A LOCAL band has dropped their summer single.

Oxbowlake - which features Newport duo Gavin Rees and Neil Cooper - has been established for almost a decade, rocking out in Gwent and beyond.

"We were a punk band beforehand, but we broke off and became Oxbowlake,” said Mr Facey, explaining the band's name.

“That’s how an oxbow lake is formed – it breaks away from the river – plus we both love being by water, chilling and fishing.”

Oxbowlake is described by the musicians as:

Folk ‘n’ roll with an element of modern foot stomping.

Their latest single, Louis Theroux, was released today, Friday, July 22, along with a video.

The song was written in lockdown, but the band were waiting for some normality to resume before sharing the single.

“It’s not about Louis Theroux per se; it’s a metaphor,” said Mr Rees.

“During lockdown a lot of people were with their partners under their feet and arguing about ridiculous things.”

Oxbowlake generally play acoustic sets when touring in Newport and elsewhere but Louis Theroux “cruises towards more punky music” and features electric guitar.

“We hope people find joy in it,” added Mr Rees.

“There’s some nice shoutouts included and it’s a very summery upbeat track for people to have fun and dance along to.”

Oxbowlake enjoyed the recording and production of Louis Theroux, helped by a friend from Colchester – where they also performed.

“It was a fun weekend of music,” said Mr Rees.

“Creating the single was really relaxed with a night atmosphere, and [performing in Colchester] was banging – we did need a day to recover.”

South Wales Argus:

Louis Theroux is available for digital download now, while the video can be viewed above.

“It’s an old-fashioned video technique with more modern ways of thinking,” said Mr Rees.

“We were hoping to get Louis involved, but so far we have only gotten as far as his agent.”

He added that they’d do another video with the journalist if he was keen.