Review of Trying by Maisie Peters – Katie Proctor

Having been a fan of Maisie Peters’ self-described “emo girl pop” music since before the release of her first EP Dressed Too Nice For a Jacket, which has to me always been particularly memorable for its poetic lyrics and wit, I was thrilled to hear that alongside her upcoming debut album, Maisie would be writing the soundtrack for the second series of Apple TV+ show Trying. Despite never having seen the series and knowing nothing about it, Maisie is one of the few artists I know to have never released a song I dislike, and I was optimistic that the nine songs in the soundtrack would be no exception.

Upon the release of the lead track Funeral, a collaboration with well-known singer James Bay, I knew I was correct. The atmospheric duet, encapsulating the overall deeply romantic yet light-hearted tone of the album with its lyrics “I want you to want me when you’re dead / To roll in your grave like we’re not done yet / To call off the whole damn funeral / ‘Cause our love is so damn beautiful”, is instantly recognisable as Maisie’s work and acts as a distinctive single. However, it is far from the truth to say that the rest of the soundtrack was predictable following Funeral’s release.

Each song provides a different facet to the tone of the soundtrack as a whole, and even without knowledge of the characters or plot of Trying, it is easy to imagine the songs tracking the progression of a relationship. Light and gentle songs such as Milhouse and Helicopter are contrasted with the darker I Want You To Change (Because You Want to Change), a heart-breaking duet with Bear’s Den. It is impactful and excruciating in its hard-hitting truth about love: “Trying, I can see you trying, / And no one ever told you sometimes trying isn’t good enough”. The influence of Taylor Swift’s duet with Bon Iver exile on the bridge in particular is evident. Its depiction of a conversation between lovers at odds, asking “How am I supposed to know you’re lying? / You’re just meant to know” echoes the widely-loved song from folklore in a departure from the softness of Milhouse’s imagery “A little drop of honey and the picture’s clearing up / Cup of coffee spilling over / Oh, cleaning all my cards”. The same is true for the cautionary yet whimsical tone of Happy Hunting Ground, on which the multi-talented Griff sings with Maisie.

Maisie for F Word Magazine, 2021

It is this honest universality of every song on the soundtrack that makes it so appealing, with its tender metaphor in Helicopter “So forgive me if I hover close / I’m a helicopter ‘cause I love you so” just as effective as the joyful and upbeat lyrics of Glowing Review “Baby nothing much has changed / I guess your buzzcut it grew / But I’m still the girl with the blush giving a glowing review”. Even the breakup song Lunar Years that closes the soundtrack, humorous and scathing in particular as Maisie casually sings “You got good, I got better” in the chorus, is searingly candid, highlighting the bittersweet nature of love. Her typical wordplay strikes a perfect balance between being intellectual and poetic and relatable to everyone. In spite of the beautiful images in every song of the soundtrack, each is self-aware and light with its amusing rhyming of “arsehole” with “charcoal” and witty phrasing “You’re my favourite comic, my Jupiter comet / People ask me how long have I loved you, no comment”.

Maisie Peters’ soundtrack for Trying has it all. Each song is catchy and fits perfectly within her characteristic style of pop, yet beyond that is deeply genuine and has plenty of heart. As both a standalone piece of art and a soundtrack accompanying a TV show, in my opinion it’s not a huge stretch to say that it is a masterpiece. Maisie has a song for every playlist in this soundtrack alone, and it is undoubtable that every listener can take something different away from her work on Trying.

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Katie Proctor is a poet from Yorkshire, England. Since they can remember they have loved to write, whether it be prose, poetry or stories, and writing will always be their first love. Nowadays, they write freeform poetry and prose often regarding their experience with love, relationships and mental health. Their debut collection of poetry, Seasons, was published in August 2020, and their sophomore collection A Desire for Disaster will be published later this year, both by Hedgehog Poetry. They are the editor-in-chief of celestite poetry, a journal of creative writing and non-fiction. They are a student with a passion for literature, history and classics, and are a big fan of Shakespeare. They love to act and plan to study English Literature at university. You can find them on Twitter @katiiewrites and Instagram @katiiewrites.