Leeds quartet English Teacher have had an absolutely smashing 2024. The band released one of the debuts of the year in This Could Be Texas, which came out back in April, and this week its mix of atmospheric rock, rattling post-punk and soulful ballads was anointed winner of the 2024 Mercury Prize. But life could’ve been even better for the group’s singer and guitarist Lily Fontaine, because just before she threw herself into her band, she was on the cusp of becoming a music journalist, the profession that, deep down, every person on the earth secretly desires. Don’t lie, you do!
Speaking to this writer in an interview for The New Cue earlier this year, Fontaine said she found herself at a crossroads before choosing the lesser path of an award-winning, Top Ten-reaching musician.
