With the past decade of Mercury Prize winners having unanimously hailed from London (the last non-London winner was Scotland’s Young Fathers, back in 2014), ahead of this year’s prize DIY caught up with English Teacher, Nia Archives and Corinne Bailey Rae – an all-Northern trio of shortlisted artists – on the red carpet to discuss the importance of geographical representation outside of the capital.
The need for geographical diversity was vindicated by the announcement of this year’s winners: Leeds-based quartet English Teacher with their debut album ‘This Could Be Texas’ (previously given the full five stars in DIY upon its release).
When announcing the winner, 6 Music’s Jamz Supernova commented that, “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.”
DIY have been an active supporter of English Teacher since their very first moves and put on the band’s first ever live gig as part of our socially-distanced Big Bank Holiday Weekender back in 2021. In 2022, the band were featured as part of DIY’s Class of 2022 issue, then going on to support Yard Act as part of our following Class of 2022 UK tour. Since then, the band have gone from strength to strength, with DIY supporting them all the way.
Meanwhile, English Teacher themselves have been vocal supporters of grassroots music scenes and venues, particularly in the North of England, with frontwoman Lily Fontaine writing about the issue of industry London-centrism for DIY in a specially-commissioned op-ed last year.
Of ‘This Could Be Texas’, DIY wrote in a five-star review: “The picture it paints as a whole is a hugely rich one – not just of the album itself, but of English Teacher as the opposite of a flash-in-the-pan buzz band; as a group really only just getting started. The sentiment behind ‘This Could Be Texas’ is that it could also be anywhere, but already the Leeds quartet are securing themselves as far more singular than that.”
We also had the opportunity to talk other shortlisted artist on the red carpet including CMAT, Berwyn, Ghetts and Cat Burns. Catch up with some of those below:
This continues our relationship with grassroots artists and the Mercury Prize when it was sponsored by FREENOW.
Some other examples of recent brand and artist collaborations created by DIY include product-focused videos for Focusrite, and brand sponsorships with Dr. Martens, Super Bock beer, and House of Vans.
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