For someone who was part of the juggernaut of a beast that is XFactor, Lucy Spraggan has come out a lot better than most. Maybe this was helped by being ill and pulling out during the live finals. Whatever the reason was she’s now out and about finally getting the recognition she deserves on a UK tour which tonight (Thursday 2nd May) sold out The Globe in Cardiff.
With lyrics which are quirky as much as they are heartfelt, she put on a great show, with the capacity crowd singing along to her back catalogue – such as Tea & Toast, Mountains and a new track, Lighthouse which will be her first single to be released soon.
Other stand out moments from a set style which Lucy herself describes as “A Flop” – a mix of acoustic, folk and hip-hop, included Gold Digger mashed with Baby got Back, and of course the song that brought her to the attention of XFactor, Last night.
The mark of excellence of a singer songwriter for me, is if you fall in love with the lyrics of a song, and can tell there’s a beating heart inside them. Lucy Spraggan has this knack, and it’s something that only a few songwriters have, in using the music to progress a song further, and give it meaning – not just verse/chorus/verse/chorus/bridge/keychange/chorus.
Special mention also to the support act, Danny Shah. Check out www.facebook.com/dannyshahmusic – definitely one to watch in the near future.
My friend who also saw Lucy, describes her as a female Ed Sheeran, with a bit of early Kate Nash – and “sounds like Lily Allen” – the last part, I’m not too sure about, but female Ed Sheeran is definitely there in spades.
The charts need more female singer songwriters, and it’s going to be interesting to see how Lucy develops as an artist. People often say there’s too many “this type” or “that type” in the chart. Time I think to have a new type – A Flop is how Lucy describes it – A massive hit is how I’d call it. On tonight’s gig showing, Lucy Spraggan will be playing bigger venues before you know it.
One slight note of caution though – the final song tonight – all about Jeremy Kyle, called, you guessed it “Jeremy”. Thanks for putting that hook into my head and making me hum it in the car on the way back home….
But as the rest of the gig was just awesome, I’ll let you off this time Lucy.
(Originally written May 2013)