Exclusive Interview: Matt Hansen Breaks Down the Personal Stories Behind His Debut Album

Over the last few years, Matt Hansen has quietly become one of the most emotionally resonant voices in pop music. Amassing more than a billion streams and over eleven million monthly listeners on Spotify, Hansen has built a powerful connection with listeners through raw storytelling and deeply human emotion. His long-awaited debut album, Orchid, feels like the culmination of that journey, capturing years of heartbreak, healing, self-reflection, and ultimately, hope.

What makes Hansen’s artistry resonate so deeply is the way he transforms intensely personal experiences into something universally felt. Throughout Orchid, he traces the emotional highs and lows of the last four years of his life, turning pain, uncertainty, and relationship turmoil into songs that feel both intimate and expansive. Influenced by ambient artists like Brian Eno, Jon Hopkins, and Ólafur Arnalds, Hansen spoke about chasing sounds that unlock memory and emotion first, allowing the lyrics to follow naturally from there.

Pop Culturalist was lucky enough to catch up with Matt Hansen to discuss building the emotional arc of Orchid, the experience of bringing these songs to the stage, embracing a more honest approach to performance, and the moments throughout the process that completely changed the way he viewed the music.

PC: Debut albums often feel like snapshots of a specific moment in time. What does this body of work encapsulate for you, and what do you hope listeners take away from it?
Matt: This album represents my journey over the last four years of slowly turning pain into hope. It took a lot of self-reflection and trauma therapy to find the words I was trying to say, but it was so worth it. I hope people can take even the smallest ounce of hope away from this project, the same way I have. It took me a long time to dig myself out of that hole, but it feels so good to be on the other side now. I hope listeners can find that for themselves too.

PC: This project has been a long time coming. Did anything surprise you about the experience of putting together your debut album? And how do you see that creative process shaping what comes next?
Matt: I wasn’t expecting the process to feel this cathartic. A lot of that comes from essentially trauma dumping into my songs, but it genuinely feels like a weight has been lifted off my chest. Moving forward, I want to continue opening up in my music and digging even deeper into my emotions with whatever comes next.

PC: Your songwriting feels so universal while still remaining deeply personal—you’re taking emotions and experiences we all recognize and reframing them in a way that feels fresh and specific to you. “Same Time” is such a strong example of that. Who or what has influenced that side of your artistry the most?
Matt: I’ve always been inspired by beautiful sounds. A lot of the emotions I connect to start with certain melodies or textures, and I tend to write lyrics based on how those sounds make me feel. Ambient artists like Brian Eno, Jon Hopkins, and Ólafur Arnalds are some of my biggest inspirations because they create music that evokes such strong emotions without even needing words. I think that’s helped me find that pocket in my own songwriting. For me, the first step to making a song feel relatable is finding the sound that immediately unlocks a memory or emotion in someone.

PC: There was a point where you weren’t sure if you wanted to remain behind the scenes as a songwriter, but there’s so much character, grit, and rawness in your voice that makes these songs feel undeniably personal. What was the moment where you realized you wanted to be the one bringing them to life?
Matt: I’ve always loved singing and performing, but for a long time I felt like I was trying to sound like someone else. The moment I finally let go of that façade, everything started to fall into place. I stopped focusing on hitting every note perfectly and started actually feeling what I was singing. That shift really began when I started making those garage videos in 2021, because I was approaching music from a place of emotion rather than technical perfection.

PC: “Something to Remember” is all about that kind of love you can’t quite let go of. Which song on your debut album lives in that same emotional space for you, and has your relationship to it evolved since you first wrote it?
Matt: “Somewhere in Between” is a song that lives in that same emotional space for me. I remember that feeling like it was yesterday. There’s something so painful about existing in that kind of relationship purgatory where you almost wish the other person would just end it so the suffering can stop for both of you. The connection feels unbreakable and unforgettable, but in a way that almost becomes its own kind of prison.

PC: There’s so much intention behind the way the tracklist unfolds—it moves through all these different emotional spaces but ultimately arrives at a place of hope. It feels like a project designed to be experienced not just as individual songs, but as a complete body of work. How did you find that balance between building that larger emotional arc while still allowing each track to stand on its own?
Matt: It was actually easier than I expected to build the tracklist because most of the songs were written in chronological order. In a lot of ways, the album is just the story of my life over the last few years, and I kept writing about whatever I was feeling in the moment. There were a few songs written more in retrospect, which made them a little harder to place, but I could still trace them back to a specific emotional period in my life.

PC: You’re an artist who really comes alive on stage. How much does performing live influence the way you shape or even test new material? And was there a particular track from the album that surprised you in the way audiences connected to it?
Matt: I played “yellowstone” live for about a month before it came out, and it completely changed the way I viewed the song. When I first wrote it, I thought it was too cheesy and lacked substance, but after performing it live, I realized part of that reaction came from me rejecting these newer, happier songs. Seeing people dance and smile with the people they love completely shifted my perspective. Watching those moments unfold in real time filled me with so much joy.

Pop Culturalist Speed Round

PC: A band or artist that fans would be surprised to learn is on your playlist?
Matt: Daft Punk.

PC: First album you bought?
Matt: Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends—Coldplay.

PC: First concert you attended?
Matt: Coldplay in 2011.

PC: An album that changed your life and why?
Matt: 21 by Adele. It was the album that showed me how a powerhouse vocalist could exist within polished, produced pop music.

PC: A venue on your bucket list to perform at?
Matt: Red Rocks Amphitheatre, of course.

PC: A must-have on the road?
Matt: I need incense and candles. I don’t go anywhere without them.

To keep up with Matt, follow him on Instagram, Spotify, and Apple Music. Stream Orchid wherever you listen to music.