We haven’t heard from British singer/songwriter  Maisie Peters in a while, and she’s been teasing her third album for so long that when she finally announced its first single, ‘Audrey Hepburn,’ I felt a piece of my soul had been restored. 

Her music is, in a word, restorative. Frequently discussing the internal mechanics of broken-down relationships, Maisie shines even more (if possible) in the perpetual and unmovable force that is her spotlighting of self. In her sophomore album, ‘The Good Witch,’ this came through quite literally, with songs like ‘You’re Just A Boy (And I’m Kinda The Man)’ and lyrics like “The loss is yours”. She never loses sight of herself in a relationship, and it makes her albums easy to listen to, a book you can’t put down, because she doesn’t ever sacrifice sanity for a man. 

Peters also has a distinct, imagery-reliant writing style (alluding to both literature: “You could take me to Neverland, baby” and culture: “You know, Yoko never broke up that band”) that places her in such high regard for her lyrical capabilities in the pop-sphere. These wordy, thought-provoking songs, paired with the scream-inside-your-car tunes, are always a fun treat, and means her work is just super accessible. 

‘You You You’ was a surprise release with ‘Audrey Hepburn,’ (an announcement I was not prepared for at 1AM), and are a testament to this lyrical skill. Actually, it’s shooting her into a new stratosphere of lyricism, paired with some very classic Peters melodies. For fans of her earliest works, the EPs and standalone singles: these songs are most certainly for you. 

‘You You You’ is true to form Maisie Peters heartbreak. Where she thrives is in visualising the doom of no longer having someone on your side, of adjusting to empty space. The imagery here is astounding “I eat about you, so I weigh less than when we met,” and paired with this motif of obsessing your life around someone to the point of your purpose being obstructed is fascinating. The vocoder was a lovely touch, but ultimately, the acoustic Maisie sound has made its return, and we should all be thankful. It’s a lovely divergence from the production of the previous two albums, which is not to suggest their production is bad! But this acoustic sound allows for her voice and lyrics to be spotlighted, which is the heart of Peters’ music. 

‘Audrey Hepburn’ is a total 180 from ‘You You You,’ and if it weren’t for its equally stripped-back sound, it would probably cause some kind of emotional-whiplash catastrophe. It’s unbelievable that we are in the era of real-time Maisie Peters love songs, which have previously only been seen incredibly sparingly, or in the soundtrack she created for the show ‘Trying.’ If this song is a taste of what’s to come, everyone should start planning those weddings already. The callback to previous songs builds a mini-narrative: ‘I wanted to be immortal, now I’m fine with growing old,’ feels directly referential to ‘Stay Young,’ which mirrors Peters’ own growth in spending some time away from the spotlight and nurturing her own relationship. 

It’s a testament to how sometimes in order to create truly beautiful art, you need to step back and find what is beautiful within your own life. Peters has done just that, and MP3 promises to be a lot to look forward to.