‘Sunglasses’: The song English Teacher wish they had written
English Teacher have enjoyed a swift and steady rise in the music business, and their influences may have something to do with it.
The indie rock four-piece from England began making waves from the moment they arrived, with their debut album receiving widespread praise and instantly putting them on the map. What’s particularly impressive about Lily Fontaine and Co is that they have evolved a great deal since they started out as Frank, following which they rebranded themselves and became the group we know today.
Their first few years as English Teacher were tastefully slow, with the quartet releasing only one EP and a handful of singles prior to their debut record, and among their most notable drops during this phase was a song called ‘R&B’, which turned a lot of heads upon release and helped create a buzz around their name. Around the time it was first published, all four members of the group joined Fred Perry for an interview to discuss their influences and the music they enjoy listening to.
Artists often cite the most unexpected songs and albums as influences during these conversations, especially when asked which pieces they wish they could take credit for. Perhaps it’s a way for some to show that their vision is a lot wider than people may think, or maybe these curveballs are indeed sincere picks after all. It’s impossible to tell where such replies come from or what they are motivated by, but they are awfully common.
What makes English Teacher’s answer so satisfying is that it actually makes a whole lot of sense, in the grand scheme of things. From Tyler, the Creator to Blondie to LCD Soundsystem, they discussed their love for music across eras, genres and cultures. Being asked which song they wish they could take credit for, however, prompted a response that aligns perfectly with their identity.
The band singling out ‘Sunglasses’ by Black Country, New Road puts into perspective their transition from dream pop to a more indie and experimental post-punk style. Of course, that isn’t to say that their contemporaries from Cambridge are to be credited with their evolution, but it does provide insight into what they were going for back in 2021.
‘R&B’ sounds vastly different from the music they had released as Frank, yet it isn’t nearly as audacious as ‘Sunglasses’. A few years down the line, by the time English Teacher released their debut LP in 2024, their sense of adventure was starting to resemble the Isaac Wood era of BCNR a whole lot more.
With a runtime of over nine minutes, ‘Sunglasses’ was published as part of the band’s first studio album, and packed with five other unusually long tracks, this cut stands out for being chaotic yet coherent amid its many phases and switches, and pulling off a song like this one really isn’t easy, so it’s no surprise that other artists wish they could get away with something that risky with the same fluency.
English Teacher continued to grow rapidly from then, which is why their first full-length record performed as well as it did. Fiesty, sharp and tender at all the right moments, This Could Be Texas proved that they were certainly not just another indie rock group fated to disappear into the genre’s expanding void of sameness.
