English Teacher
Live From BBC Maida Vale
Island Records
English Teacher threw away the standard-issue, indie-rock lesson plan for its audacious debut album, This Could Be Texas, shortlisted for a Mercury Prize not surprisingly. Devising an arty curriculum that was witty and dynamic, with nimble, inside-out movements, theatrical flair, and shimmery explosions dancing around soulful, vulnerable intimacy, the cheeky U.K. newcomers from Leeds expanded the possibilities of a British post-punk revival they may have already outgrown. They’re ready to leave the nest and let supremely talented singer Lily Fontaine fly.
A brief layover on the way to whatever destination awaits, Live from BBC Maida Vale Studios is a well-curated five-song EP, a captivating encore stringing together lovely and gripping selections from various BBC sessions. Fontaine, in particular, shines, her quivering vocals even more expressive and full-bodied here, wailing and grabbing hold of a cover of “New York, I Love You but You’re Bringing Me Down” like Nina Simone, as English Teacher reimagines the LCD Soundsystem original as a stylish, R&B seduction that crashes spectacularly. They walk away without a scratch.
Stepping aside to let Fontaine, who also plays guitar and keyboards, gently massage the softly yearning piano ballad “You Blister My Paint,” the quartet — including guitarist Lewis Whiting, drummer Douglas Frost, and bassist Nicholas Eden — circles a nervy, yet neat and tidy, version of “The World’s Biggest Paving Slab” with predatory urgency and catchy insistence. Rebuilding the scaffolding of a swiftly orbiting “Broken Biscuits,” as they energetically pound and prance with oaken strings, stopping and starting with Fontaine confidently delivering spoken-word truths, they go at it hammer and tongs until the inevitable collapse. But it’s the Motown warmth and class they add to a wistful, bittersweet rendering of Billie Eilish’s “Birds of a Feather” that’s to die for. Don’t mess with Texas.
