English Teacher

Leeds combo English Teacher make indie rock with acute wit and kinetic flair. They arrived amid Britain's burgeoning post-punk revival and earned a major-label contract based on their breakout 2022 EP Polyawkward. A year later, "The World's Biggest Paving Slab" marked their first release on Island ahead of the band's 2024 full-length debut, the Mercury Prize-winning This Could Be Texas. Bandmembers Lily Fontaine (vocals, guitar, synth), Douglas Frost (drums), Lewis Whiting (guitar), and Nicholas Eden (bass) met while studying at Leeds Conservatoire and formed English Teacher in 2020. The quartet debuted the following year with a split single, "Wallace" and "R&B," introducing an energetic sound that pitted sharp post-punk vibes with partially spoken vocals and rousing melodies. The five-song Polyawkward EP appeared in April 2022, revealing a more textured sonic palette and earning the band national attention. They signed with Island Records early the next year and worked with producer Marta Salogni (Björk, Black Midi) to record "The World's Biggest Paving Slab," their first single for the label. Additional songs like "Nearly Daffodils" and a re-recorded version of "R&B" appeared in the next year, laying the groundwork for English Teacher's debut album, This Could Be Texas, in April 2024. That September, the effort took home the coveted Mercury Prize. ~ Timothy Monger