The Paw Print

By Madeleine Spanbauer, Editor-In-Chief

Maisie Peters’ sophomore album, “The Good Witch,” was released in June 2023 and has kept fans enraptured with her mix of casual remarks worked into upbeat classic pop songs and impactful lyricism hidden in sly metaphors. The album takes a slight turn from her debut, “You Signed Up For This,” taking a heavier pop approach with fewer soft ballads and more intense beats and production.

Peters spent 15 weeks of mystical mythology references and lyrical sneak peeks promoting the album. Fans waited with great anticipation to see Peters’ new project, one that she said, “has so much of my heart in it.”

The album starts with the title track, “The Good Witch.” The song has a reminiscent feel of Peters looking back and sending a message to someone. She sings, “Still me here, do you think I forgot about you? / Still upset but now I’m twenty-two,” a lyric that leaves the listener with a sense that Peters is trying to move on but feels stuck in the past. The track is one of the best lyrically done pieces on the album and packs an emotional punch.

“Coming of Age” is one of the most upbeat and intense songs on the album. The song reflects a time of moving on, recognizing self-worth and becoming independent, which is shown when she sings, “I’m caught in new ground and I’m burning all your CDs / Baby, I am the Iliad, of course you couldn’t read me.” This is also one of her many references to Greek mythology by singing about Homer’s epic poem, a famously dense piece titled The Illiad. The production may go slightly overboard on this track, as Peters’ vocals and melodies feel lost in the din of drums and synth.

Track four, “Body Better,” is a song indicting an ex-lover for his superficial tendencies when choosing a new partner. She also mixes in ideas of doubt regarding her own self-image, which is most reflected when she sings the chorus, “Then I, I can’t help thinking that she’s got a better body? Has she got a body better than mine? / And I, I can’t help thinking when you touched it, were you sorry? Were you sorry like you weren’t at the time?” This track has an excellent beat with a catchy melody and is one of my personal favorites.

While “Body Better” may be a track near the top of my list of favorite album tracks, “The Band and I” would have to take the top spot. This track is a love letter to Peters’ time touring her first album and looks back on all of the moments that impacted her during the tour. It features many small details and makes the listener feel that they are experiencing the tour right along with her. In the third verse, Peters sings, “Two nights in the El Rey went flying / I’m 21 and I feel evergreen / The band go home, I stay to write, we drive around, I stay the night / Guys, I’m pretty sure it’s the American Dream,” accompanied by a sentimental melody that can’t help but instill a hopeful feeling in the listener.

Track 8, “Lost the Breakup,” was one of the lead singles on the album and is one of the most danceable tracks. The song has an empowering sentiment about how an ex-lover would miss her when she left him because she was the clear catch in the relationship. Peters sings, “​​I’m hurting, but I’m certain it’s still true / I’m the best thing that almost happened to you.”

“Wendy” is one of the most melancholic tracks, as the concept revolves around Peter Pan and Wendy and how Peter left Wendy alone to wait for him to return. This metaphor is a roundabout way of saying that Peters doesn’t want to wait for someone to come back for her. She sings, “Wait until he gets bored and wanders back to the forest,” furthering her metaphor by saying she knows that if he came back to her, he would leave again.

The last track on the main album is “History of Man,” a song that further proves Peters’ mastery of metaphors and my favorite track lyrically on the album. She sings, “He stole our youth and promised heaven / The men start wars yet Troy hates Helen / Women’s hearts are lethal weapons / Did you hold mine and feel threatened?” This lyric mentions Helen of Troy, whom Paris stole away from her home country in The Illiad. Paris was the reason for the Trojan War, yet Troy blamed Helen for the start of the war. Peters used the metaphor to show how women are often blamed for the faults of men.

With powerful metaphors and undeniably good pop beats, “The Good Witch” proves itself to be a solid album for lovers of both a party and a good cry. It’s no surprise that the album went to number one in the UK, and with another album anticipated to come in 2025, Maisie Peters isn’t going anywhere any time soon.