For better or worse, Matt Hansen is a hopeless romantic. So when a bad breakup in his early twenties knocked him on his back, the LA-based singer-songwriter didn’t just go to therapy—he put pen to paper, and music to lyrics. The result is Orchid, a debut album that doubles as a diary chronicling his years-long journey from hurt to happy and healing. Across scream-along hooks, cinematic washes, and expansive guitar melodies, Hansen’s heart-on-sleeve songwriting and unvarnished voice make each song feel like reliving memories once buried; they carry messages we (and even he) need to hear out loud. For Hansen, orchids symbolize the fragile nature of relationships: They can thrive for decades with the right love and care, but neglect and stress will kill them. He echoes that sentiment in the wistful album opener “love is like a garden,” reflecting, “You plant the seeds in hopes that something starts and lasts forever/And grow together.” From there, the run from “something to remember” to “SAME TIME” plays tug-of-war between holding on and letting go, reminiscing on late-night talks in the car one moment and the next wishing for a fight to end it all, before ultimately choosing himself. The cathartic “LET EM GO” feels like a long exhale, its anthemic refrain leading to exploring new love—the person who makes you feel safe (“FOUND”) and who you want at your side when the world ends (“yellowstone [holding you]”). But Hansen saves his saddest song for last with the twinkling title track “Orchid” as he likens the last moments of a relationship to “a distant star shining before it explodes”—a devastating yet beautiful sight, not unlike a wilting orchid.