Leeds indie band English Teacher have won the Mercury Prize for their debut album, This Could Be Texas. Formed at Leeds Conservatoire in 2020, the quartet have signed to Island Records and released their first album.
in 9/10 Review Kieran McAdie, a critic for the website The Line of Best Fit, said the band's “northern charm” set them apart from their post-punk peers, many of whom hail from south London.
The band members appeared speechless as they accepted their award, saying: “We didn't plan it to get to this point.”
“We just wanted to start a band,” Lily Fontaine said in disbelief, as her bandmates paid tribute to members of Leeds' music community, including Brudenell Music Social Club owner Nathan Clark. “What do we do now?” Fontaine said.
They will take home a prize of £25,000.
“Mercury celebrates the album as an artistic form in itself,” DJ Jamz Supernova said while presenting the award. In a statement, the judges said the album stood out for its originality and individuality. The lyrics, a masterful blend of surrealism and social observation, combined with a casual, light-hearted embrace of musical innovation, offer a fresh approach to the traditional guitar band format. This Could Be Texas grows on you with every listen, making it a future classic.
English Teacher's win was perhaps a surprise: Charli XCX's Brat was the leading contender to win, having dominated the summer so much that it influenced the US presidential election. However, XCX herself did not attend the ceremony, with co-producers AG Cook and Easyfun (aka Finn Keane) attending on her behalf.
This week English Teacher announced that they were cancelling a planned US tour for “health reasons”. They had previously spoken to The Guardian about the difficulties of making a living as a relatively well-received band, signed to a major label, appearing on Later… With Jools Holland, and having regular airtime on BBC 6 Music.
“The reality is that all these outcomes usually co-exist alongside people receiving Universal Credit, living at home or sofa surfing,” Fontaine said.
This year's ceremony was held in tough circumstances after Mercury's partnership with taxi company FreeNow ended last year. No new sponsors could be found for this year's awards, so the usual live event, in which each nominated artist would normally perform live, was replaced by a stripped-down affair hosted by BBC radio presenters Huw Stevens and Annie Mac and broadcast from Abbey Road Studios, with artists watching footage of each other's past BBC appearances.
“Despite our efforts to find a suitable new partner in a challenging arts funding environment, we were unable to secure one within the required timeframe and funding levels,” BPI chief executive Joe Twist said. He told Music Week magazine “Due to a recent lack of sponsorship, we are unfortunately not in a position this year to put on a live show that is in line with the high production values and standards we expect.”
After newsletter promotion
Last year's winners, Ezra Collective, the first jazz band to win the award, saw their combined streaming and sales increase 859% year-over-year, according to BPI data. In the band's video, filmed after receiving their 2023 award, they paid tribute to their origins at London youth club Tomorrow's Warriors.
This year's awards list includes four second-time nominees (Charli XCX, rapper Berwin, lyricist Corinne Bailey Rae and rapper Ghetts) and eight first-time nominees (jungle producer Nia Archives, indie-pop songwriter CMAT, lyricist Cat Barnes, dance producer Barry Can't Swim, baroque poppers The Last Dinner Party and composer Colt Alt), including first-time nominee Beth Gibbons, who won in 1995 as a member of Portishead for her debut album, Dummy.
Twist explained Mercury's mission for 2024 as “ultimately to start a national conversation about great albums and artists telling their stories through that medium.”
This year's judges were broadcaster and writer Daniel Perry, musician and Radio 2 presenter Jamie Cullum, DJ and BBC 6 Music presenter Jamz Supernova, Head of Music for BBC Radio 2 and 6 Music Geoff Smith, music programming consultant Lee Stonhill, broadcaster, songwriter and DJ Mistajam, BBC Radio 1 presenter and DJ Sian Eleri, and journalists Will Hodgkinson, Sophie Williams and Phil Alexander.
