English Teacher

English Teacher, a Leeds-based quartet, shape indie rock through incisive wit and propulsive energy. They surfaced during Britain’s rising post-punk resurgence and secured a major-label deal after releasing their breakthrough 2022 EP Polyawkward. The following year Island put out “The World’s Biggest Paving Slab” as the group’s first single for the label, setting the stage for the 2024 arrival of their Mercury Prize-winning debut album This Could Be Texas.

Lily Fontaine (vocals, guitar, synth), Douglas Frost (drums), Lewis Whiting (guitar), and Nicholas Eden (bass) first connected as students at Leeds Conservatoire and launched English Teacher in 2020. Their earliest release, the 2021 split single containing “Wallace” and “R&B,” introduced an animated style that fused pointed post-punk textures with half-spoken vocals and surging melodies. The five-song Polyawkward EP followed in April 2022, expanding their sonic range with richer detail and drawing national notice. Early the next year the band signed with Island Records and enlisted producer Marta Salogni (Björk, Black Midi) for “The World’s Biggest Paving Slab.” Further tracks, including “Nearly Daffodils” and a newly recorded version of “R&B,” surfaced over the ensuing months and prepared the ground for This Could Be Texas, issued in April 2024. That September the album received the Mercury Prize.