Maisie Peters talks third album ‘Florescence’ and upcoming The O2 headline show at Reading 2026: “I literally can’t fathom it”

Maisie Peters joined NME backstage at Reading 2026 to talk about her third album ‘Florescence’ , her evolution, and her 2027 headline show at The O2.

READ MORE: Maisie Peters – ‘Florescence’ review: a singer-songwriter in full bloom The singer-songwriter performed on the festival’s main stage, now called The Grid, this afternoon (August 29) – performing what she described as a “megamix” of songs from across her discography.

“It feels like yesterday, and it feels like a million years ago [that I was last here], but that was such a special performance,” she reflected on her last Reading appearance – a surprise set on the now defunct BBC Introducing stage .

“That was the day my first album came out.

So to be back here on my third album feels very full circle and also very cool to be on the main stage.

“It’s such an honour, and there are so many cool artists on today – Raye , Jade , Slayyyter .

So I’m in great company, and I’m honoured to be here.” Maisie Peters live at Reading 2026.

Credit: James Klug/Redferns Peters’ third album ‘Florescence’ arrived in May, with NME saying in a four-star review : “‘Florescence’’s title refers to the process of flowering, and on the record, you can hear Peters go through her own blossoming.” “It’s very representative of that time [in my life],” the artist said today.

“I think those three albums, especially the second and third, I wrote very intentionally.

I really wanted to document and chronicle my exact life in the year-and-a-half that I wrote each album, and with ‘Florescence’, I was in a much more grounded place.” She continued: “I think sonically, lyrically, you can really hear that in the album.

I was falling in love, and I was at home for the first time in four years because I’d been touring and travelling, and I couldn’t have made that album without first feeling that sense of calm and stability.

As a result, I think the music really reflects that.” ‘Florescence’ is Peters’ first record to feature other artists, with collaborations with Julia Michaels and Marcus Mumford .

She explained why now was the right time to open up her world to other artists, saying: “Like a lot of artists, you want your debut to be purely you. ‘The Good Witch’, it was just made in such a speed that I don’t really remember much else, apart from just racing to get mixes finished and deliver it.

“‘Florescence’ was the first time where I had more time.