitcomb's remarkable debut EP, Quitter. Partly inspired by for the fast-rising 21-year-old singer-songwriter's journey in overcoming addiction, the acclaimed collection includes profoundly personal singles including "Love Myself" and the soul-searching title track, "Quitter," the latter of which was praised by Billboard as "an anthemic folk track in the mold of Noah Kahan powered by a kick-clap beat and Whitcomb's growling vocal." Now boasting more than 100M global streams, "Quitter" further made history as his first-ever single to reach the Billboard Canadian Hot 100.

One of the most captivating new songwriters of his generation, Cameron Whitcomb turns the most candid details of his real-life experience into songs with a strangely exhilarating power. Hailing from British Columbia's Vancouver Island, Whitcomb left home at age 17 and got a job working on a pipeline, later spending much of his downtime singing karaoke and posting covers on Reddit. When an American Idol executive took note of his undeniable vocal talent, he landed a spot on the show's 20^th season and emerged as a top 20 finalist. Whitcomb then immersed himself in learning to write songs while deep in the process of getting sober.

THE HARD WAY TRACKLIST

1. The Hard Way
2. Options
3. Lose Me
4. Fragile Ego (Interlude)
5. Fragile
6. Call For You
7. Quitter
8. Holiday
9. Pretty Little
10. Hundred Mile High
11. Missed Calls (Interlude)
12. As I Stand Before The Coffin
13. Digging Holes
14. Medusa
15. Polly (Interlude)