Mayo musician returns with new single

A Mayo musician has come out of retirement to release another self-produced album.

Train Room, the brainchild of Balla native Joe Monaghan, is set to release a new single following a three-year hiatus from music.

The new single, Pleasure, was released on October 25.

“When we recorded the song, it sounded really big and sonically powerful,” Joe told the Western People. “Throughout the recording process, I was writing the lyrics. The lyrics are mainly about escapism. That is usually the theme of the songs I write: escapism from certain things in modern society. The tone of the song is quite energetic so I think it marries itself well with the lyrics.” 

The album is predicted to hit music streaming services before March.

“The album is going to be called Station Road, which is the road I live on. I wasn’t sure what to write about at first, but I decided to write about my life in the area for the last 40 years. I go chronologically through the decades and highlight moments in my life, so it has a lot of nostalgia and escapism.” 

Joe says that his sophomore album will be nothing like his first, Hurricane of Love.

“It was folky, acoustic and full of ballads,” Joe said of his first album. “I felt I had to stick to that tone throughout the whole album.

“I listen to a lot of early Sonic Youth and Smashing Pumpkins and other bands from the Britpop era,” he continued. “I wanted this album to be more true to myself. I tried to write for myself and not to get on the radio.” 

Joe described losing his love of music after struggling to market his first album “as a one-man show, it was quite difficult to sustain and I just burnt out". However, Train Room could not stay away from his guitar for long.

“I have been working in the golf industry for the past couple of years. In the last year, I started noodling a bit on the guitar and I started subconsciously writing music again. I did not even know I was doing it. As soon as I moved back to Mayo in July, I started recording the new single. 

“I do not think that there will be any retiring or taking breaks this time,” Monaghan added. “This is the path that I have chosen and I will keep going because I do not seem to be able to stop writing music.”