English Teacher

Lost Lake Presents English Teacher on Wednesday, September 17 —

“We’ve not stopped for almost a decade. It’s been brilliant and exhausting in equal parts,” English Teacher
vocalist, guitarist and synth player Lily Fontaine laughs, reflecting on the band’s ascent over the last five
years.

The band – Fontaine, Lewis Whiting (lead guitar, synth), Douglas Frost (drums, piano and vocals) and
Nicholas Eden (bass) – began writing together after meeting while students at Leeds Conservatoire. Early
support from local organisations Music Leeds, Come Play With Me and BBC Radio Introducing, who
regularly played their earliest offerings and helped garner support for the band, led to a pivotal signing
with indie label Nice Swan Records. During lockdown, English Teacher’s fanbase grew online and 2021
single ‘R&B’ had the music industry buzzing. A much-lauded debut EP, ‘Polyawkward’ followed, providing
further insight into the diverse sonic and uniquely self-made aesthetic world of the band, and appearances
at Glastonbury and Leeds Festival soon made English Teacher one of the most talked about bands in British
music.

Since then, they’ve toured with Parquet Courts and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, played on Jools Holland, and
sold out all their UK and EU tour dates as well as Elsewhere in Brooklyn, New York City. They’ve graced
the cover of the magazine they used to spend their pocket money on as teens, NME, had single ‘Nearly
Daffodils’ placed at number 7 in the top ten songs of 2023 by TIME Magazine, and more recently acted as
ambassadors for Independent Venue Week (following in the footsteps of Arlo Parks, Wet Leg, Wolf Alice
and Beabadoobee), in a nod to the grassroots venues where they learned their crafts.

Now, they’re about to release their debut album, This Could Be Texas. Representative of the four
songwriters’ sonic journeys to date, some tracks were written at university in 2016-2019’s post-nestfleeing
nostalgia, while others found themselves whole in the weeks before entering the studio. Listening
to This Could Be Texas, it’s evident the band have spent a long time crafting the album, with its intricately
layered and meticulously crafted melodies that explore far-ranging themes including social issues,
struggling to belong, mental health and science fiction. As NME wrote in the band’s recent first cover
article for the publication, their new music is a “bold, rhythmic, revamp,” drawing on influences as varied
as “psychedelia to wobbly art punk.”

• All ages, ticketed guests under 16 ONLY ADMITTED WITH TICKETED GUARDIAN 21+
• All sales are final. Check your tickets carefully, NO REFUNDS FOR ANY REASON
• Your name will be on the Will Call list the night of the show at doors time.