Lucy Spraggan – Unsinkable

“Her who smacked down James Arthur that time.”

Tom: I don’t know about you, but my reaction was “Oh! She’s still going!”

Tim: And mine was “Who? Oh, her who smacked down James Arthur that time.”

Tom: And that’s not bad at all, is it? It’s a little strange to hear someone singing with a natural, Midlands accent, but it fits the tone well.

Tim: Yeah – the vocal is like Lily Allen but more so. Her whole shtick getting to the X Factor finals was singing her own songs with the focus very much on the lyrics, though, so it’s more a case of “saying with a tune” to make sure they come out clearly.

Tom: Mind you, the tone in question is Radio 2 middle-of-the-road, but it’s a good example of that. And she’s one of the rare TV talent show alumni where each single has charted higher than the last, so, who knows? If that trend continues, she’s due for a top 10 with this — but I reckon it might be a bit too dark for that.

Tim: Well, kind of a trend – only in the sense that all of her previous tracks were released before or immediately after her stint on X Factor – the only more recent one was 18 months ago as a re-release of on older song to promote her album. Still, there’s always hope.

Lucy Spraggan – Lighthouse

“…ooh, quite good.”

Tom: She’s doing “acoustic folk hip-hop”. She’s that one who pulled out of the X-Factor. She’s NORTHERN. And she’s…

Tom: …ooh, quite good. I mean, I suspect it won’t light up the charts given her previous performances, but this is a really nice track.

Tim: Huh. I was all prepared to go “yawn, next please” with this, especially with that introduction (hip-hop? Seriously?), but as it happens it’s not bad.

Tom: But let’s not forget that the X Factor wasn’t her breakthrough: she’s been performing at festivals for a while, and put a first album out herself. She’s not someone with a good voice who’s suddenly shot into the limelight: she’s a competent singer-songwriter who’s been gigging for a while.

Tim: True, but does that make a difference in the long run? She’ll get quite a bit more publicity, I guess, but likely at the cost of “authenticity”. Silly word, that, but there are some people (generally bell-ends) who insist on it.

Tom: I suspect that, if she keeps going like this, she won’t be “that person off the X Factor” – she’ll be “that folk singer who did the X Factor once”.

Tim: I don’t care what she’s known as, I want to know what her fans are calling themselves, because if they’re not going with “Sprag bols” they’ve really missed a trick.