Watch English Teacher and Richard Hawley cover Joy Division’s ‘Transmission’ at BBC 6 Music Festival 2025
"They're from Leeds, I'm from Sheffield and we’ve played a Manchester classic. Some people might say sacrilege, but I think it’s respectful and honourable" The post Watch English Teacher and Richard Hawley cover Joy Division’s ‘Transmission’ at BBC 6 Music Festival 2025 appeared first on NME.
English Teacher and Richard Hawley teamed up to cover Joy Division‘s ‘Transmission’. Check it out below.
The moment happened at the BBC 6 Music Festival in Manchester last night (March 28), midway through English Teacher’s set.
Vocalist Lily Fontaine welcomed the fellow Yorkshire musician to the stage, saying he’s “a pillar of the Sheffield music scene, and he has the best jacket collection I’ve ever seen.”
Fontaine then suggested they do a cover, to which Hawley quipped, “Yeah, we’ll do a cover. We have to crack on though ’cause I’ve got a bus to catch.”
They then launched into Joy Division’s 1979 single, with the two sharing vocal duties. Check it out below.
English Teacher’s Doug Frost explained that the collaboration came about after Hawley gave him his number after they supported him on tour. “Whilst English Teacher were in Tokyo, I texted him to ask him to appear for our show, and then he called me whilst I was in bed, and he was in bed with his dogs,” Frost explained. “Then we chatted for about an hour!”
Richard Hawley said: “The collaboration I thought came about because my children said, ‘Oh, there’s this really cool band who are much, much younger than you, that you could also be a father of, due to the age difference, and they really like what you do’. But actually the truth is, Doug sent me a text [I said] ‘yeah alright’.
Reflecting on the performance, Fontaine said: “I think it were fun, I were grinning at the end,” to which Hawley added: “Well, not to get too serious but they’re from Leeds, I’m from Sheffield and we’ve played a Manchester classic. Some people might say sacrilege, but I think it’s respectful and honourable.”
The band have expressed their admiration for Hawley in the past. When NME met them at Glastonbury 2024, Fontaine told us: “He makes really classic, timeless music. Unless you know who he is, you wouldn’t be able to put a time, a place or an age on his work. His lyricism is relatable and not too flowery. There are so many special reasons as to why I love him.”
English Teacher’s setlist was:
‘This Could Be Texas’
The World’s Biggest Paving Slab’
‘I’m Not Crying, You’re Crying’
‘Albatross’
‘You Blister My Paint’
‘Broken Biscuits’
‘Transmission’ – with Richard Hawley
‘R&B’
‘Nearly Daffodils’
‘Albert Road’
In other English Teacher news, they recently added a second show at London’s Roundhouse to their 2025 headline tour.
The upcoming tour from English Teacher comes following a massive 12 months for the band. This included sharing their critically acclaimed album ‘This Could Be Texas’. The record earned a glowing five-star review from NME and later bagged the Number Three spot on our 50 best albums of 2024 list. Their track ‘Albert Road’ was also named the sixth-best song of the year.
It also went on to win the prestigious Mercury Prize award last year – beating off competition from Beth Gibbons, CMAT, Charli XCX and more. The victory marked the first Mercury Prize to be won by a non-London act since Edinburgh’s Young Fathers took home the trophy in 2014.
As for Hawley, earlier this month, he announced a 20th anniversary reissue for his album ‘Coles Corner’ and a string of orchestral UK shows.
The post Watch English Teacher and Richard Hawley cover Joy Division’s ‘Transmission’ at BBC 6 Music Festival 2025 appeared first on NME.
