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                    English Teacher on their Mercury Prize nod: “It’s worth pushing through the hard times”
                                        English Teacher have spoken to NME about being shortlisted for the Mercury Prize, their ‘rivalry’ with Beyoncé and progress on their second album.The Leeds indie upstarts received the Mercury nod yesterday (Thursday July 25), with the former NME cover stars‘ acclaimed debut ‘This Could Be Texas’ being shortlisted alongside records by the likes of Charli XCX, CMAT, Ghetts, The Last Dinner Party, Corinne Bailey Rae, Beth Gibbons, Barry Can’t Swim and more.Asked by NME about what it meant to be nominated, frontwoman Lily Fontaine described it as “mental” and called this year’s nominees as “the best year yet. Not just because we’re on it!”Quizzed on what ‘This Could Be Texas’ tells us about life in 2024, guitarist Lewis Whiting said that it aimed to capture the idea “that places are often far apart are often eerily similar”.A post shared by NME (@nmemagazine)For a band who have been very vocal about how difficult it is for artists to survive and thrive in the current climate, English Teacher said that the honour felt all the more profound.“There’s a lot of temptation to not continue making music because you physically can’t,” Fontaine admitted.