Maisie Peters says new album a 'Sussex homecoming'

At only 25 years old, Maisie Peters has already toured with Ed Sheeran, played festivals around the UK, and opened for Taylor Swift at Wembley Stadium.

However, despite surrounding herself with musical talent, the singer says the greatest influence on her newest album Florescence was her home county of West Sussex.

"I wanted it to be an album that harked back to my roots," said Maisie, from Steyning. "It feels like a homecoming in lots of ways."

Florescence is Maisie's third studio album and has become her first to chart at number one in the UK.

After touring the world for much of 2024, Maisie said she wrote much of this record upon returning home to Sussex.

She said the region featured as a "major theme" in both her life and music.

"This album really chronicles the last few years of my life," Maisie told the BBC. "I really felt this calling to explore this softer, folkier, more peaceful side of me.

"Going home and reconnecting with my 16/17-year-old self who loved making music was a really big part of my life."

Florescence also explores some more challenging topics, including Maisie's experience of cyberbullying following her performance on the Eras Tour.

In August 2024, a video of Maisie's performance at Taylor Swift's Eras Tour show went viral.

What followed was months of online bullying which Maisie said severely impacted her mental health.

The opening track, Mary Janes, nods to that time in her life with the lyrics: "Sometimes when I sing, I get the big note wrong/ The teenagers held on to that all summer long."

"It got a lot of hateful comments very quickly and rapidly at a scale I'd never experienced before," she explained.

"I was so freaked out and upset."

The day after the Eras Tour show, Maisie was performing with folk singer Noah Kahan.

"I went to soundcheck for the Noah show and ended up just crying my eyes out on stage because I was so overwhelmed," she said.

The singer says she had to learn to disconnect from the internet and appreciate her fans who rallied around her.

In hindsight, she still looks at the day fondly.

"That experience has never changed how I felt about the day," she said. "It was still one of, if not the, best day of my life."

To celebrate the new record and thank local fans for their support, Maisie held a surprise pop-up in Brighton, signing CDs and playing new tracks from the album.

It was in this city that she played her first gigs and shared her first songs nearly a decade ago.

"Songwriting is the greatest love of my life," Maisie said. "Brighton definitely feels like home."

In a full circle moment, Maisie ended the day with a performance on the balcony of the Theatre Royal, overlooking the spot where she once busked on the street for change.

Florescence is out now.

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