British electronic duo Broads have announced their new full-length Field Theory, the LP is expected to drop, sometime 2018.Ahead of the release, the band are sharing the lead-single “Climbs”. We love the vocal stylings and sound textures on this track. Northern Transmissions are lovers of ambient/post-rock, Broads do this well.

Broads is a duo comprised of James Ferguson and Mark Jennings. Together they deliver a variety of music, ranging from synth-pop bliss to a hybrid fusion of genres straddling the divide between ambient drone, post-rock and shoegaze. Broads takes a fascinating approach with this album, tastefully showcasing completely different sides of their musical spectrum. Milly Hirst co-writes with Ferguson and Jennings on ‘Climbs’ and also lends her unique vocals.

After several releases as a solo artist, James Ferguson says Broads’ dynamics started to change with the release of the ‘Hellas’ LP (Jan 2016), undergoing a kind of sonic breakthrough with Mark now joining James for live shows and co-writing one of its tracks ‘Soft Homo’ – the first time Broads had really arrived at their now-signature sound, marrying droning, lo-fi synths and slow build through repetition with straightforward electronics.

Broads started to perform more around Norwich and occasionally in Cambridge, Suffolk and London. By the time Broads released their split album ‘Local Closures’ with Mark’s other project EPIA, they were opening for Mercury Rev at the Norwich Arts Centre, followed soon after by Broads’ third album ‘Everything is Spinning, Nobody Is Actually In Charge’ (December 2016) with Mark and James once again co-writing.

“Finding the balance between space and rich texture is something we’re really interested in, and hopefully something we’ve started to achieve on Field Theory,” explains James Ferguson. “The sound of the album is very much influenced by the recording environments and our geographical context as a whole – Norwich is kind of isolated, surrounded by expansive, flat landscapes and big skies.”

“For us, it’s a really big deal – our first record written as a 2-piece, and the first time we’ve had any sort of budget to spend,” says Mark Jennings. “We got support from Arts Council England to make everything happen and that has given us the chance to really take time over our writing, programming, editing and recording, and get some amazing people involved with making the record – especially Owen Turner (Magoo) who recorded quite a lot of it and mixed the whole thing.”

Apart from the geographic factor, Broads took inspiration from left field on this album – from road biking up hills, climbing in the Scottish Highlands, news of George Romero’s death, Purity Ring’s second album and Unwound’s ‘New Plastic Ideas’, as well as lot of old sci-fi and horror movies.

Broads will release their Field Theory album on February 16 with their album release party scheduled for February 15 at Norwich Arts Centre. The first single “Climbs” is available for download and the album can be pre-ordered via Bandcamp at https://broadsofnorfolk.bandcamp.com/album/field-theory

Broads
Field Theory
Track list

01. Toze
02. Climbs
03. Habitats
04. Lund
05. Us and the Buzzing
06. Romero
07. Let Me Take It From Here
08. Tiamat
09. Mixed Ability Sequencing
10. The Lecht
11. Built Calypso

CREDITS
Music by Broads (James Ferguson/Mark Jennings)
Lyrics on ‘Climbs’ by James Ferguson and Milly Hirst
Performed by James Ferguson and Mark Jennings, with help from Milly Hirst (vocals), Connie Chatwin (violin), Fifi Homan (cello), Joe Bear (drums), Stacy Gow (drums), Owen Turner (bass, horns) & FMSAO (electronics)
Produced by Broads & Owen Turner
Artwork by Paul Escott
Live Photos by Matt Tullett