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Alana Springsteen launches her next chapter with ‘Note to Self’
Nikki Blackburn
February 13th 2026
If you’re already familiar with Alana Springsteen’s music, you know that she writes from the heart and she writes her truth. She’s the kind of artist that can convey way more in a single line than many can in a whole verse. Her 2023 debut album, ‘Twenty Something’ is an eighteen-song testament to that (nineteen if you include ‘Just a House’ from the deluxe version, which you definitely should, by the way). That album is fire, and if you haven’t heard it – I can’t recommend it enough, but today marks something a little different, because today is the first day of Alana’s next chapter: of music, of life, of healing, and damn, she’s dug even deeper for this one…
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‘Note to Self’ is the lead single from her upcoming sophomore album; and for all the milestones she’s already achieved since she released her ‘History of Breaking Up’ EP’s and ‘Twenty Something,’ ‘Note to Self’ sees her going right back to the start, to her roots. Back to being a little girl in Pungo, Virginia where she was born and raised…
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In a promo on her socials, she states: “This is the beginning of a story about the people and the places that shape us. The ways we abandon and reclaim ourselves, and the lessons we learn along the way. I hope the child within you finds peace with you.”
It’s a song that speaks to growing up too fast, bearing the weight of the world on shoulders too young to support it and soldiering on regardless; trying to hold everything together whilst silently falling apart. It's not a song that looks to place blame anywhere; more to reflect on what was in order to heal in the present and move forward even healthier.
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“Your parents are fighting, your younger brothers are crying, and you’re a soldier in hiding in your bedroom trying to keep it locked up inside, and you just ignored all the sirens. If I could go back in time and try to write it all out…
Note to self, I know you had to get us through some hell. You couldn’t put a name to what you felt, ‘cause you never hurt like that before, but you ain’t alone anymore, no – I got you now.”
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It’s raw, real, relatable, and incredibly powerful!
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The music video doubles down on all the feels as Alana goes back to Pungo and walks the streets of her hometown and her old haunts. Home movies of a young Alana reciting Bible verse melt into present-day Alana sitting alone on the beach watching the waves crashing. It’s the final third of the song where Alana’s vocal really soars - as she’s standing literally at a crossroads in her hometown in the video – and the message switches from somber and contemplative to empowering as hell.
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“And all of the screams that just stayed in your head; all of the questions that scared you to death. It was a prison and you got us out, but you can let go girl; you can break down, ‘cause I got you now.”
Over the last year or so, Alana’s been vocal and honest across her socials of the journey she’s been on in therapy; doing the work to heal old wounds and the scars left behind and initiating those conversations with her fans too. I think it’s the bravest showing of strength that any artist, or simply any human, can make: to be that open and vulnerable to speak their truth even when it’s painful. It’s the kind of bravery that emboldens others to do the same, and that can spark not just real change, but real connection.
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And that connection between Alana and the community of fans she’s built is as powerful and as beautiful as this song itself. I think I’m seventeen shows in across six different countries now ( no stalker vibes lol ) and I’ve made lasting friendships with people I’ve met at a lot of these shows, and that’s rare, in my experience anyway. When she speaks in her live shows, Alana will often say ‘I wrote this song for us,’ when introducing a song and her music genuinely feels like love letters to her fans; forging moments of shared experiences and unity, but ‘Note to Self’ hits a little different, because the biggest love letter here is to that little girl playing guitar back in Pungo.
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“Note to self, just know that it’s okay to ask for help; you don’t gotta be afraid ‘cause I can tell you, life and people let you down, but where I’m standing here and now, it all works out.”
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It’s an impressive and eloquent way to launch a new chapter, and I can’t wait to see where this journey takes her next.
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'Note to Self' is out now wherever you get your music.
Written by Alana Springsteen, Mark Trussell & Trannie Anderson.
Produced by Alana Springsteen & Mark Trussell.
Keep up with Alana's socials here:
