English Teacher are a British music group from Leeds and Lancashire, who formed in 2020. They consist of vocalist Lily Fontaine, guitarist Lewis Whiting, drummer Douglas Frost, and bassist Nicholas Eden. In September 2024, the group were announced as winner of the Mercury Music Prize for their debut studio album "This Could Be Texas", released through Island Records.
The band met at Leeds Conservatoire. They originally started as a dream pop band called 'Frank' in 2018 before playing their first gig as English Teacher in 2020. Frontwoman Lily Fontaine said of the shift: "The band that we were before, and the band that we are now, are so different. I think we've benefited from having time to figure ourselves out."
The band's first single, 2021's "R&B", garnered both critical praise and mainstream radio play. The song sees Fontaine consider her place in the white, male world of indie-rock as a mixed race woman. They released the EP Polyawkward in April 2022 through Nice Swan Records. NME called it " a deliciously sour debut EP, set to a soundtrack of restless art-punk." The band appeared on Later... with Jools Holland in November 2023. Their song "Nearly Daffodils" was named one of the 10 best songs of 2023 by Time magazine.
English Teacher are a British music group from Leeds and Lancashire, who formed in 2020. They consist of vocalist Lily Fontaine, guitarist Lewis Whiting, drummer Douglas Frost, and bassist Nicholas Eden. In September 2024, the group were announced as winner of the Mercury Music Prize for their debut studio album "This Could Be Texas", released through Island Records.
The band met at Leeds Conservatoire. They originally started as a dream pop band called 'Frank' in 2018 before playing their first gig as English Teacher in 2020. Frontwoman Lily Fontaine said of the shift: "The band that we were before, and the band that we are now, are so different. I think we've benefited from having time to figure ourselves out."
The band's first single, 2021's "R&B", garnered both critical praise and mainstream radio play. The song sees Fontaine consider her place in the white, male world of indie-rock as a mixed race woman. They released the EP Polyawkward in April 2022 through Nice Swan Records. NME called it " a deliciously sour debut EP, set to a soundtrack of restless art-punk." The band appeared on Later... with Jools Holland in November 2023. Their song "Nearly Daffodils" was named one of the 10 best songs of 2023 by Time magazine.