2020. A year so far spent hunting for silver linings. For James Ferguson (one half of Norfolk electronic pioneers Broads), one such silver lining was the opportunity to develop new songs in isolation, away from the pre-covid hustle and bustle of gigging, collaborating and the daily commute. The result is a suite of eight crisp, circular tracks, gathered together with love and presented to you here as 'Formed at Depth'. "I guess I started writing as a way to move on from 'Ollust', and the disappointment of the Broads shows all getting postponed due to lockdown", explains Ferguson. "At that point I was definitely thinking that I was starting work on a new Broads record - Mark even played a couple of bits on 'Tumult' and 'Leica'? but it soon became clear that I was racing ahead and pushing things in a new direction. By that stage the writing had become a sort of lockdown therapy so I picked a name ('Gold Hick', after the Guided By Voices song) and kept on going". "These eight tracks are really a distilled, purified version of what I do with Broads - lots of bright sounds, gradual layering and a loose approach to looping. But it's also given me a chance to experiment and start to learn some new things - the cut up vocal samples [from Ta-Ra's 'VenusFlower'] on 'Up Arrow', and playing around with some ideas stolen from rave and house music were really fun processes to go through". Taking Gold Hick live is something that may have to wait a few months, but the idea excites Ferguson: "Weirdly given the circumstances, 'Formed at Depth' was written with playing live in mind all the way through - I can't wait to get out there and get people dancing. We all need a dance, right? Broads shows are normally a bit more cerebral, but this is definitely a record to dance to". For admirers of of: Broads, Craven Faults, Rival Consoles, My Bloody Valentine, Two Lone Swordsmen, James Holden.