Balance

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I think it’s a real privilege actually, to be able to listen to a song from ten years ago and go – look at the difference now. Spraggan has been very open about her OCD, so perhaps it’s no surprise there’s a song here with that title and that it’s quite so brutally honest with lyrics including: ‘I doubt I learned to think before I speak’ and ‘Brain’s not normal you might have noticed … I’m still a little temperamental. Lucy was the first contestant in X Factor history to score a top 40 single and album before the live shows aired.

I’ve been working very hard over the last 18 months on my album and I’ve been working for nearly two and a half years on my book and I’m thrilled that both things I have created are gonna be released into the world! If you saw a fellow human being suffering like that in any other context, you’d say – fucking hell, that person needs help. Feeling stronger, positive, and more empowered than ever, Lucy reunited with music industry supremo Simon Cowell who signed her to his record label Syco Publishing and played an instrumental part in the album. Among the 14 tracks are also cultural moments that lean into events of the past 10 years that have impacted and altered the social landscape, such as the death of TV presenter Caroline Flack after hounding from the media ( Caroline), along with uplifting sentiments that nod to an artist who, on the back of a mega launchpad, has worked tirelessly to craft a career in her own vision ( Empire).It’s like a transformation picture, or listening to a song and saying, I can’t believe I ever felt like that! It’s one of Spraggan’s own favorites because she feels it really adds to the ongoing dialogue of body positivity – or even body neutrality. When I tell her not everyone’s able to find an appropriate medium for emotions or thoughts that don’t have anywhere else to go, whether that’s spilling over into paint, words, or music, she’s quick to disagree. But in opening the LP, Lucy goes right back to the beginning with a throwback reference to Last Night (Beer Fear) – the song that made her a household name after she performed it on ‘The X Factor’ stage in 2012. Like to make my life look super cool and exciting online, but usually found at home, with my dogs, sipping wine and listening to Nicki French!

For example, in the title track “Balance”, she confronts the fact that perhaps needing help from time to time isn’t so bad.Because there’s one thing Spraggan is really outspoken about, and it’s the appalling way in which the music industry tends to deal with (mental) health issues. I had just come to the end of another relationship that didn’t work out and we were talking about what it was that I was looking for in life. She’s been steadily creating, which is something that the industry at large almost seems a little too eager to forget. In a way, the process of writing “Process” has also rekindled the joy of songwriting, as well as an appreciation of her own history. Other tracks released in the run up to the album’s release included ‘Everything Changes’, ‘OCD’, ‘Bodies’ and ‘Empire’ – all of which are incredibly personable.

When I started to work on who I am and how I was going to find my own balance I realised that it’s not always best to do it alone and that sometimes it’s important to reach out for help. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice.It’s one of the things that Spraggan has also touched upon in her memoir which was published this July.

Whilst Cowell adds: “When I heard this song for the first time I was blown away, it is absolutely beautiful and the message is very important, especially right now.Even though she’s been consistently releasing new music every two years, something about her new album feels different. A decade on from her first X Factor audition Lucy releases new album alongside her forthcoming memoir. Some people would rather just deny that it ever happened, but I love having songs because it’s a living memory.