“We’re in disbelief—I don’t think this is going to sink in for a while,” English Teacher bassist Nick Eden tells Apple Music about claiming 2024’s Mercury Prize this month for debut album This Could Be Texas. “For me, nothing has, since performing on Later… with Jools Holland [in November 2023]. [There’s been] screaming, crying, throwing up. You name it. My homecoming was making phone calls to my parents immediately after exiting Abbey Road [venue of this year’s ceremony]. I think we’re all in a constant cycle of homecoming in a way that it’s hard to say where home actually is.” On single “The World’s Biggest Paving Slab”, which heads up Antidote this week, rigorous riffs collapse into a gliding, weightless chorus as the Leeds-based four-piece calls out the surrealist quirks and semi-rural stories that characterise the places they call home. You’ll hear of local heroes, infamous institutions and, of course, the titular slab—a 10ft x 9ft stone located outside Colne Town Hall near singer Lily Fontaine’s Lancashire birthplace. “We’ve all lived in Leeds for a quarter of our lives, some of us more, all over the city,” says Eden. “I’m from 250 miles south of Leeds, not far from London, and I found purpose in the north of England when I moved there in 2017—despite growing up in the south. Establishing ourselves there allowed us to perform around the world, and I’m so grateful for the city’s many microcosms.” Hear the song now, plus essential new tracks from Pale Waves, London Grammar, Self Esteem and FKA twigs. Like all those artists, Antidote is always evolving—so keep checking back, and if you hear something you like, add it to your library.