David Kushner announces his second album ‘Devotion,’ out November 13, and shares the tender new single ‘Ritual.’
David Kushner made his name turning private ache into music that millions could hold, and now he is putting a name to the feeling. On September 14, the Nashville-based singer-songwriter announced his second studio album, Devotion, arriving November 13 via Miserable Music Group, and shared its tender new single “Ritual.” It is the follow-up to his platinum-selling 2024 debut The Dichotomy, and the early signs suggest an artist digging even deeper into the emotional territory that made him a phenomenon.
The album’s concept is right there in the title. “The album is about devotion and how it can either complement and elevate you or destroy you,” Kushner explained. “Some of the songs are positive, and other songs are sad. Even if being devoted to another person could consume you or ruin you, I believe it’s still worth it to try.” It is a fittingly dramatic framing from a writer who has always trafficked in the space between faith and doubt, light and dark, and it positions Devotion as a thematic companion to the push-and-pull of his debut.
A Return to Raw Emotion
“Ritual” makes the case immediately. A delicately composed return, it finds Kushner opening up as rarely before, his voice riding a restrained arrangement that lets the vulnerability sit in the foreground. The single is produced and co-written by Kushner alongside Jacob Olofsson, whose credits include Frank Ocean, Camila Cabello, and Baby Keem, and Scott Harris, known for work with Shawn Mendes, Niall Horan, and Melanie Martinez. That is a notably pop-literate team for an artist often filed under folk, and it hints at a widening sonic ambition without sacrificing the intimacy fans expect.
The track follows the earlier single “Electrified“ and continues a steady drip of new material since his 2025 EP 20 Years From Now. For Kushner, restraint has always been the point. His songs tend to build slowly and withhold as much as they reveal, a quality that has drawn persistent comparisons to Hozier and Bon Iver, and “Ritual” leans into that patience rather than chasing an obvious hook.
From Viral Sensation to Lasting Career
The context for Devotion is a genuinely staggering rise. Kushner, a self-taught musician and former social media influencer raised in the Chicago suburbs, broke through in 2023 with “Daylight,” an orchestral, faith-haunted ballad that went supernova on TikTok. The song reached the top 10 in the UK, hit No. 1 in five countries, peaked at No. 33 on the Billboard Hot 100, and has since amassed more than 1.7 billion streams on Spotify alone, an almost unfathomable number for a debut single from an independent artist.
The Dichotomy converted that viral moment into a real career. The 2024 debut went on to be certified multiple times platinum, spawned further global hits in “Skin and Bones“ and “Miserable Man,” and established Kushner as one of the most streamed new singer-songwriters of his generation. He has since relocated to Nashville, toured the world on the back of “Daylight,” and won the Grand Prize at the 2023 International Songwriting Competition, proof that the acclaim extended beyond the algorithm.
What makes Devotion compelling is the question it implicitly poses: whether an artist built on one inescapable song can sustain a body of work. Kushner has answered doubters before, and the framing of this album, sincere, spiritually searching, and unafraid of sentiment in an ironic age, suggests he has no interest in changing course. In a pop landscape that often rewards detachment, his earnestness remains his sharpest tool.
“Ritual” and its parent album arrive as a statement of intent from an artist who has quietly become a fixture. Devotion is out November 13, and if the lead single is any indication, Kushner is betting that the willingness to feel everything, even at the risk of ruin, is exactly what his audience came for. On the evidence so far, it is a safe bet.
