INTERVIEW W/ Lucy Spraggan: "I've matured, reflected and experienced a lot!"

Indie-Folk songwriter Lucy Spraggan is a 2010's icon. In the midst of featuring on The X-Factor, she landed a Top 40 single with her singalong hit 'Last Night' which encapsulated the chaotic tongue in cheek antics of the Indie scene of the time. Since then she has gone on to release 7 studio albums, selling over 150,000 records.

Now, she is returning with her brand new album 'Other Sides Of The Moon' which features reimagined songs from her discography along with new tracks. These reimaginings take the emotive essence of her classic hits and amplifies them, removing the youthful swagger and replacing it with a more thoughtful, nuanced and heartfelt sound. This makes these older songs feel more relevant to the current state Lucy Spraggan finds herself in; mature and reflective.

Ahead of her huge UK tour this November, we spoke with Lucy about the reasoning behind this unique album, how her approach to her songwriting has changed over the years and fans can expect from the live shows.

Photo Credit: Emilia Kate

Q. How do you feel ‘Other Sides Of The Moon’ differs from your previous albums?

A. “All of my albums are different for many reasons, but I suppose this one differs because, apart from three new songs, the rest are all songs from my back catalogue reimagined”. 

Q. Can you talk us through the concept behind the album title ‘Other Side Of The Moon’? 

A. “My wife and I were friends for 10 + years before we fell in love with each other. The title track is about our relationship, which has been a huge chapter of my life”. 

Q. How do you feel you have developed both musically and personally since your debut album? And how has this impacted your songwriting?

A. “I released my first album when I was 19 (I’m 34 now), so it’d be hard to generalise the personal changes in my life. A lot of growing happens in that time. Musically, I suppose it’s the same answer. It has been as vast as my personal life, I have matured, reflected and experienced a lot which will always have an impact on my writing”.

Q. How did you select which tracks form your discography to reimagine on this record?  

A. “I went up and down the queues at my shows and asked the fans at which songs they would like to hear reimagined the most. The whole album was created that way”. 

Q. Do you feel these new recordings bring a greater poignancy to those older tracks?

A. “Certainly. Revisiting my old songs brought me back to when I wrote them and hit me with a lot of nostalgia. It highlighted all that has changed, both personally and musically, since then”.

Q. How do you feel when playing those older songs live and can fans expect to hear the original or reimagined sound? 

A. “We tend to arrange something in the middle for the live shows. I don’t like going too far away from the originals and want to make sure the audience still feel connected to the songs”.

Q. How do you feel the subjects of your songs changed throughout the years, especially throughout your journey through sobriety?

A. “I still write about my observations of the every day, but I also write a lot about my introspective thoughts and how I feel about certain topics. Sharing my feelings about sobriety has been important for me as it’s been such a huge part of my adult life”. 

Q. When writing the album, was there a certain track that really signified the project was coming together?

A. “I think the title track, ‘Other Sides of the Moon’ probably embodies the maturity of sound that I really wanted to achieve for this record. We spent a lot of time fine tuning a lot of this record, especially this song”.

Q. What was your favourite thing about the album making experience this time around and has the process changed as your career has gone on?

A. “I make records with people that I have a personal connection with. We track with the musicians I tour with to make sure everything has a little bit of connection running throughout it and it sounds the same as when we play live. I tend to really enjoy making albums now and the process in it’s entirety”.

See Lucy Spraggan on tour this November. Tickets available here.

NOVEMBER UK TOUR DATES

14th - Norwich Epic Studios

15th - Birmingham o2Institute

16th - Glasgow SWG3 Galvanizers

18th - London Electric Ballroom

19th - Bristol Electric

20th - Sheffield Network

21st - Manchester Academy