Indie-folk singer-songwriter Our Violet Room – aka Matthew Birch – recently released the music video to pair with his tender track, “Secrets.” The song, which is fresh off of Birch’s debut album Not Where I Thought I’d Be, shares the story of lovers just beginning the flicker of their relationship. Singing about sharing secrets only the two know about each other and deepening their connection, Birch alongside New Zealand pop artist Estella Dawn harmonize with delicate yet stirring emotion. To complement the song, director Cole Naylor found a cinematic way to emphasize the beautiful simplicity of those ordinary moments in a relationship. Leaning into magical realism, the video intertwines stop motion with reality as Birch gets sentimental about his blooming affection. Hinting at significant objects and memories that make up the relationship, viewers are able to catch a glimpse into what the relationship was before it crumbled. “Secrets” serves as the album’s opener, as the rest of the record details chronologically the future of the relationship.
A deep love of movie scores and the composers that made them alongside an admiration and passion for folk music is the base of the music that Birch creates under the moniker Our Violet Room. An “indie singer-songwriter with a cinematic twist”, Birch got his musical start in 2018 by playing SoFar Sound shows – first in Denver but soon all over the world. A humble story of overcoming depression, working hard, and diving headfirst into his dream, Birch only has one goal…. to make thoughtful, well-made, emotional art that inspires his listeners and causes them to feel. His music has been compared to the likes of Sufjan Stevens, Bon Iver, Bob Dylan, Peter Gabriel, and Coldplay for its lush atmosphere, emotional lyrics, and cinematic arrangements and has quickly launched his music career with two songs featured on FreeForm’s Good Trouble series and two songs featured in a Magnolia feature film. “Making movie scores has been a dream of mine and to look at each song as a little movie score has been a great way of creating,” says Birch. Thus far in his career, Birch has released two EPs – Our Violet Room and the live EP Loss and Death in Winter – alongside a handful of singles. Mixing folk and cinematic soundscapes seem to be working for the emerging artist as his songs have a combined 500,000 streams. “ I don’t go for cool or hip, I go for what moves me.” His debut album Not Where I Thought I’d Be is now out on all platforms.