English Teacher have kicked off the BBC Sound Of 2025 countdown poll, coming in at Number Five.
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The rising Leeds four-piece were among the artists confirmed for the longlist for the BBC Sound Of 2025 last November, and joined the list alongside Chappell Roan, Ezra Collective, Kneecap and more.
Now, the countdown for the top five artists has begun, with Lily Fontaine and co. taking the Number Five position.
They were voted in fifth place after a panel of 180 music industry experts chose them as one of the acts with “the best chance of mainstream success” in the next 12 months. The position also comes after a huge 2024 for the band, with them both releasing highly-lauded debut album ‘This Could Be Texas’ and going on to become last year’s Mercury Prize winners. The latter saw them beat off competition from Charli XCX, CMAT, Beth Gibbons and more.
The countdown for the remaining four artists on the BBC Sound Of 2025 list will continue across Radio 1 this week, before the winner is announced on Friday (January 10).
When the longlist was shared two months ago, the artists chosen drew a mixed reaction from fans on social media, with many agreeing that the chosen names were talented, but were already too established to be considered a “rising” act.
English Teacher. Credit: Andy Ford for NME
For instance, Chappell Roan was named following the release of her huge 2023 debut ‘The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess‘ – an album that hit Number One back in August and has seen her attract millions of streams and rise to the rank of festival headliner.
Her inclusion on the list came as new rules were implemented for 2025. Previously, an artist would not be eligible if they had been the lead on a UK Number One or Number Two album by the cut-off point. However, this year that rule has changed so that an artist “cannot have had more than two Top 10 albums in the UK Official Albums Chart” by 30 September 2024.
Other rules include that an artist cannot have had two Top 10 singles in the UK Official Singles Chart by September 30, 2024, and that “they also must not already be widely known by the UK general public or have appeared on the Sound Of list before.”
Asked about the change to the rules, a BBC Radio 1 spokesperson told NME: “The Sound Of list has a strong track record of predicting future superstars and we periodically review the criteria to better reflect how audiences consume music.”
In a review of English Teacher’s first album, NME gave the band a glowing five-star review and wrote: “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.”
English Teacher’s Lily Fontaine performs live. CREDIT: Gus Stewart/Redferns/Getty
They also appeared on the NME Cover in September 2023, where they opened up about the huge momentum they were getting. “It’s amazing to have all these people behind us but it is quite jarring; it’s been a mad two years. It’s easy to forget how quickly all of this has happened,” said guitarist Lewis Whiting.
Shortly after taking home their Mercury Prize victory last year, the band also told NME about their progress on new material, which will see them build upon their already-signature sound.
Whiting said that English Teacher have “got some writing” to do in between their support shows with IDLES and their 2024 UK headline tour in November. Bassist Nicholas Eden also teased a new song, describing it as “an amalgamation of every single track on this [first] album”.
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