Matt Hansen Isn’t Rewriting the Story on Orchid (Deluxe): He’s Turning the Page
by Chloe Avila | September 25th, 2026
Photo Credits: Brayden Moreno
I always wanted to start a diary so that one day I could go back and look through everything again. Relive those moments I never wanted to end and revisit the moments I thought would never end. There is something about Matt Hansen’s music that has always felt like an open diary. Every moment he’s lived, he’s also sung about, allowing listeners to break down the wall between artist and fan. Hansen has entrusted his listeners with his songs and, in that sense, his diary as well, if he even has one. His debut album, Orchid, established vulnerability as one of the defining pieces of his artistry. Now, with Orchid (Deluxe), Hansen is opening that diary back up, not to rewrite the same heartbreaking tragedies, but to see what happens next.
Released earlier this summer, Orchid became a breakthrough moment for independent singer-songwriter Matt Hansen, debuting at No. 6 on Spotify’s Top Albums Debut USA chart, and helped push his catalog past one billion streams worldwide. But the numbers only tell part of the story. “LET EM GO,” “something to remember,” and “yellowstone (holding you)” have each been earning roughly half a million streams per day and describe the emotional messiness of understanding what we feel and what to do with those feelings.
Orchid (Deluxe), out September 25, moves the story of the album into a more hopeful chapter with four additional songs: recent singles “THINKING BOUT ME” and “UNSPOKEN,” alongside unreleased songs “UNFORGETTABLE” and “Canary.”
“THINKING BOUT ME” acts as the bridge between the original Orchid and what comes next, capturing those late nights spent lying in bed, trying to fall asleep, but your brain can’t help but make you think about them. Which then makes you ask the age-old question: are they thinking about me too? Reality probably not, but tween Chloe still hopes she didn’t waste all those 11:11 wishes for nothing.
With a title centered on everything left unsaid, “UNSPOKEN” fits naturally into Hansen’s world. The track finds emotion in the things that are often hardest to articulate, adding another layer to the album’s exploration of the uncertainty of connection. It’s the point where you are still questioning everything about that relationship but also coming to terms with the cold, hard truth: they aren’t yours now, but they will always have a special place in your heart. Tween Chloe didn’t like that, but adult Chloe… yeah, she’s finally coming to terms with it now.
Photo Credits: Brayden Moreno
But the real introduction to this new chapter comes with “UNFORGETTABLE.”
Right from the start, you hear the strums of his guitar, hard, like he’s finally coming to face the facts. Then comes a soft, melodic tune, underlying the guitar as if his anger and sadness are fighting for dominance. In the lyrics, he explains how lonely he feels at being left behind and how, no matter what, he will do “whatever he has to do" to move on. As the song comes to an end, violin strings add a tone of acceptance, making this song’s intentions clear to me: this is what grief feels like. Messy. Raw. Real.
Hansen closes the deluxe edition of Orchid with “Canary.”
Hansen sings about the moment we all dread, running into your ex for the first time after the breakup. He did what we all do, lie and say we’re doing fine, when in truth, we are so far from fine it’s ironic. He explains in the chorus how he lost himself in the process of loving her, “just to hold her close.” The tune of the song is softer than his previous ones. Softer guitar strings and soft yet strong vocals as if trying to finally start the process of healing. Hansen has no need to yell, like the other 3 tracks on this deluxe, because he’s finding himself again, slow and steady, and the anger is fading into the past, just like her.
Placed at the end, “Canary” feels like more than a bonus track, it feels like closure.
Ultimately Orchid (Deluxe) does not simply add four more songs. It reminds us that even when we cannot rewrite the stories that hurt us, we can still turn the page, and eventually find ourselves again.
Photo Credits: Brayden Moreno
Catch Matt Hansen on tour this fall!
Avila on Aux: added