English Teacher‘s debut album ‘This Could Be Texas‘ has re-entered the UK Top 40 following their Mercury Prize win.
- READ MORE: English Teacher to “continue to be honest” about artists’ struggles after Mercury Prize win
The Leeds four-piece recently snagged the prestigious music prize at the ceremony held earlier this month at Abbey Road Studios.
They warded off competition from the likes of Charli XCX, CMAT, Ghetts, The Last Dinner Party, Corinne Bailey Rae, Beth Gibbons, Barry Can’t Swim and more with their debut album, ‘This Could Be Texas’.
Now, UK record labels association the BPI has reported an increased demand for the record. The BPI (which also organises the Mercury Prize) claimed that ‘This Could Be Texas’ gained a 1,073 per cent increase in sales in the week after the ceremony – its best chart performance since it was released in April this year.
Other albums by Mercury Prize nominees BERWYN, Corinne Bailey Rae and corto.alto also saw sales increases of over 100 per cent.
NME spoke to the band shortly after their win, where they said they would “continue to be honest” about their struggles as a band.
“It was never a conscious [choice] to be like ‘We’re going to be one of those bands that does that’,” frontwoman Lily Fontaine explained. “It’s just that when we get asked questions about those things, we’re always going to be honest. If we continue to be put in situations where we’re asked about that, we will continue to be honest about it.”
NME also spoke to the band for The Cover, where they hinted at their debut album and what was to come: “I feel like the next set of songs will truly reflect where we are now,” guitarist Lewis Whiting shared. “We don’t want to sit within one sound; there’s some huge-sounding ballads coming up. We’ve got a point to prove.”
We also reviewed their debut, awarding it a full five stars: “What you have in ‘This Could Be Texas’ is everything you want from a debut; a truly original effort from start to finish, an adventure in sound and words, and a landmark statement. Poised for big things? Who knows if this industry even allows that anymore. Here are a band already dealing in brilliance, though – who dare to dream and have it pay off.
“Not everyone gets to go to space, but at least English Teacher make it a damn site more interesting being stuck down here.”