English Teacher - Live at the Louisiana, Bristol - 27th October 2023

There are so many elements that define the trajectory of a musician’s popularity.

Firstly, obviously, the songs need to be up to scratch, and the circumstances must be right unless you can define them. And of course, there’s a lot of luck involved too.

But charm. Charm goes a long way. It can hide something else, but it’s hard to fake. Lily Fontaine – vocalist and rhythm guitarist for Leeds’ English Teacher – has charm to spare. Whether it’s chatting amiably while signing merchandise after the show or apologising for the sheer volume of new (and therefore unknown) songs performed during it, people listen.

A Bristol audience is always receptive (so we tell ourselves) and Fontaine declares her appreciation for the crowd singing the ‘older’ material. ‘The magic of having someone sing words you’ve written back to you is insane,’ the singer gleefully declares after ‘Song About Love’ which, admittedly, isn’t too tricky to catch up with (the last minute simply a chant of ‘tick-tocking love’) but the preceding hypnotic, single-note groove (think ‘Psycho Killer’) sets the foundations nicely. The song’s ragged magnificence lies in the thumping delivery, with Fontaine’s vocals substituted for shouts as the song reaches its end.

https://www.live4ever.uk.com/2023/10/review-english-teacher-louisiana/