Manchester:Unplugged Ft: Salo
SALO | Set Me Free
Laura’s Manchester: Unplugged film documents Salford based solo artist Salo and her inspirational journey from a young child arriving in Manchester as a painfully shy asylum seeker from Georgia, and her growth into a confident songwriter and producer, with a sound that’s unmistakably her.
Recently named one of BBC Introducing Manchester’s 2026 ‘Ones to Watch’, 26-year-old Salo is fast becoming one of the North’s most exciting new voices. Classically trained, she weaves soul jazz, drum & bass and jungle together, making music that’s as technically sharp as it is open-hearted and melodic.
Salo opens up about arriving in Manchester from Georgia as a young asylum seeker, and how the city has helped shape her into the producer and songwriter she is today. Her family fled Georgia when she was a baby, following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the instability that brought extreme hardship and poverty back home.
At the centre of the film is ‘Set Me Free’ a turning-point track in Salo’s writing and production. Made entirely alone at home, it’s the moment she taught herself to record, produce and mix, and, more importantly, to trust her instincts.
The documentary traces the places that shaped her musical identity: long hours on grand pianos at Forsyth’s Music Shop on Deansgate, childhood memories and performances linked to Chetham’s School of Music, and the realisation that her future wasn’t only as a pianist, but as a songwriter, producer and solo artist.
Salo also speaks candidly about self-releasing, building confidence in her own creative decisions, and how her relationship with ‘Set Me Free’ changed over time.
The episode culminates in a jaw-dropping, exclusive stripped-back performance of Set Me Free on grand piano at Stoller Hall, captured in Manchester: Unplugged’s signature cinematic style, raw, close, and emotive.
“One thing I hope people take from this documentary is that you don’t need to come from money to follow your ambition,” says Salo. “Once you have people around you that fully support you, that believe in you sometimes more than you believe in yourself, that’s your foundation set.”
“I loved being in Forsyth’s again, surrounded by their amazing grand pianos, and filming in both Chetham’s and Stoller Hall. It was such a blast from the past, reminiscing on my childhood musical memories,” she adds. “My Unplugged performance of ‘Set Me Free’ is so stripped back. It gives the song a new sound, a softer meaning. Less angst, more melancholic.”
Shot across venues, rehearsal rooms and creative corners of the city, each short Unplugged film blends intimate, honest storytelling with a reimagined performance, capturing the sparks, the setbacks, the graft, and the little moments that turn an idea into song.
“Manchester: Unplugged is about more than music,” says producer Laura Graham. “It’s about memory, place, and that moment a song comes alive. Each episode is a personal story told by the writer of the song. ‘Unplugged’ means stripping it all back to what matters: a song, a voice, and the truth of why it was made.”