"It feels like this has been the best year," says Maisie Peters, speaking after the release of her latest single "Not Another Rockstar."

The 22-year-old British singer released her debut album You Signed Up for This last year, and she's definitely itching to release the followup, which she continues to tease with a handful of recent one-off tracks.

"I think ever since the album's come out, the opportunities I've had and the places I've been—I really have not stopped at all," explains Peters, speaking with Variance as she reflects on her busy year. "I think I've barely sat down but it's been amazing!"

Part of that busy schedule is kudos to Ed Sheeran, whose Gingerbread Man Records label released Peters' album. Sheeran brought the "Psycho" singer on his recent 54-date European tour, and she'll join his again on select dates of Sheeran's 2023 North American trek, which will include fellow openers like Khalid and Russ. 

"He's been so supportive," gushes Peters of Sheeran. "I'm so lucky. Like, really. We speak to each other all the time. I text him all the time. He's brought me on all these tours and I'm so lucky. He's truly in my corner and I consider it such a privilege to get to speak to him all the time and have that support."

This week, however, Peters is hitting the road on her own North American run of shows, most of which are already sold-out. Early next year, she'll then head over to Australia and New Zealand for an expansive tour before she returns home to the U.K.

"It's amazing to get to see all these places," says Peters of the wonders of touring. "We went to some obviously amazing places, and we also went to, like, Amarillo—which, not that many people in the world have gone to visit Amarillo, Texas! It's getting to go to these little corners that you would never see otherwise, that makes it special for me."

Special is also how she describes the heartwarming Apple TV+ comedy Trying, for which Peters has contributed music to the soundtrack for all three seasons, including the most recent one, which arrived earlier this year (and was renewed in August for a fourth season). 

"I think it's kind of like a little cult—a cult gem," says Peters of the underrated series, which has largely flown under the mainstream radar in the States. "Whenever anyone I know watches it, they are always like, 'Oh my God, Maisie, I watched Trying and love it!' That is always the reaction. It obviously was a big part of my life and making that soundtrack was some of the most fun I've had making music. But yeah, I think it's sort of a hidden gem. More and more people are discovering it and that's great."

For now, Peters says she is focused squarely on her next album. And thus, the surge of new music.

"I'm in the thick of it right now," she says. "I'm getting it ready to release it next year."

She's also careful to note, some of the recent songs may simply be one-off releases, the result of an abundance of creative output. "Some of these songs are just from the middle of the journey and moments I loved. I've got so much music that I want to share and only so much space on the album."

Of the new record, Peters says: "It's definitely a continuation, but I feel like it's more confident. It's maybe more self-aware. And there's just a lot of growth and a lot of discovery of who I am and the music that I want to make."■