Maisie Peters

Peters is the British singer-songwriter who turned a Sheeran co-sign into a real career. The early stuff was sweet and small. The recent stuff has bite. Here's where to actually start.

The records worth your time

Start with The Good Witch. Her second album, 2023, the one where the writing got mean and specific. The single Body Better is the obvious entry point but Lost the Breakup is the song that tells you whether you'll love her or not. The Good Witch on vinyl is around £25 and the gatefold artwork is the keeper.

If you connect with that, go back to You Signed Up For This (2021). It's the album where she figured out who she was as a writer. Skip the very early EPs unless you really fall for her — they're sweet but lighter than what came after.

Listening setup

Peters is a vocals-and-acoustic-forward writer. A pair of Sennheiser HD 599 open-back headphones at around $150 makes her writing sound like a person in the room. They're not portable — they're for the desk — but for this kind of music they're the right tool.

For commute listening, Sony WF-1000XM5 earbuds at $250 are the technically-best option. The cheaper Anker Soundcore A40 at $80 covers 80% of what they do.

If you want to play the records properly, a Audio-Technica AT-LP60X turntable at $200 is the entry-level answer that doesn't damage your records.

Live

Peters tours hard and the live show is consistently good. Tickets are usually £30-50 in the UK, $40-60 in the US. The arena shows are better than the smaller-venue shows for production but the smaller ones are better for the songs.

If you're going: a pair of Loop Experience earplugs at £25 is the single best £25 a concertgoer can spend. They cut volume without muffling the music. Your hearing thirty years from now thanks you.

If you like Peters, listen to

Holly Humberstone — the closest stylistic cousin, similar writing instinct. Phoebe Bridgers — for the more melancholic version of the same template. Sasha Alex Sloan — the American equivalent.

If you want the boyfriend whose-co-sign-launched-her, the Ed Sheeran catalog is right there. The Subtract album (2023) is the one to actually listen to from the recent Sheeran stuff. Subtract on vinyl is £25.

Reading the singer-songwriter scene

For the wider context on contemporary British pop, the New Statesman and Guardian music coverage is genuinely the best in print. For long-form, The Meaning of Mariah Carey isn't about Peters but it's the standard the songwriter-memoir genre is now held to.

What to skip

The Trying soundtrack work is fine but it's not the place to discover her. The cover singles she's put out (the Olivia Rodrigo cover etc) are nice for TikTok and not much else. Start with The Good Witch. Loop Lost the Breakup until you've memorised every line. Then go from there.