Maisie Peters – Florescence

Full of flowers and fields, whimsy and wonder, Maisie Peters gifts us her newest album, Florescence. Acoustic shows in bookshops have set the scene for an era where Peters is both soft and strong, and a record where she shows that you can be healed and happy while still being angry at the way you were treated.

Mary Janes opens softly, a sweet lament to how women view themselves and how love can help you accept yourself. It’s about being happy with yourself and with the other women around you; she cheers to her buccal fat while asking the “it girls” to represent us to the aliens. Audrey Hepburn, a previously released single, follows with its country guitar before the catchy Say My Name In Your Sleep. Old Fashioned is the first time on the record where we hear some anger from her. She sings of a man everyone knows – egotistical, manipulative, self-obsessed – with a fervour and fierceness that hooks you.

My Regards, already the most popular single, is a highlight. Edgier than the rest, with an addictive drum beat, it houses a western-esque feel that adds to the confidence the song exudes. “The only air he’ll breathe is my perfume, my regards, from his bedroom,” she sings, lyrics that stick in your head for days. Flat Earther is a reminder of Peters’s well-inked pen. Her lyrics have always been a step above, clever and reflective without ever taking herself too seriously. In Flat Earther she says, “I loved you like a flat earther, so stubborn, so dumb, tryna make a man out of silence and thin air,” and you can’t help but smile at the image of it.

There are two features on the tracklist, Kingmaker with Julia Michaels and If You Let Me with Marcus Mumford. Oftentimes, features can feel like an unnecessary add-on, but these do not feel out of place at all. Both voices blend like butter and add beautiful dimensions to the songs.

Three albums in, and it’s clear that Maisie Peters is confident in what her music should be. Florescence has the intimacy and vulnerability of You Signed Up For This, the wit and confidence of The Good Witch, and a new maturity that fans who have grown up with her will resonate with more than ever.