Review: Maisie Peters – Cate’s Brother

Maisie Peters has found quick and widespread fame over the course of the past few years with hit after hit and a list of incredible collaborations. ‘Cate’s Brother’ is her most recent and her self proclaimed “most feral” recent release. 

There’s no doubt that Maisie Peters is talented at her craft and has made her mark on the industry already, working with James Bay and JP Saxe, and then of course her friendship/songwriting collaboration with Ed Sheeran, who co wrote ‘Psycho’ and who’s label she is signed to. ‘Cate’s Brother’ is just the most recent example of this talent and the profound impact on the industry she has.

The song was birthed first to TikTok, through playing her viewers the first verse and chorus. The namedrop of Cate Canning was likely one of the largest reasons the hype for this song spread like wildfire, and people were eager for more. This ended in the release of the sound verse to the app, followed by the presave link and then a very quick release turnaround; announced the same week as its release – something an artist does when they know the hype for a song already exists and too much promotion between announcement and release is not needed. This is truly a testament to how incredible the song is, and how it grasped the attention of a large population on TikTok and beyond.

The song itself is incredible. It’s got a very strong pop-rock feel to it – big drums, heavy electric guitar and Peters’s voice doesn’t need much effect on top to match the vibe; and that feel is what caught everyone’s attention. It doesn’t leave your head, and it switches up constantly, not becoming boring or repetitive in anyway. Lyrically, it tells a story – and this is very easly Peters’s biggest strength. Her ability to rhyme “Nirvana” with  “front door” (and then front door with itself – probably my favourite part of the song) is beyond incredible. Despite the end of the story being untrue, it doesn’t matter. Even if none of it is real, you’re convinced it is. Peters creates a rich visual atmosphere for the song and you feel every emotion she does.

This is going to be one of the songs of the summer and it’s going to be excited to see how Peters follows this up, leading probably to a second album.

‘Cate’s Brother’ is out now via Gingerbread Man Records. You can watch the official Live Video here: