SOUTH SHIELDS INDIE OUTSIDERS THE OLDMAN SOUND UNVEIL NEW EP FAIR-WEATHER

The North East five-piece release an EP accompanied by an offbeat animated love story and limited-edition CD release

OUT NOW!

South Shields indie outfit The Oldman Sound have released an EP, bringing together melodic guitar pop, bittersweet songwriting and an offbeat animated love story.

Released independently through the band’s own Foxtrot-Foxtrot Recordings label, the three-track EP – Fair Weather – marks the latest chapter for a group whose musical roots stretch across the North East’s alternative scene.

Drawing inspiration from the likes of The Beatles, The Kinks, Wilco, XTC and fellow North East favourites Field Music, Fair-weather blends warm, jangling guitars with inventive arrangements and an unmistakably British sense of storytelling.

The release is led by its title track, a bittersweet love song that begins with bright, melodic guitar pop before shifting into darker, more reflective territory.

Accompanying the song is a distinctive short film, using AI-assisted, stop-motion-style animation to tell a love story set in a miniature coastal world. Inspired by the television animation the band grew up watching, the film adds a playful visual dimension to the song’s changing moods.

The Oldman Sound began as a creative partnership between songwriters Andrew Coiley and Andrew Forster, two unrelated Andrews from South Shields who discovered a shared love of melodic, slightly unconventional guitar music.

What started as a home-recording project has since developed into a fully fledged band, with Kristos Kabiotis, Wez Westgate and Sarah Farrell-Forster completing the core line-up.

Along the way, the group have built a catalogue of more than 20 songs, working with local musicians and producers including Adam Forster and Mark Broughton.

Several members previously performed in Minotaurs, who attracted national music press attention and BBC Radio 1 airplay, while The Oldman Sound have shared stages with acclaimed artists including Field Music, SLUG and Gruff Rhys.

Speaking about the inspiration behind the new title track, Andrew Forster said:

“It started by joining half-ideas from the two of us. Coiley had the Beatlesy opening riff and I had a chiming part for the ending. Once we found the chords connecting them, the rest came quite quickly.

“It’s essentially a love song. Some of the words are deliberately on the nose, but we like leaving room for people to find their own meaning.”

Recorded at Birdsong Studios by Adam Forster, who also co-produced the track with the band and mixed the EP, Fair-weather was deliberately developed from stripped-back demos, allowing each musician the freedom to bring their own ideas to the finished recordings.

Andrew Coiley explained:

“It starts with warm, jangly guitar pop before giving way to a moodier second half. The minor-key ending changes the feeling of it, a bit like summer slipping into autumn. We liked having those two sides in the same song rather than keeping it in one place.”

The EP also features Dead Strings and Tame (A Saint’s Life), offering a further glimpse into the band’s distinctive approach to songwriting and arrangement.

With more than 20 songs already in their catalogue, The Oldman Sound are now looking ahead to a full-length album and a more regular return to the live circuit.

The band will perform at Pop Recs in Sunderland on Sunday 20 December, with further live dates and support slots planned as they build towards their next release.

Fair-weather is out now on Foxtrot-Foxtrot Recordings and is available across streaming platforms and Bandcamp, alongside a strictly limited run of just 50 CDs.

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Music and video

Watch the Fair-weather short film

The film is an AI-assisted, stop-motion-style love story set in a miniature coastal world, inspired by the television animation we grew up watching.