English Teacher share their first single of the year ‘Song About Love’
English Teacher are back with their first single release of the year — and they keep up their stunning releases to date and wow us again.
Photo: Tatiana Ponzuelo
English Teacher are a band on the inevitable up. Having only formed in 2020, the band have made a splash — not just in their local music scene of Leeds, but national wide – last year they secured themselves a spot at Glastonbury on the John Peel stage. 2022 also saw the highly-anticipated release of their first EP Polyawkward — which met our expectations and more.
This certainly seems a change up and refinement of English Teacher’s sound since the EP, and we’re gifted with a slightly more dream pop-centred sound within this new track.
Song About Love is certainly more of an easy listen than previous releases by the band, with an almost minimalist use of riffs and nice simple keys that complement vocalist Lily Fontaine. The band hasn’t changed everything in their musical form though for this release, we can still hear a bit of the old-style breakthrough; we’re greeted with a delightful lick for the chorus segment, so as not to break tradition.
It’s worth mentioning how greatly I appreciate the use of The Sims 2 for the song’s accompanying video. I now wish for all bands to make their music videos using the medium of video games from the 2000s – it’s the future!
When it comes to the meaning behind this one, Fontaine remarked that: “It’s a pop song about doing chores instead of doing someone else, and how even songs with social or political themes that analyse contemporary discourse, rather than lyricism about tired themes like romantic love, still come from a place of love, or lack thereof.”
Overall, it’s a great release from the band; it’s going to be excellent to really hear them develop their new sound over this coming year – best to keep an ear out for their next releases.