English Teacher – ‘This Could Be Texas’ album review: sci-fi restlessness and referentiality
THE SKINNY: Like the journey from Leeds to the Lone Star State, the road to This Must Be Texas has been a long and winding one. The long-awaited debut album from English Teacher collates songs they’ve been working on for the last six years, some of them written in Wales, others in France, others in a Batley Airbnb. It’s a record about those in-betweens, with lyrics and soundscapes filled with restlessness and indecision, but it never feels lost or stuck.
On the contrary, This Could Be Texas is one of the most self-assured debut albums in modern music and English Teacher’s decision to take their time with the record has clearly served them well. Years spent honing their sound on and off-stage shine through in the coherency of the record, which is a collection of sparkling sci-fi soundscapes and cultural references.
Vocalist Lily Fontaine has already developed a distinctive lyrical style that favours detail and driving repetition, while her delivery sits somewhere between Alex Turner and a spoken word poet. Sometimes, she rants and rambles. At others, she displays unparalleled poetic prowess and affords her musings all the nuance they require. Either way, she always serves the song, whether it’s the poignancy of ‘This Could Be Texas’ or the unrelenting ‘I’m Not Crying, You’re Crying’.
As Lily uses space travel and location to look inward, English Teacher’s instrumentation punctuates each poeticism. On ‘Nearly Daffodils’ and ‘R&B’, they carve out instant indie classics with driving guitars that will have you subconsciously nodding along. On softer tracks, they encourage Lily’s emotional musings with strings and soft piano or enhance her surrealist imagery with strange electronic glitches and sounds worthy of a place in a sci-fi soundtrack.
A breath of fresh air in modern guitar music, refusing to be constrained by any genre, This Could Be Texas is proof that English Teacher have already mastered their craft just one album in. It’s otherworldly and restless, poignant and poetic, entirely English Teacher, and it will be a tough act to follow.
For fans of: Liminal spaces, science-fiction, and unrelenting referentiality.
A concluding comment from Lily’s housemate: “I wish she’d come back down from space and water her plants already.”
This Could Be Texas track by tack:
Release date: April 12th | Producer: Marta Salogni | Label: Island
‘Albatross’: Glitches and guitar plucks ease you into the world of English Teacher, as their endless stream of references begins with an ode to ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’. As Lily Fontaine finds herself between window sills and cul-de-sacs and the sun and the sky, sparkling keys and stunted riffs underscore the introduction of those central themes of belonging and in-betweens. [4.5/5]
‘The World’s Biggest Paving Slab’: One of the album’s most formidable tracks – and one of the first to be written – it’s easy to see why ‘The World’s Biggest Paving Slab’ was chosen as the lead single. Fontaine’s words are defiant now, almost every line beginning with an assertion about herself, daring you to walk all over her. [4.5/5]
‘Broken Biscuits’: Lily’s penchant for lyrical repetition continues into ‘Broken Biscuits’, which charts far weightier topics than its title suggests. Break-ups, breakdowns, broken homes and broken bones, they all find their place amidst growling guitars. The climax leaves listeners broken, too, affording no respite between discordant strings and piano flourishes. [4.5/5]
‘I’m Not Crying, You’re Crying’: My opinion may be clouded by the experience of downing multiple shots and shouting “I’m not crying, you’re crying,” at the top of my lungs at English Teacher’s Edinburgh show last year, but this may be my song of the year. Unrelenting instrumentation and ranting, rambling vocals make ‘I’m Not Crying’ a stand-out track, an impressive feat to achieve amidst the sheer consistency of quality on This Could Be Texas. [5/5]
‘Mastermind Specialism’: A collection of references to works of sci-fi and game shows take on new meaning in ‘Mastermind Specialism’, as Fontaine contemplates indecision and in-betweens. Equally gorgeous guitars and twinkling keys accompany her lush lyrics, each instrument consciously gentle with her thoughts. [4.5/5]
‘This Could Be Texas’: Penned about the process of making This Could Be Texas, the album’s titular track is at once anxious and assured. It flits between playful piano and spoken word segments, culminating in a mountain of uneasy strings and thudding chords. “And in the end, they might even thank me,” Fontaine’s voice echoes in a final moment of respite, “with a garden in my name.” Five-star reviews are already flowering. [5/5]
‘Not Everybody Gets To Go To Space’: The sci-fi influence extends far beyond Lily’s lyrics on ‘Not Everybody Gets To Go To Space’ as English Teacher briefly channel Jockstrap with an opening of otherworldly electronica. Fontaine charts celestial bar queues and the inequality of space travel as extra-terrestrial soundscapes whirl around her. [5/5]
‘R&B’: It’s been three years since English Teacher initially released ‘R&B’, but it still holds up as one of the catchiest and cleverest entries into modern indie. The new recording is darker and more driving; Fontaine delivers her words with a shrug – you already know them all, anyway. [5/5]
‘Nearly Daffodils’: English Teacher’s pace is unwavering as they launch into ‘Nearly Daffodils’. Still committed to charting the in-betweens and almosts, the piece finds beauty and terror in a relationship that nearly bloomed. Playful backing vocalisations, bird-song and drumsticks serve to lighten the mood, but the conclusion is still the same, “You can lead water to the daffodils, but you can’t make them drink.” [5/5]
‘Best Tears of Your Life’: “You can take the girl out of her comfort zone,” Fontaine sings in the opening moments of ‘Best Tears of Your Life’, “but you can’t put her back.” Autotuned vocals and unexpected pauses suddenly drag you out of your own as the track pushes further into English Teacher’s sci-fi preoccupations and unpredictability. [5/5]
‘You Blister My Paint’: As haunting as it is stunning, the A Clockwork Orange-inspired ‘You Blister My Paint’ has become a staple in English Teacher’s live set. On record, Fontaine leans further into the strangeness of the story that inspired it with distorted, echoing vocals as strings and soft piano ground it in reality. It’s like going to a jazz club in outer space. [5/5]
‘Sideboob’: ‘Sideboob’ sounds like the calm after the storm. The blistering riffs and emotion of its preceding tracks are offset by soaring strings and swaying percussion. It’s the kind of music you can picture yourself dancing to in Twin Peaks’ red room. The words are as beautiful as ever, comparing her lover to a mountain she can’t move. [5/5]
‘Albert Road’: A subdued opening finds Lily contemplating prejudice and public houses on album closer ‘Albert Road’, but her words and the instruments around them quickly gather momentum and intention. By the end of the song, she’s resorted to screams to expel her restless emotions and frustrations. [5/5]
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