Edinburgh inspires X Factor's Lucy Spraggan

Of course, her stint on ITV’s talent search didn’t go to plan when, having become a viewers’ favourite on the 2012 series she had to withdraw due to illness.

She wasn’t gone for long, however. With Don Maclean and Kirsty McColl as her major influences, along with the folk riffs of Peter, Paul and Mary, the 24-year-old had actually released her first record, Top Room At The Zoo, before appearing on The X Factor singing Last Night.

The song reached No 11 in the UK singles chart and the album entered the UK albums chart at No 22.

She returned the following year with her debut studio album Join The Club, which reached No 7, and in 2015 released third album We Are, which charted in the Top 20.

Four years on and four albums later, she is embarking on her biggest headline tour of the UK to date in support of her latest album, I Hope You Don’t Mind Me Writing.

It brings her to the Queens Hall, Clerk Street, next Monday.

A record written from the heart - “I didn’t plan anything. I just wrote how I felt,” explains Spraggan - the album features 13 tracks, including Dear You, a haunting, heart-wrenching piano ballad.

Other stand out tracks include Hey William and Modern Day Frankenstein.

All of which she’s be showcasing when she plays the Capital, an evening to which she admits she’s looking forward.

“Everything about Edinburgh and its identity inspires me,” she says, “the arts, the culture, the people, the architecture, and not forgetting the finer things in life such as the whisky and the haggis.”

Lucy Spraggan, Queens Hall, Clerk Street, Monday, 7pm, £14.50, 0131-668 2019