Albums: Lucy Spraggan other Side Of The Moon

Lucy Spraggan Other Side of the Moon

Tracks: Unsinkable; Other Sides of the Moon; Heaven; Fight For It; Sober (ft. Robbie Williams); Balance; The Lesson; Bodies; If; Everything Changes; Lucky Stars; Butterflies; Run; Tes & Toast; Lightning

Label: Kartel

Since her challenging journey on the X Factor, Lucy Spraggan has experienced a remarkable journey. Having spoken candidly throughout her career about her highs and lows, she has poured her most poignant moments into her seven studio albums.

As she approaches nearly a decade and a half in the spotlight, she has taken a moment to reflect on her releases to date and chosen to revisit some of the most magical ones. For her eighth studio album, Other Sides Of The Moon, she has decided to not just release a straightforward greatest hits collection but rather rework some of those hits to fit her current soundscape and marry them with some new compositions. With a large amount of 2025 being spent touring, the recently married songsmith is allowing herself a moment of reflection, but would a straight-up Greatest Hits have made more sense?

Quite simply put, no. Spraggan's artistry has changed hugely over the last 13 years, and her songwriting has developed hugely. While celebrated in her early years for her tongue-in-cheek anthems, her more recent output has been more directly insightful and obviously emotional. However, what Other Sides of the Moon so beautifully captures within these stunning reworkings is that there is a strong connection between them all. The strength at the core is the way in which Spraggan instils her heart and soul within each composition.

Boasting 15 songs, the album deals with love, loss, addiction and self-image. All are handled with a very raw realness. Opening with 2015's Unsinkable, Spraggan has proven time and again that despite adversity, she manages to see the light and find her path. The album's title track, Other Sides of the Moon, is as beautiful a tribute to a partner as you would ever hear and shows the joy that has filled Spraggan's life has helped her overcome any difficulties.

However, it is in some of the toughest moments that the album finds its most powerful moments. New song The Lesson is one of the most touching explorations of loss that you will ever hear. While Balance and Bodies from 2023's Balance are two of the most overlooked gems released in the 2020s. Real career-defining moments, they are must-hears. Meanwhile, early fan favourite Tea & Toast still has all the potency of the earlier recording, just with added sentimental weight.

With some lighter moments, notably the gorgeous Lucky Stars, celebrating life's joys, the album as a whole is a faultless representation of how life may throw you challenges, but those optimistic outlooks can help carry you through.

From the very outset it was clear that Spraggan had the X Factor, but this album proves why her star pull is far from fleeting. This is a lush record and shows that in looking back over her career, Spraggan is very much setting the stones to build forwards.

Magical.