Psycho

Album: You Signed Up For This (2021)
Charted: 57
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Maisie Peters is an English singer-songwriter from Brighton, Sussex, with a passion for telling stories through her songs. In 2015 she started uploading her original tunes to her YouTube channel, and in August 2017 released her debut single, "Place We Were Made." Peters signed to Atlantic Records UK the following year and saw her profile rise in 2019 when the dating game show Love Island featured two of her tracks. The Sussex songstress came to the attention of Ed Sheeran, who signed her to his Gingerbread Records label in 2021. "Psycho" is one of three Ed Sheeran co-writes on Peters' debut album, You Signed Up For This.
  • This uptempo pop anthem finds an empowered Peters confronting an ex. She reflects on their toxic relationship where he dissed Peters in public while dating her in secret. Now she's seen through his lies and dumped the creep, but this hasn't stopped him from calling her up all the time. He's still the same two-faced rat, telling Peters he misses her while calling her a "psycho" in public.
  • This originated with a little notes app idea Peters made on her phone. When she went into the studio to write the song with Ed Sheeran and producer Steve Mac, she told them she wanted to pen something as upbeat as Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe."

    Peters admitted to the BBC it "was a lofty goal," but feels the end result is like one of her favorite groups, Abba. "Everything is so sharp and concise, and I think that's what makes a perfect pop song," she said.
  • Director Louis Bhose (Loyle Carner, Arlo Parks) filmed the video, which finds Peters getting revenge on her cheating boyfriend, helped by a group of Maisie clones. The singer came up with the original idea, which she then developed with Bhose over WhatsApp.
  • Most of the song was written in just 30 minutes. Speaking to The Sun's Bizarre column, Peters said: "With 'Psycho,' I was talking with Ed before the session and I sent across this idea. When we went in, we lasered in on this idea and it was finished really quickly. The whole thing was fully done, apart from the last middle eight about all of your exes, in half an hour. We're a very speedy team."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Graduation Songs

Graduation SongsFact or Fiction

Have you got the smarts to know which of these graduation song stories are real?

Emmylou Harris

Emmylou HarrisSongwriter Interviews

She thinks of herself as a "song interpreter," but back in the '80s another country star convinced Emmylou to take a crack at songwriting.

Actors With Hit Songs

Actors With Hit SongsMusic Quiz

Many actors have attempted music, but only a few have managed a hit. Do you know which of these thespians charted?

Wherefore Art Thou Romeo Lyric

Wherefore Art Thou Romeo LyricMusic Quiz

In this quiz, spot the artist who put Romeo into a song lyric.

Ben Kowalewicz of Billy Talent

Ben Kowalewicz of Billy TalentSongwriter Interviews

The frontman for one of Canada's most well-known punk rock bands talks about his Eddie Vedder encounter, Billy Talent's new album, and the importance of rock and roll.

Al Kooper

Al KooperSongwriter Interviews

Kooper produced Lynyrd Skynyrd, played with Dylan and the Stones, and formed BS&T.