Colne singer's band English Teacher win 2024 Mercury Prize

English Teacher said it is “insane” they mark the first act from outside London to win the Mercury Prize in a decade.

The announcement was made by DJ Jamz Supernova during the awards ceremony, which recognises the best British or Irish album of the year, held at the Abbey Road Studios on Thursday evening.

They beat competition from the likes of popstar Charli XCX, whose album Brat was a social media sensation this summer, Irish singer CMAT, rising star Cat Burns, and indie outfit The Last Dinner Party.

Taking to the stage, the band members, who include guitarist and former St Bede’s High School pupil Lewis Whiting, drummer Douglas Frost, bassist Nicholas Eden and Colne vocalist Lily Fontaine – said thank you.

Lily gave a shout-out to her mother during their acceptance speech.

“My mum did the artwork so I want to say a special thanks to her, she’s amazing,” she said.

“That’s (the album cover) the Cow and Calf Rocks in Ilkley. It’s beautiful and she painted that in the 1980s.

“I made the artwork before we finished the album, so it was my mum’s painting and then it’s this sort of weird, meaty, alien musical machine… A mechanical meaty machine and I put it on top of it, and I really liked how it looked.

“It was just a piece of artwork that I wanted to make using my mum’s work and my own.

“And then when we finished the album…it just felt like it fit.

“It was only afterwards that it actually really fit the themes as well, I realised.

Lily Fontaine and English Teacher performing in the shadow of the Atom panopticon at Wycoller (Image: NQ)

“It’s (a) bit surreal, bit in-between. It’s all about in-betweens really, the album, and I feel that cover is in-between something.”

Lewis, from Preston but now living in Leeds, said it should not be a novelty that a northern band can win a prize.

He joked that he would be “horrendously hungover” and “crawl onto the train” back home on Friday morning after celebrating their win.

He said: “There’s so much good music, not just in Leeds, but plenty of places, smaller places as well, that often don’t get too much of a look in from the music industry that’s very centred around here (London).

“How many classic albums and how many bands have come from those places, yet it’s a novelty that a band from the North would win the Mercury Prize – it is kind of insane really.”

He said representing the North as part of their win was “so important because otherwise, the music industry becomes really homogenous and really boring”.

DJ Annie Macmanus and Welsh radio presenter Huw Stephens presented the evening and introduced the pre-recorded performances from the 12 nominees.

The judging team said: “This has been a really tough year for the Mercury Prize judges, with the final 12 albums being so reflective of our diverse and rich musical landscape.

"There was so much passion and enthusiasm for each one.

“In the end, though, we did agree that This Could Be Texas by English Teacher stands out for its originality and character.

“A winning lyrical mix of surrealism and social observation, alongside a subtle way of wearing its musical innovations lightly, displays a fresh approach to the traditional guitar band format.

“This Could Be Texas reveals new depths on every listen; the mark of a future classic.

“The Mercury Prize was set up to celebrate the album as an artistic format in its own right and all the judges agreed that this charismatic body of work deserves to be the 2024 Mercury Prize Album of the Year.”

The band’s single The World’s Biggest Paving Slab, released last year, was inspired by the two-tonne stone outside Colne Town Hall.

The band name-checks several iconic figures in the release, which features a video shot in and around Colne.

John Simm and Lee Ingleby, from nearby Nelson, pop up in the first verse, as do the Pendle Witches and Colne’s famous R&B festival. And later she references the historic village of Wycoller and explores its links with Charlotte Bronte.

One repeated line insists: “I’m not the terrorist of Talbot Street”, which is located off Albert Road.

English Teacher is set to head to the US on tour with British rock band Idles next week, before returning for a European tour and a UK tour in the winter.