Single Review: The Train Man

The Train Man is the third single from the album Better With Friends by Renée Therése, due to be released in May.

The song tells the tale of a passionate train driver, dutiful and modest, a real working-class man. Inspired by a real friend of Renée’s who was an essential worker during our nationwide lockdown. Admittedly, my knowledge of country music is not vast but at its core, it is about story-telling and this song does exactly that.

The Train Man picks something wholesome out of a very strange time in all of our lives. Though a little repetitive lyrically, this song is likely to always hold meaning in the reflection it presents of a unique moment in time.

Produced in a way that couldn’t be more fitting to the origins of the song, it was recorded remotely by four key people at three different locations across New Zealand. Renée has said that “Mike McCarthy of Manuka Studios in Orewa produced the song. The fiddle was also recorded there by talented musician Nick Jones. The guitar was recorded in Matamata at Rusty Spur Records by musician and producer Michael Tipping who also happens to be the president of the NZ Country Music Association (NZCMA).” While all vocals were recorded on a shared family computer in Renée’s son’s bedroom in Palmerston North.

You really can’t deny this song’s authenticity.