Pop Star Maisie Peters Reclaims Her Power After Heartbreak on New Album 'The Good Witch' (Exclusive)

"I was very much the creator of my universe in this album, I got to pull the strings," she tells PEOPLE

Drastic decisions made from the chair of a hair salon typically follow seismic life events — breakups, makeups and the like.

Not so for pop star Maisie Peters, who says she bid adieu to brown simply because she wanted a change.

"I was initially just going to dye the ends and then I just got to the hairdresser and I was like, oh f--- it. Let's do the whole thing," she tells PEOPLE over brunch at a Midtown Manhattan hotel. "And now I'm blonde."

Whether she planned it or not, Peters' new 'do does comes with at least a little bit of change: the ushering in of a new era of music that begins Friday with the release of her second album, The Good Witch.

While her 2021 debut album You Signed Up for This won her a legion of fans thanks to its hyper-specific dissection of life as a woman on the brink of adulthood, The Good Witch takes the concept a step further, capturing over 15 songs what it means and how it feels to reach that cusp.

"To quote my lord and savior Taylor Swift, 'We're happy, free, confused and lonely at the same time,'" she says as she laughs to herself. "So funny that I just did that. But I don't know, I always want to have a whole reflection of myself. I wrote this album between 21 and 22 and that's how I tell."

Peters, now 23, says she considers The Good Witch a "time capsule" of her life at age 22, and admits that the record is largely inspired by one relationship that has since ended. The title of the second track, "Coming of Age," says as much, but it's the lyrics that truly reflect the British star's growth.

"I let you butcher my big heart/But it's my song and my stage/And it's my coming of age," she sings, displaying a newfound confidence.

"To me The Good Witch represents… there's femininity in that, there's power in it, destruction. There's a sense of control, which I love," she says.

"I was very much the creator of my universe in this album, I got to pull the strings. I have a lyric in 'BSC' where I go, 'I can write you out the way I wrote you in,' and I think that feels appropriate for the cycle. It reflects that sense of power. I'm not always enacting it in my real life, don't get me wrong, but I think that perspective was really good for me in making this album. Because obviously on the first album I was very heartbroken and it's ironic the way that turned out for me was obviously not in my power, and that's maybe why I was so inspired and The Good Witch made me able to take that back."

Related: Meet Maisie Peters, the Singer-Songwriter Poised to Be Pop's Next Big Thing: 'My Music Is Me'

If you're comparing lyrics between album one and album two, the shift in perspective is clear. On one of her first hits, "Psycho," she sings of an ex calling her crazy. On the new song "BSC," however, she reclaims the concept. Who needs a man to call a woman nuts when she can admit it herself? ("I am unhinged/I am both Kathy Bates and Stephen King," she sings, later proclaiming, "You think I'm alright/But I'm actually bloody motherf---ing bats--- crazy."

For Peters, diving into the idea that women should not only be allowed to feel rage, but can and should at times bask in it proved fruitful in her songwriting.

"I was super into the idea of female hysteria and rage and anger," she says. "As a person I’m very mellow and straight-lined. I don't tend to flip out a lot, or really ever, but I think that makes the inside of me… I am unhinged! As we all are. I like it because I just feel like for all of society, women are supposed to be calm and quiet and nice. We're supposed to sit down and shut up. You don't get a lot of songs that are like, 'Yeah, I'm unhinged and proud.'"

The star, who was born and raised in a small town in West Sussex, England but now lives in London with friends, cites Swift, Lily Allen, Sara Bareilles and Kacey Musgraves as her biggest inspirations. In making The Good Witch, she also looked heavily to Lorde's 2017 album Melodrama, as it was the pop star's second album and has maintained a loyal following in the years since its release.

"I grow with it and it grows with me and I really hope that this album can do that for someone," she says.

Peters preceded the record with a number of non-album singles ("Not Another Rockstar," "Cate's Brother," "Blonde") that seemed to herald a new sound for the star, one that was sleeker, and more alt-rock-inspired. While the songs managed to attract new listeners, that's not what The Good Witch is.

"Those songs are funny, and I think at the time I was like, maybe they'll go on the album," she says. "But I realized at the end of the year the album was going to be different. The album feels a lot more grounded and earthy and organic and honest and softer, I would say."

Getting to a place of honesty has always been easy for Peters, at least when it comes to putting pen to paper and writing a song. In conversation, the musician is soft-spoken, choosing her words carefully and cautiously.

"I'm not necessarily, in person, a very open person or very good at sharing. I think I'm proud that I really did for this album, that I'll be able to always look back and be like, 'Oh, you said exactly how you felt,'" she says. "I feel like if I couldn’t write those songs then I don’t know I would ever say anything I was feeling. I mean, I never tell anyone anything. I always joke with my friends that the first time anyone will hear me feel any type of way about it is through a song. And then a song will come out about them and they’ll be like, 'What the hell? She thought all of this? She hasn't said anything to me!'"

Peters recently wrapped a slew of tour dates opening for Ed Sheeran (she's signed to his label, Gingerbread Man Records) as well as a headlining tour of her own in the UK and Ireland. After tackling Glastonbury Festival for the first time, she’ll head across the pond for another headlining tour in North America in August.

"I'm just so, so grateful that I have this fanbase that are so funny and supportive and interested," she says. "I don't mind what people take from [this album]. They should take whatever they want from it!"

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