English teachers are the unsung champions who kindle the dangerous move into journalism. Thank you, very much, to those who contributed to this deep dive into a pit filled with rocks, furious prog rock stans and music scene junkies. The wrist spasms, back pain and onset of tinnitus have been all worth the while. So too is Albert Road, a single well worth waiting around for as English Teacher gears up for their debut album, This Could Be Texas. Very much unsung, despite some wonderful appearances on Jools Holland. The Hootenanny Man still serves a purpose – the last bastion of televised quality in the realm of indie music, and now a pawn in the ongoing game Rod Stewart plays with Swing Fever listeners. Love it up, Albert Road is as electric as the band promised with earlier singles.
Abbey Road? Never heard of it. Albert Road, that’s the one. Pair this with the rest of the English Teacher singles so far and revel in the fresh indie art rock quality. Throw as many descriptors as you like at it, flood the article full of rising and contemporary comparisons to polish off the brain filled with dwindling supplies of knowledge, it paves the same road. Beyond exceptional and assured work from a band all set to jump into the fire, as Harry Nilsson once told the best of the bunch to do. English Teacher is crawling, ever so carefully, towards this jumping point, and the likes of Albert Road will get them there. Tender, soft and explorative in all the right ways – English Teacher has their heavy-on-the-heart hit.
Post-rock challenges mainly take artists into the guitar rock world and see what else they can add. For Albert Road, it means a considered and stripped-back effectiveness which highlights Lily Fontaine as the sharp vocalist she is. Lose yourself in the rising instrumentals, the clarity which comes from being yourself and the support English Teacher provides in making such a choice. What a wonderful world it can be when listening to songs of this spectacular calibre. Everything about it, the loose vocal interjections from Fontaine during the instrumental specifics is a credible marriage of quality meets innovation. Consistent, rising and debilitating, there is an emotional fluster, a real tenderness to the experience.
Some pieces just write themselves. Walls of text do no justice to tracks as strong as this. The all-time greats English Teacher are poised to become is very much the writing on the wall. A when, not if, mentality now graces the band and from the solid efforts put out so far, it is hard not to fall for the wonderful expectations now set out. Albert Road does well to define their sound and coax higher expectations from an audience now bubbling with excitement. Artsy rock which will be written off as for the middle class, no doubt. Get a few cans next and lean back into the interesting instrumentals, the well-layered production and the feel of something different, something exciting. Move away from your dreck and slop, this is the real deal. More power to it, whatever it does, to mark such a comfortable listen yet a volatile reaction. Only the best can do it. English Teacher is getting there.
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