I tend to like her poppier stuff more, though that rule isn’t hard and fast. Everything’s pretty consistent, especially after she catches her stride in You Signed Up For This. Before that there’s a good bunch of stuff that’s alright but a little boring. Not everything, there’s plenty of songs in the eps and singles I liked, but not as much as in her albums. I like You Signed Up For This mostly unreservedly. I don’t necessarily love it, but I don’t have qualms about the things I like in it. I’m of two minds on The Good Witch. There are parts of the production I like more, and those parts I like a lot more. There are also a good chunk of songs with production that I like way less, that I think is kinda a miss. And lyrically I think, on average, I like it less than prior stuff. It’s hard to say.
I do like her for sure. The friend who recommended her to me described her to me (iirc) as somewhat similar to Taylor Swift but better in every way. Mostly similar-but-better in her storytelling and lyricism. My friend never really got the hype for Swift’s storytelling and lyricism, which she’s often hailed for, but she does really connect with Peters’ storytelling and lyricism. In a lot of ways I think I agree— I think Peters’ is probably more personal and more emotive, and uses more specific details to flesh out her stories. I think I do connect more with Peters’ storytelling, and I’d be inclined to call her a better storyteller/story writer. But I’ve also never been particularly on board with Swift for her storytelling, I don’t think that’s actually the biggest strength of hers. Like, she’s good for it, sure, but there are loads of people I think are better, it’s not why I like her as much as I do. Mostly, I just think that Swift is consistently, over and over, across years and years, a really good songwriter. She writes good pop songs, and she does it a lot, and she does it with a big range of stylings and themes. I think Peters’ is pretty good at it, from what I’ve seen, but I’m not quite sold on it yet.
Peters also has the issue that her writing is super personal and experiential and she’s only 23 at time of writing. All she can write about right now is late teens/early twenties, the most cliched and over pop-songed period of life. I started to feel that especially in The Good Witch, where I started to feel like, just, get on with it, move onto another phase of life, please, you’ve been in this one for so long. And you’ve been writing about it and thinking about it and it feels like it’s all that you are, and for you to be an interesting person and an interesting writer you have to become more than that. I have good hopes that she will be able to make that shift, that she will be able to write some interesting stuff. She seems savvy enough. We’ll see.
For now, I’m thinking a lowish A-. I’m open to it going up, but an A- is good for now
tunafruitsandwitch 
I liked your post about Maisie Peters. I hadn’t compared her to Taylor Swift at all, but I can understand the comparison. I like Maisie. Her music is catchy and easy to listen to. She’s a consistently good songwriter. She has some great lyrical moments – a turn of phrase or description of a feeling that would catch my attention – oh yes, Maisie, that is it! I really liked Good Witch. It was easily my favorite. I hope she keeps writing. Like you, I am interested, and hopeful, that her lyrical content will evolve. But for now, a solid B+ from me.
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