English Teacher announce their signing to Island Records

Arriving as the follow-up to BBC 6 Music playlisted "Song Above Love", which was recorded in collaboration with producer Dan Carey and released on cult label Speedy Wunderground earlier this year, English Teacher have released the new track, "The World's Biggest Paving Slab", to coincide with news of their signing to Island Records.

“I wrote and recorded the demo in my bedroom in one day, during my final year of university in 2018. Moving to a city for university forced me to reflect on how my experience of growing up in and around Pendle, how witnessing the social, economic and political issues that exist around there in juxtaposition with the beauty of the landscape and the characters that live within in it, has shaped me into the artist and person that I am," Lily Fontaine says. "These semi-rural stories leak into most of my writing; in particular, this song tackles delusions of grandeur and inferiority from the perspective of a small town’s local celebrities. It’s split into two halves.”

The track was produced by Marta Salgoni (Bjork, Black Midi, Animal Collective).

Concluding their summer festival run with appearances at Reading & Leeds later this month, English Teacher will be hitting the road again this autumn for their biggest UK run to date, including an eagerly anticipated hometown show at Brudenell Social Club, in Leeds, and London headliner at the iconic Scala.

Following the release of their debut EP Polyawkward, in 2022, the band had a breakthrough year which included supporting the likes of Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Paolo Nutini, Parquet Courts and Yard Act, in addition to notable debut slots at SXSW and Glastonbury.