SPOTLIGHT: Peggy Reinvents Herself With Upcoming Album ‘Once Upon A Time’
REVIEW
REVIEW
☆ BY CAMRYN FINN ☆
Olivia Edvalson
PEGGY IS NOT ONLY HAVING A RELEASE, SHE’S HAVING A RENAISSANCE—Though the singer-songwriter has been on the music scene for over five years, she is looking to reintroduce herself to the music world with her upcoming debut album ONCE UPON A TIME and her most recent single “STARCROSSED.”
“I feel like I've been growing pretty rapidly over the past few years, but I haven't really introduced myself to the world all that much yet,” PEGGY said. “Like, ‘Oh, this music's here,’ but who's Peggy?...I feel like I found myself.”
ONCE UPON A TIME, which will be released on November 13, is an expansion of PEGGY’s imaginative soundscape. The 15-track album is expansive in scope. Simultaneously timeless and timely, its influences range from mythological to futuristic, finding inspirations in literary characters. Her songs are uniquely ethereal, undeniably individual and defy most genre descriptions, which is why she’s coined her own: fantasy pop.
While PEGGY’s recent releases are a reimagining of her sound, her inspirations have remained consistent throughout her career, linking these songs to the rest of her catalog. She shared that literature, fantasy and media have remained at the forefront of her creative process.
“I write all of my music pretty much about literature and books and movies that I enjoy,” PEGGY said. “Sometimes I just will use those books and movies and that literature and that mythology as a metaphor for something I'm going through or something that is personally impacting me.”
Many of her titles take inspiration from existing fiction, but for her most recent single, “STARCROSSED,” she tried her hand at an original story. The song, which was released on August 21, fits in with her fantastical discography seamlessly and is a duet between PEGGY and Lydia the Bard, who not only participated in the creation of "STARCROSSED” but also contributed to other tracks on the album.
The song pulls from the traditional starcrossed lovers literary trope. It’s cinematic and folkloric in its sound, feeling like something that a group of hearty adventurers could hear sitting around the campfire in a fantastical realm. It tells the story of two lovers, one hopeful and one skeptical about their ability to find their own happy ending. Unfortunately, it ends as a cautionary tale with PEGGY’s character succumbing to a tragic death.
PEGGY’s two other released singles on the album also come from literary beginnings. The song “FRANKENSTEIN” was not only the first song released but also the first song created on the album. Not only inspired by the Mary Shelley gothic novel, PEGGY pulled a lot from her favorite film: Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein. In addition to paying homage to these works, looking deeper at the lyrics reveal a deeper meaning about dating in the modern world.
“It's a difficult climate,” PEGGY said. “That song was sort of me saying ‘Well, shoot, I've only had bad experiences,’ which unfortunately is the truth. I will have a good one, that’s how life works. But I was sort of saying, ‘Well, that stinks.’ I also can't create one because I'm not Victor Frankenstein. I can't make a man. I wish I could, but I can't.”
The second single from the album looks back on mythological times for its inspiration and the doomed love of Orpheus and Eurydice. The interpretation is subjective and that’s by design. The track was created to spark a dialogue, since mythology can spur a different moral to everyone who hears it.
“I think [the myth] can be interpreted in a lot of different ways,” she said. “I wanted to write a song and then promote it and allow people to have conversations in the comment section about their interpretations of the myth. “
In addition to the fantastical influences, ONCE UPON A TIME also marked a dream-come-true collaboration for PEGGY in working with the producer Magnus Skylstad. The Norwegian-based producer had been on PEGGY’s radar for a long time due to his work with AURORA and, almost like a true fairy tale, all the stars aligned.
“At the beginning, I was trying not to fangirl,” she said. “I was like, ‘I love your work.’ But he's absolutely a wonderful person and a wonderful mentor, friend and a lovely person to know.”
While Orpheus, Frankenstein and the starcrossed lovers featured on ONCE UPON A TIME may have a shared melancholy fate, PEGGY is excited for what this album means for her artistic future. Years in the industry have allowed her to explore, expand and perform, and while she hopes for some new firsts in the future—mainly performing a solo concert one day and taking part in a festival lineup—her heart will always remain with one thing: the music.
“My favorite part of being an artist is writing and creating music,” PEGGY said. ”I love performing. It's very fun, but I'm a writer. I like to sit in a room and create a song a lot more. And I just want to do more. I miss it.”
