English Teacher’s early songs gained an audience during the first wave of the Covid pandemic – which meant they didn’t get to play a gig together until the lockdown ended.

Their first show was as part of an all-day mini festival in May 2021, where the audience still had to be seated and socially distanced.

“Those first gigs were kind of jarring,” Whiting recalls. “It was quite strange because everything up ’til then felt very online, which doesn’t feel as tangible. And then when you go and play a gig, it’s like, ‘Yeah, this is actually going somewhere.'”

“We were so nervous, too,” says Fontaine. “I feel like it was only late into 2023 that we really found our confidence.”

By that point, they were deep into recording their debut album with Italian producer Marta Salogni (Bjork, Depeche Mode, MIA) – including new, more polished versions of R&B and The World’s Biggest Paving Slab.

The band say they put “immense pressure” on themselves to perfect the record, fixating on its push-pull dynamics, adding extra layers of context, and experimenting with new instruments.

“It was an intense time in our personal lives, trying to get it finished and out. We gave a lot to it,” says Whiting.

“Recording your first album is just a huge opportunity,” continues Fontaine. “I think we were very aware of that.”

The hard work paid off.

Record Collector Magazine called This Could Be Texas “one of the most confident and charismatic debuts in years”. The Mercury Prize judges said the band’s “winning lyrical mix of surrealism and social observation… displays a fresh approach to the traditional guitar band format”.

The quartet are endearingly amazed that anyone paid attention at all.

“I wasn’t sure that it would connect with people, because the lyrics are quite specific to the area I grew up in,” says Fontaine.

Instead, it was the bigger themes – of leaving home and finding your place in a world that’s “going up in flames” – that helped them find an ever-growing audience.

On The World’s Biggest Paving Slab, Fontaine mockingly describes herself as “the world’s smallest celebrity” – a lyric that’s rapidly becoming obsolete.

“I’m not the smallest, but certainly not the biggest,” she laughs.

“In the alphabet of celebrity, I’m probably on the X-list.”

One act from the BBC Sound of 2025 top five will be revealed on Radio 1 and BBC News every day this week, culminating with the winner on Friday.