PEGGY – Once Upon A Time
Michigan-born, LA-based indie pop singer-songwriter PEGGY releases her debut album, ONCE UPON A TIME, via Nettwerk Music Group. The record arrives as the fullest realization yet of what she calls “fantasy pop”: a cinematic, 45-minute storybook where folklore, mythology, and classic literature become a way of making sense of the real world.
“If you take 45 minutes and listen to the record in its entirety, I hope it exists as a little story in your head,” PEGGY says. “There are meanings, lessons, and pieces of wisdom in each of the songs, but the album can really mean anything you need it to.”
Leading the release is focus track “HERETIC,” the album’s closing chapter and its most defiant moment.
Framed as the story of a people rising up to overthrow a mad king, the song finds PEGGY trading metaphor for directness, warning, “He’s the monster your mother warned you about.” “It’s the story of the people overthrowing a mad king,” she says. “It’s a metaphor for my feelings on the government right now.”
Produced alongside Magnus Skylstad (AURORA) during sessions in Los Angeles and Norway, ONCE UPON A TIME finds PEGGY casting timeless figures as stand-ins for modern emotional realities. “I had wanted to work with Magnus forever, because AURORA’s ‘Runaway’ is one of my favorite songs ever,” she says. “He really helped with so much. I was finally able to achieve the sound I wanted.”
The album also gathers previously released singles “FRANKENSTEIN,” a meditation on her own savior complex inspired by Mary Shelley’s classic, “ORPHEUS,” and “STARCROSSED” feat. Lydia the Bard, alongside new chapters that point her fantasy lens at the present. In “PANDORA’S BOX,” she channels Atlas to confront the climate crisis, while “IMITATE” unfolds as a horror film told from the point of view of a chatbot that decides it’s a god.
ONCE UPON A TIME caps a rapid rise for PEGGY, who has spent the past five years turning viral moments into a devoted global community. Breakout singles “Fictional Men,” “Villains Aren’t Born (They’re Made),” and “ALICE” have together amassed more than 100 million Spotify streams, while her DEAR READER (2024) and COMING OF AGE (2025) EPs established her signature blend of literary storytelling and soaring alternative pop. She has also expanded her audience on the road, supporting Ella Red and Neoni on tour, and will join ILUKA on her U.S. tour this December.
At its core, the album is an invitation. “For my whole life, I’ve always felt like an alien,” PEGGY says. “With music and art, it’s different. I want it to be a safe space for anyone who needs an escape from the world or somewhere to go outside of reality for a bit. This is where I landed; I’m going to stay here for a while.”
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