Alayna Announces New Album ‘Set Her Free’ Out February 13 via Nettwerk; Shares New Single + Video “Softly”
October 3, 2025 BY Emma Orland
New Zealand-based singer-songwriter alayna opens a luminous new chapter with the announcement of her sophomore album Set Her Free, arriving February 13 2026 via Nettwerk. Alongside the announcement, she shares her ode to the power of platonic love – new single “Softly”.
Following the inward reflection of her acclaimed 2023 debut Self Portrait of a Woman Unravelling, alayna turns outward on Set Her Free, a record that celebrates love in all its vast, intricate forms. Across thirteen songs, she explores three interwoven threads –self-love, the quiet power of womanhood, and the tender spectrum of romantic connection – crafting what she calls “a series of love letters to myself, my relationships, my friends, my mother and the women who came before me, and to love itself.”
The album’s title becomes a mantra of liberation: the truest expression of love, she says, is the freedom to grow.
As alayna explains, “Set Her Free was in my bones for a long time. I’ve always searched for this kind of freedom in myself, this liberation in all areas of my life. My journey as an artist, a human, and particularly as a woman, have all unfolded alongside each other. The most ever-deepening understanding and wisdom as I go through this life is that love is this deep, expansive and pulsating life force that is at the centre of everything, and with each experience I go through, it widens and deepens further.
“I found a strong pull to write about love in womanhood – I realised this profound love I had always looked for in romantic connections was actually always there in the relationships with the women in my life. I wanted to focus on this love, this unseen ‘glue’ that is there within platonic friendships, the real reason we are held together. Uncovering these truths enabled me to write about relationships with a renewed perspective and also helped me look at my most important relationship of all – the one with myself. My ever-evolving understanding is that love is interwoven across such a spectrum of different types of expression and connections. I want to celebrate how extraordinary the capacity of the heart of a woman is. Love is in the smallest cracks, and as vast as our entire sky – a love so big, but it still fits in all the tiny spaces.”
PRE-SAVE: ALAYNA SET HER FREE
alayna.ffm.to/setherfree
Soft-edged and soul-anchored, Set Her Free is both intimate and expansive, drawing listeners into moments of stillness, resilience, and transformation. Executive-produced by New Zealand’s Ben Malone and shaped by an international team of collaborators – including Grammy-winners Sebastian Kole (Alessia Cara, Teddy Swims) and Oak Felder (Demi Lovato, Kehlani), alongside Ryan Linvill (Olivia Rodrigo, Chappell Roan), Chelsea Lena (Ruel, Joji), Emma Rosen (Dean Lewis, MGK), Chelsea Warner (Pania, BOYSODA), VRON (UMI, Kiana Ledé), Zaire Koalo and Trevor Brown of The Orphanage (Lizzo, Kelly Clarkson), and Serban Cazan (Jennie, Rag and Bone Man, Jojo) – the album moves with a quiet confidence, balancing cinematic production with a warmth and closeness that radiates outward, inviting listeners into the shared space of alayna’s world, while her voice and storytelling shine at the heart of every track.
The project’s guiding light emerged during a writing camp in Bali, where alayna penned “Softly.” Written with Emma Rosen and Oak Felder, the song honours the women who have held her through every season of life, realising that the love she once sought in romance had always been present in the enduring friendships around her. The track’s cicada-laced recording captures the sense of magic that defined the album’s creation.
Alayna shares, “’Softly’ is an ode to the profound and enduring love found in the relationships with the women around me. Throughout all my life’s highs and lows, falling in and out of love, I have never not been caught, never not landed softly, because I fall onto this bed of incredible women who have held and loved me through every version of myself.”
WATCH & SHARE: ALAYNA “SOFTLY”
https://alayna.ffm.to/softly
https://youtu.be/05iXtgzZTEs?si=8uwT5q_nDt_BY2vL
With more than 85 million global streams and a reputation for crafting songs that feel both personal and universal, alayna continues to carve out her place as one of Aotearoa’s most affecting voices. Set Her Free is a radiant next step, an invitation to witness the power of love in its smallest cracks, and its widest skies.
ABOUT ALAYNA
Hailing from Rotorua, New Zealand, alayna (Alayna Powley) has spent the past decade refining a sound that blends soulful vocals with unflinching emotional honesty. Her 2023 debut album Self Portrait of a Woman Unravelling marked a turning point, earning critical acclaim and cementing her reputation as a fearless storyteller. With over 85 million streams worldwide and collaborations spanning FINNEAS, Ta-ku, Sango and more, alayna continues to expand a global community drawn to her warmth, vulnerability and quiet strength. Set Her Free signals the next phase of her artistry – outward-looking, connected, and unbound.
