The Norfolk Broads — The Norfolk Broads in the Valley of the Flowers
Polytechnic worked alongside artist Tommy Butt to create the album artwork for this debut from The Norfolk Broads. Othmar Motter’s Motter Ombra display face amps up the nostalgia, and is paired with Colophon’s Basis Grotesque and Butt’s woodcuts.
A bit of background on The Norfolk Broads: They are a four-piece female ensemble who enjoy singing low-pitched folk songs about love, despair and dastardly boyfriends.
They bonded over maritime work songs and failed romances in the alto section of the Trad Academy Sea Shanty Choir, deciding to form a girl-group during a long car ride to Cornwall in 2014. Since then, they have performed their spirited harmonies at festivals and venues in London and further afield, including the V&A Museum of Childhood, the Museum of London Docklands, on board the Cutty Sark, Wilton’s Music Hall, the London Review Bookshop, Folk East festival 2016 and the Minack Theatre.
The Broads supply their repertoire of traditional stories with a very contemporary verve and energy, using old songs to fuel new takes on the lives of women both past and present.
“Young female quartet the Norfolk Broads are strong storytellers … Their close harmonies brought a witty feminist take to a well-curated set of tales of impotence, greedy landlords, and the joys of a single life.” — Imogen Tilden, The Guardian
