Mercury Prize 2024: English Teacher win the coveted award for ‘This Could Be Texas’
English Teacher have been crowned victorious at the Mercury Prize 2024 for their album, This Could Be Texas. The Leeds indie album was noted for its thrilling originality and idiosyncratic spirit.
The band were evidently flabbergasted by the victory. They stumbled through a victory speech that began, “We’re just a band”. English Teacher then listed a slew of thanks for their family, inspirations, and even local Leeds institutions like The Brudenell Social Club. The band closed their speech by simply saying, “What do we do now?”
In a shake-up to the annual event, this year’s ceremony, hosted by Annie MacManus and Huw Stephens, diverted away from the traditional format. The Mercury Prize was broadcast live from Abbey Road Studios on September 5th. While the coverage changed, it was still featured on BBC Four as well as BBC Radio 6 Music.
In previous years, the ceremony has been held at a prestigious venue, such as the Eventim Apollo in London, and is complemented by performances from the shortlisted artists throughout the evening. Once the award winner is announced, they usually return to the stage for another performance.
This year, all 12 albums still received coverage prior to the winner being announced but merely in a new environment. According to organisers, the idea by the Mercury Prize to switch things up was to “see artists come together to watch each other’s recent recorded performances from across the BBC and celebrate each other’s work.”
In a rundown of all the nominated records, Far Out wrote: “This Could Be Texas isn’t just one of the most interesting debut albums of the year, it’s one of the most intriguing and truly beautiful contributions to British guitar music in the last decade.”
Adding: “Lily Fontaine’s lyrics push into modernity with humour and intellect, while her bandmates concoct a sound to keep monotonous post-punk at bay for a little while. It’s also refreshing to see a band from up north receiving so much well-earned praise, resisting the pull of the capital despite all its music industry promise.”
In addition to featuring the winning album, This Could Be Texas by English Teacher, this year’s eclectic Mercury Prize list featured albums by The Last Dinner Party, Barry Can’t Swim, Beth Gibbons, and CMAT. Furthermore, Nia Archives, Corrine Bailey Rae, and English Teacher were other prominent names to make the shortlist.
English Teacher joins a highly acclaimed lineage of previous Mercury Prize winners, including Michael Kiwanuka, Arctic Monkeys, Pulp, PJ Harvey, The xx, Young Fathers, Skepta, and Primal Scream.
Notably, in 2023, Ezra Collective beat competition from previous winners Arctic Monkeys and Young Fathers, as well as Fred Again, Loyle Carner, and Lankum with their spectacular second album, Where I’m Meant To Be. Meanwhile, in 2022, Little Simz was victorious thanks to Sometimes I Might Be Introvert, defeating LPs from Self Esteem, Wet Leg and Sam Fender.
Before English Teacher was unveiled as the winner, Far Out’s music editor, Tom Taylor, praised the broad musical spectrum covered by the 12 nominees, which is reflective of the modern musical landscape, writing: “The wider effect of this can be seen in culture’s interplay with society. The class of 2024 nominees reflect a world where identity is fluid and multifaceted. That goes right down to our music tastes and the inspirations of those moulding it.”
Mercury Prize 2024: The full shortlist
- Barry Can’t Swim – When Will We Land?
- BERWYN – Who Am I
- Beth Gibbons – Lives Outgrown
- Cat Burns – early twenties
- Charli xcx – BRAT
- CMAT – Crazymad, for Me
- Corinne Bailey Rae – Black Rainbows
- corto.alto – Bad with Names
- English Teacher – This Could Be Texas
- Ghetts – On Purpose, With Purpose
- Nia Archives – Silence Is Loud
- The Last Dinner Party – Prelude to Ecstasy
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