For the past few years, indie folk singer-songwriter Matt Hansen has been quietly building something extraordinary.
What started as stripped-down covers filmed in an empty parking garage during the pandemic has evolved into a global movement powered by raw honesty, emotional storytelling, and a fiercely loyal fanbase. Today, Hansen boasts more than 1 billion streams, 6 million monthly listeners on Spotify, and over 3 million followers on TikTok—all achieved without traditional label support.
Now, he’s ready for the moment fans have been waiting for.
Later this spring, Hansen will release his first-ever full-length album, Orchid, which can be described as a deeply personal project that captures the emotional highs and lows of the past five years of his life.
“I’ve been working on a massive project — my first project ever — and I cannot wait to share it with everyone,” Hansen tells Celeb Secrets host Juliet Schroder exclusively in a virtual interview. “I know people have probably been waiting like five years since I started putting out music for this. It really feels like the culmination of these last five years of work and touring and writing.”
The album rollout began earlier this year with the emotionally charged “Somewhere In Between” back in January, which he says feels very “guttural” to him.
“I wrote [it] recently, but it was inspired by a moment about three and a half years ago that’s still very fresh in my mind. It’s about that feeling of being really stuck and can’t quite end it yourself,” Matt explains.
“I just remember that moment so clearly and it was such a weird place to be in. I know that a lot of people have felt that too, where you’re like, ‘it’s not bad, but it’s not good.’ There’s no animosity, but why do we not work, you know? It feels very guttural to me.”
This past Friday, Hansen continued the story with “Same Time,” yet another offering that gives the listener a glimpse into the sonic and emotional world he’s been carefully crafting.
But before the sold-out tours and streaming milestones, Hansen was simply a college student looking for an outlet. During the early days of the pandemic, he found himself gravitating toward music again — specifically, performing covers of beloved ‘90s and early 2000s songs online. Filmed in an unlikely setting, the now-famous recordings helped spark the career he has today.
“It was during COVID and I had nothing else to do,” Hansen recalls. “There was an empty seven-story parking garage about five minutes from where I was living, so I would go there almost every day and just sing.”
At first, it was just for fun. Then he decided to hit upload, which changed his life completely.
“I was like, ‘You know what, I should probably put this online.’ And it just did really well,” he says with a laugh. “The hardest part was just making myself post it.”
Those covers eventually evolved into original songs that resonated with listeners worldwide, leading to viral hits like “Something to Remember,” “LET EM GO,” “yellowstone,” and “DON’T LOOK BACK.”
While fans have watched Hansen release singles over the years, Orchid represents something bigger — a full narrative about growth, heartbreak, and self-discovery.
“This project really tells the story of my life over the last four or five years,” he explains. “There are a lot of things that happen in that amount of time, especially with relationships and love — a lot of ups and downs.”
At its core, the album explores the emotional aftermath of love lost and the ways those experiences reshape who we become.
“It’s really about love and loss,” Hansen says. “Sometimes it’s the loss of a relationship, sometimes even the loss of a person. Those moments can change who you are so quickly.”
He pauses before adding something that feels like the thesis of the entire album:
“How do you move on from something traumatic like that? And how do you become a better person because of it?”
While Hansen is thrilled for listeners to experience tracks like “Somewhere In Between,” the album’s title track holds an especially powerful place in his heart. And it also scares him the most.
“‘Orchid’ is my favorite song that I’ve ever written,” he says. “But it’s also the one I’m most scared for people to hear because it’s very different and very cinematic. It’s probably the most vulnerable song I’ve ever written.”
The song ultimately inspired the album’s title, built around a metaphor Hansen discovered while reflecting on the nature of relationships.
“An orchid is a flower that can live for so long if you take care of it properly,” he explains. “But if you don’t, they die very quickly and catastrophically — and there’s no way to bring them back.”
For Hansen, the symbolism was impossible to ignore.
“In the right conditions, with the right light and care, love can last forever,” he says. “But without those things, it slowly falls apart.”
One of the most remarkable aspects of Hansen’s rise is that he’s done it entirely on his own terms. With no label gatekeepers between him and his listeners, the connection with fans has become deeply personal.
“I realized pretty early on how much I love having control over what I want to say and where I want to go,” he tells Celeb Secrets. “There’s no wall between me and the fans — it’s just me and them.”
That direct connection is something Hansen protects fiercely.
“I’m the one on all my socials running everything,” he says. “This entire project is just my heart and soul.”
While Hansen’s music may be intimate, but his reach is anything but small. Over the past few years, he’s headlined tours across North America, Europe, and Australia, opening for major artists including Teddy Swims, Lauv, Train, and Alec Benjamin.
One of the most surprising fanbases? Australia.
“I feel like they treat folk music like it’s party music,” Hansen laughs. “I’ll be playing these sad songs and everyone’s just having the best time. I love that so much.”
After wrapping a sold-out Australian headline tour, he says the experience still feels surreal.
“It’s such a blessing that people on the other side of the world love my music,” he says.
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Despite the viral success, sold-out shows, and massive streaming numbers, Hansen still views Orchid as the true starting point of his story.
“I was 21 when this all started, and I had no idea what I was doing,” he admits. “I didn’t even know who I was as a person yet.”
But the years that followed — full of personal growth, heartbreak, therapy, and reflection — gave him something far more valuable than industry polish.
“I think now I finally have enough to say,” Hansen says.
And with Orchid set to bloom later this spring, fans will finally hear the story he’s spent half a decade learning how to tell.
For more on Matt Hansen and his musical journey, make sure to watch our full interview below — and don’t forget to let us know if you’re excited for Orchid by either leaving a reaction at the bottom of the post or by sliding into our DMs on Instagram at @celebsecrets.
Interview quotes have been edited and condensed for clarity.
