Album Review: Orchid by Matt Hansen
Words by Angelina Singer
Photo by Brayden Moreno
This artist built something incredible without a traditional label backing him — which is a massive feat all on its own if you know anything about the music industry. I hadn’t heard of him before his music crossed my desk, but I’m so glad I got with the program because Matt Hansen has 6 million monthly Spotify listeners and 3 million followers on TikTok. Overall, he’s also gotten 1 billion streams, contributing to his illustrious headlining tour across North America, Australia, and Europe. As soon as I listened to his music, I quickly knew I was missing out on something great — but better late than never. Each song on this album is a sparkling gem completing the intricate tapestry of a love story that never fully materialized. But bigger than that, Hansen clearly understands the nuances of writing, and what it takes to craft a song that does more than just offer a catchy beat.
With poetic and insanely relatable lyrics, satisfying rhyme schemes, and a knack for choosing tempos and melodies that are easily digestible without being overly simplistic, he’s hit the perfect mix of being artistic while still feeling creatively accessible. His debut full-length album, Orchid, looks at all these dynamic relationship struggles through a lens of pure frustration mixed with equal parts love and admiration — even when “it never cuts that clean” as seen in “SOMEWHERE IN BETWEEN”. This album is full of gems that each deserve their own moment in the spotlight, but since there’s eighteen of them, I’ll touch on the highlights while encouraging you to listen to each one in depth for yourself.
Both “love is like a garden” and “something to remember” create a hopeful, yet melancholy ambience that will draw you in from the very first notes. Rich vocal performances populate the space, while etheric harmonies blend with the string section, a theatrical opening to a fantastic body of work. I liked the way these two songs seem to flow into each other, with the second one being angrier, bordering on the alternative rock genre.
“SOMEWHERE IN BETWEEN” is probably even just a bit angry and desperate in its tone, while “SOMEONE TO YOU” feels like a hesitant love poem being sent to someone with a request to check “yes” or “no” with an extremely catchy melody. Then it explodes into a dramatic exposé on what it’s like to lose the person that means everything to you. Light pizzicato guitar notes blend into the verses, making every lyric feel like a plea for something the person never wanted to lose.
No song on this album is a filler — every single one means something incredible to the artist, and it shows in the sonic dynamics and the finely-tuned lyricism. Next up are “GRAVITY” and “VERSIONS OF FOREVER”, both of which play with rhythms and layered emotions throughout the passage of time. The first of these is written about that moment when you find out the truth about someone and (metaphorically) crash back to Earth while still feeling stuck in their orbit — doomed to repeat the pattern indefinitely. “Should’ve seen the truth but now it’s a tragedy / pull me in and I forget reality / I’m trying but I can’t escape your gravity” show the inherent emotional intelligence of this artist, because these lyrics would be great even standing alone minus the music. The second of the two features a bit more of an upbeat “campfire” vibe, but the melancholy message remains the same — that sometimes, all you’re left with are the memories and the awareness of wasted time.
“SAME TIME”, “LET EM GO’”, and “FOUND” fill the middle of the album, with more sonic goodness that feels like a warm hug for your nervous system. That being said, the first of these spares no expense on layering the angst on thick. There’s a cry in Hansen’s voice here that’s unmistakably desperate in the aftermath of a relationship taking a nosedive. The next two lead into a desperate ballad moment that creates a sense of internal tension and the beginning of the healing process (as seen in “FOUND”).
Each of these songs fits so perfectly in the same thematic universe as all the other ones, but they’re not redundant either. The standout songs for me in the latter half of the album were “yellowstone (holding you)” and “DON’T LOOK BACK” – both of which have bright vocals and strong storylines that highlight bravery, love, and what it’s like to grow into a new version of yourself. Light percussion brings all of these to the forefront, no matter where these sings find you.
“VISION” is a positive-mental-health anthem that provides the biggest hug and wish of hopefulness after heartbreak for the listener (and obviously, for the artist too). The last song is the title track, “Orchid” — and it’s a lighter ballad that’s a lot more thought-provoking and solemn than the songs that came before it. But there’s a glittering piano riff that provides this ethereal and hopeful vibe that really fits the storyline of losing someone he loved. I can see why this is the title track — it’s got the most emotional depth of the entire album in my opinion, with the intricate string section interplaying with the emotional vocal performance that sounds more like crying than anything else.
While I didn’t comment on each song individually, I highly suggest listening to each one and dissecting exactly what it is that makes each one so special. There are so many sonic and emotional textures that could easily be their very own movie (or, at least the soundtrack for one). I’m so glad that these songs made it onto my radar, and I know for a fact that you’ll love these too.
Listen to the full Orchid album by Matt Hansen, available now!