Deep dives into the world of the sophomore album by alayna Set Her Free
Tender Hearts Club:
Deep Cuts
IN CONVERSATION WITH ALAYNA
SET HER FREE: THE IMMERSIVE
ART GALLERY EXPERIENCE
Alayna is not just releasing an album — she is building a world.
With The Set Her Free Immersive Gallery Experience, she expanded her creative language beyond sound and into physical space, inviting audiences to experience her work through art, stillness, and presence.
In this Deep Cut, we spoke with Alayna to unpack the emotional architecture of the gallery, the symbolism woven throughout, and why immersive storytelling is central to her artistic evolution.
When the Music Needed a Room
When did you realise Set Her Free needed to exist beyond music and become a physical space?
alayna: I’ve always loved creating things that are tangible. Listening to music is such a sonic, non-physical experience and I really wanted to build something people could land on; something grounding, something that exists in the world alongside the album.
I’ve always enjoyed making art, purely as a hobby and a form of expression. Over time I realised how much the physical act of creating teaches me about process: how to trust it, how to be intuitive, how to see progress in a very real way. That felt important to mirror alongside the album.
With Self Portrait of a Woman Unravelling, I made handwritten journals and placed them in different cafe’s around the world to celebrate the release, so this felt like a continuation of that thread; extending the world of the album in a way that genuinely represents me as an artist. The gallery became a way to make the album feel lived-in, not just listened to, and it felt like the best way to introduce these songs to the world.
“I really wanted to build something people could land on; something grounding, something that exists in the world alongside the album.”
“The gallery became a way to make the album feel lived-in, not just listened to, and it felt like the best way to introduce these songs to the world.”
Did the physical act of creating art influence the album-writing process itself?
alayna: Very much so. Throughout making the album, I was constantly sketching, drawing, painting; often while I was in the studio. A lot of the time I’d be sitting on the floor, just drawing whatever was coming up emotionally.
There was a particularly potent three-month period at the start of 2025 when I was working on finishing the songs and wrapping the album that the art really ran alongside that process. It helped me stay present with the feelings, stay grounded and centred instead of getting stuck in my head and over-analysing.
“WHEN I WAS FINISHING THE SONGS AND WRAPPING THE ALBUM, art really ran alongside that process.
It helped me stay present with the feelings, stay grounded and centred instead of getting stuck in my head and over-analysing.”
Drawing the Album Into Space
Were there recurring themes or symbols that kept appearing in the artwork?
alayna: Yes, certain symbols came back again and again. Spirals, especially the Fibonacci spiral, became really important. This cyclical way in which we live and grow. The album is also about ripples; the idea that we’re shaped by what came before us, and that everything we touch creates new ripples moving outward.
That sense of expansion, of being part of something much bigger than myself, showed up visually. Art slowed me down. It kept me in the moment. That feeling of being centred and present became a core part of the gallery itself.
Listening to music has always felt like a solitary, intimate experience to me; many of the songs feel like conversations I’m having with myself, sitting with gratitude, loneliness, or very human emotions. When I go to Art Galleries or exhibitions, it feels like I’m in my own centre of the universe, quietly moving through something personal - there’s a real intimacy to that. Bringing those two experiences together felt natural. There’s a sense of solitude but also togetherness on the album, and creating an art gallery experience felt like the way to honour that.
“When I go to Art Galleries or exhibitions, it feels like I’m in my own centre of the universe, quietly moving through something personal - THERE’s a real intimacy to that.”
What was the vision behind the gallery experience itself?
alayna: I wanted to create a piece of art for each song on the album. There were 13 stations in the space, and each one invited people to put on headphones and listen to a specific track from the album.
You could move through the album in order around the space, or follow whatever drew you in, so it was completely self-guided. I wanted to give people the time and space to really let the music sink in.
The album is a series of love letters; to self, romantic love, womanhood and lyrics are just as important to me as the sonic experience. So we physically brought the words into the space. I hand-wrote lyrics onto large hanging fabric pieces, so you could see the gesture of the songs as well as hear them.
It felt important to honour both the lyrical and emotional worlds of the album in a way that felt immersive and expansive.
“It felt important to honour both the lyrical and emotional worlds of the album in a way that felt immersive and expansive.”
The Practice of Listening
If someone left the gallery feeling softened or changed, what do you hope they carried back into the world?
alayna: I hope they felt closer to themselves, in whatever way that means for them. There’s a kind of self-intimacy that comes with slowing down and really listening.
If people left feeling more connected to the parts of themselves that need care, or feeling called to reach out and express love to someone else, then it did what it was meant to do. It was a reminder to create grounding moments more often; to notice how fast everything moves, and choose presence when we can. It’s available to us always - but it’s easy to forget.
Stillness and presence were central to the experience. Why did slowing down feel important when celebrating the album?
alayna: I think about how my Dad described listening to music when he was young: buying a record, sitting down with friends, listening all the way through. The music was the moment. It wasn’t something playing in the background.
I wanted to recreate that kind of attention. This album took a lot of devotion to make, and I’m really proud of it. It felt like it deserved to be received with care - to be fully absorbed, without distraction.
“It was a reminder to create grounding moments more often; to notice how fast everything moves, and choose presence when we can.
It’s available to us always - but it’s easy to forget.”
“This album took a lot of devotion to make, and I’m really proud of it.
It felt like it deserved to be received with care - to be fully absorbed, without distraction.”
How does the gallery expand the world of Set Her Free, and what does it reveal about the artist you’re becoming?
alayna: It feels like a confident step; not because I have everything figured out, but because I’m deeply committed to the craft. Creativity is a lifelong relationship I will continue to nurture.
One of the biggest shifts during this album was realising that while the work begins with my story, it isn’t only about me. When you go deep enough, your story becomes a mirror for someone else’s. That’s the point of making and sharing art, to hold someone’s hand through a feeling they might not yet have words for.
This album and the gallery alongside it was my clearest attempt so far at doing that. Creating a space where people could come closer to the music and maybe a little closer to themselves, too.
What This Work Opened
“When you go deep enough, your story becomes a mirror for someone else’s.
That’s the point of making and sharing art, to hold someone’s hand through a feeling they might not yet have words for.”
Set her free, the immersive album release experience
12th-14th february, 2026
Dive into the world of alayna’s new album
Set Her Free
Watch the music videos
Love Letters - to self, to love, to the omen beside us and the ones who came before us
LISTEN TO set her free
alayna’s sophomore album released worldwide February 13th, 2026
The journey to
set her free
Listen to alayna’s rich discography and
follow the unravelling