Who are English Teacher? What to know about the Leeds-based winners of the Mercury Prize

Vicky Jessop
Updated

It wasn’t expected – the best wins usually aren’t – but last night, indie band English Teacher became the latest winners of the Mercury Prize.

The award, whose nominees this year included Charli XCX, Nia Archives and CMAT, is one of the most prestigious in music, with previous winners including James Blake, the Arctic Monkeys and Skepta.

"We didn’t really plan this far," lead singer Lily Fontaine said as she accepted the award with her bandmates. “What do we do now?”

Here’s what to know about the buzziest band of the year – and the first winners from outside London in a decade.

The band, who hail from Leeds, are made up of Fontaine, drummer Douglas Frost, bassist Nicholas Eden and guitarist Lewis Whiting.

They came together while studying at the University of Leeds. Originally, the quartet began life as Frank, a dream-pop influenced outfit whose sound and outlooik influenced by the band from the 2014 Michael Fassbender film Frank.

“The band that we were before, and the band that we are now, are so different,” Fontaine told Loud and Quiet. “I think we’ve benefited from having time to figure ourselves out.”

Leeds and the surrounding area has factored strongly into their work. The band’s debut album This Could Be Texas addresses social deprivation and political mismanagement alongside other themes, inspired by Fontaine’s childhood growing up in Colne, East Lancashire.

"There was a lot of racism, but then a lot of beautiful landscapes. It's a really inspiring place, and there's a lot of places like that in the UK that never really get focused on, so it's nice for it to see the limelight,” she told BBC News.

In their acceptance speech, Fontaine also called out local venues like the Hyde Park Book Club and Brudenell Social Club, which had supported them coming up.

“I think we had about five years of developing through the Leeds scene that brought us to where we are,” she also told Loud and Quiet.

“That’s the reason we’ve gotten to this point. Being part of a scene that was supportive of us and helped us to grow, but also being able to work with organisations like Music Leeds, helping us to get PRS funding… we had great access to support and I think us getting to where we are now proves that it works, that keeping those things accessible in the regions is pretty vital.”

The band’s debut album, This Could Be Texas, was released in April 2024 and got rave reviews.

NME, which gave it five stars, called it “everything you want from a debut; a truly original effort from start to finish, an adventure in sound and words, and a landmark statement,” while Pitchfork praised the way it combined “indie-prog, rock, folk electronica, and post-punk” into a bold new sound.

“I’m never aiming to do any one specific thing,” Fontaine told Loud and Quiet about the album.

“I try to include humour because I think it’s a good way to explore different themes, but those themes just come from whatever it is I feel like I need to talk about. I’m always reacting, against something that’s happened to me, or maybe something I’ve witnessed.”

Good news: they are! The band will be playing the O2 Shepherd’s Bush on November 12. Tickets are still on sale, but don’t expect that to last long. Find out more here.

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