English Teacher win the 2024 Mercury Prize

Leeds band English Teacher won at a muted ceremony for their album ‘This Could Be Texas’.

English Teacher have been crowned the winners of the 2024 Mercury Prize for their debut album ‘This Could Be Texas’.
The award was given to the UK indie band at a ceremony on 5 September at Abbey Road Studios by hosts broadcaster Annie Macmanus, radio presenter Huw Stephens and award presenter Jamz Supernova.
‘This Could Be Texas’ was one of 12 albums nominated for the annual award which celebrates the Album of the Year in the UK and Ireland. It is one of the only awards that solely focuses on the quality of an album as an artistic whole and has a reputation for highlighting some of the most interesting and diverse albums from emerging and established talent.
English Teacher join past winners including last year’s Ezra Collective who won for their jazz album ‘Where I’m Meant To Be’, as well as historic winners Primal Scream, Pulp, Arctic Monkeys, and Little Simz.
Other nominated albums this year were from Charli XCX, CMAT, Beth Gibbons, Corrine Bailey Rae, Ghetts, and The Last Dinner Party.
‘This Could Be Texas’ was chosen as the winner by a panel of judges across the UK music industry including musicians, music critics, and radio executives.
This is the first indie rock album to win the Mercury Prize since Wolf Alice won for ‘Visions of a Life’ in 2018. Last year’s win by Ezra Collective was the first time a jazz album won the award.
The quartet formed while studying at the Leeds Conservatoire in 2018 and released their first single ‘R&B’ in 2021, followed by their first EP ‘Polyawkward’ in 2022. ‘This Could Be Texas’ is their debut full-length album and was released on 12 April this year.
We pegged English Teacher as a band to watch this year when we caught their set prior to the album’s release at ESNS in February.
The band, fronted by Lily Fontaine, create nuanced perspectives on topics of race and mental health within the parameters of their articulate alternative rock instrumentation. They’re a worthy winner of the prize, although somewhat a surprising one after a year spent overshadowed in the headlines by other nominated acts like The Last Dinner Party and Charli XCX.
After they were announced the winners, the Leeds band came up to the stage dumbfounded, claiming they “didn’t really plan this far”. The first non-London based band to win since 2014, they credited the support of local venues in helping them along with their careers.
The judging panel said that although it was a tough year to judge, ‘This Could Be Texas’ “stands out for its originality & character. A winning lyrical mix of surrealism and social observation, alongside a subtle way of wearing its musical innovations lightly, displays a fresh approach to the traditional guitar band format. ‘This Could Be Texas’ reveals new depths on every listen; the mark of a future classic.”
This year’s ceremony, held at Abbey Road Studios, represented a marked drop in scale from previous ceremonies. 2023 was the final year of sponsorship from taxi company FreeNow. In previous years, the ceremony has been held at the larger Hammersmith Apollo and featured live performances from all the acts.
Unable to secure a new partnership, this year’s ceremony may have seemed a smaller affair, but the win, in one of the UK’s most prestigious music prizes, still represents a milestone in the career of English Teacher.