Indie band English Teacher win with debut album

Indie band English Teacher have won the Mercury Prize for their debut album This Could Be Texas.

The quartet, who formed while studying at the Leeds Conservatoire in 2020, are the first act from outside London to win the prize since Young Fathers in 2014.

Judges said their album stood out “for its originality and character” and displayed “a fresh approach to the traditional guitar band format”.

On stage, lead singer Lily Fontaine thanked her mum, who created the artwork for the album.

But otherwise, the band were seemingly lost for words.

“We didn’t really plan this far,” said Fontaine, as her bandmates looked on in disbelief.

“What do we do now?”

The group were one of three acts from Leeds on the shortlist, alongside jungle artist Nia Archives and singer-songwriter Corinne Bailey Rae.

Fontaine said the band owed their career to the support they’d received from local venues like the Hyde Park Book Club and the Brudenell Social Club, whose owner was thanked in the band’s acceptance speech.

“If you look back over music from this country, Yorkshire in particular has thrown out some of our most prolific songwriters,” Fontaine said.

“There’s real support for musicians in Leeds at the moment.

“Venues are willing to take on new artists and I think that’s integral to the health of the scene.”

The band’s prizewinning album is steeped in Fontaine’s upbringing in Yorkshire, addressing social deprivation and political mismanagement, alongside themes of identity, love, loss and celebrity.

Musically playful, it combines the singer’s partially-spoken vocals with dreamy, Smiths-like guitar lines and complex polyrhythms, with the gorgeous The Best Tears Of Your Life building to a head-spinning wall of sound.

Judges praised its “winning lyrical mix of surrealism and social observation,” saying it had a “subtle way of wearing its musical innovations lightly.”

The added: “This Could Be Texas reveals new depths on every listen – the mark of a future classic.”

The Mercury Prize, given to the best British or Irish album of the year, comes with a cash prize of £25,000.

Aside from English Teacher, this year’s nominees included pop star Charli XCX with her club-centric, headline-grabbing Brat album; indie newcomers The Last Dinner Party for their debut Prelude To Ecstasy; Scottish dance act Barry Can’t Swim; and East London rapper Ghetts.

Eight of the shortlisted albums were debuts, including the first solo album by Beth Gibbons, who won the prize 29 years ago as part of Portishead.

This year’s ceremony was held at the world-famous Abbey Road Studios in London and broadcast live on BBC Four and Radio 6 Music.

The show typically takes the form of a live concert, featuring performances from each of the nominated acts, but it was scaled back after the prize lost its sponsor, the taxi company Freenow.

“Despite efforts to match up with a suitable new partner, in what is clearly a tough arts funding environment, we weren’t able to secure one within the timeframe,” said Dr Jo Twist, chief executive of the BPI, which organises the award.

It is hoped the ceremony will return in full next year.

Artists submit themselves for the prize, making it impossible to know whether acts who failed to make the shortlist were snubbed or simply declined to participate.

Some of the records that didn’t make the cut this year included Blur’s comeback The Ballad Of Darren, The Pet Shop Boys’ critically-acclaimed Nonetheless and PinkPantheress’s trend-setting debut, Heaven Knows.

The full list of nominated albums:

• Barry Can’t Swim – When Will We Land?
• Berwyn – Who Am I?
• Beth Gibbons – Lives Outgrown
• Cat Burns – Early Twenties
• Charli XCX – Brat
• CMAT – Crazymad, For Me
• Corinne Bailey Rae – Black Rainbows
• Corto.Alto – Bad With Names
• English Teacher – This Could Be Texas
• Ghetts – On Purpose, With Purpose
• Nia Archives – Silence Is Loud
• The Last Dinner Party – Prelude To Ecstasy

Last year’s Mercury Prize was won by Ezra Collective, with their album Where I’m Meant To Be.

The quintet were the first jazz act to win the prize since its inception in 1992. The victory propelled their album back into the Top 40. In November, the band will become the first jazz act ever to headline Wembley Arena.