Singer-songwriter Jack O'Rourke has revealed a poignant, black-and-white clip of his rendition of 'Runaway Train', with Aisling Fitzpatrick accompanying him on cello.

The video was directed by Luke McManus (taken from Departures, in association with Dublin Book Festival) and was recorded live at Sirius Arts Centre, Cobh, Co. Cork.

The romantic 'Runaway Train' follows the success of Jack O'Rourke singles ‘Opera on the Top Floor’, ‘Patsy Cline’ and the Choice Prize Song of the Year nominated ‘Sea Swimming’

The gorgeously crafted summer serenade ‘Runaway Train’ is a piano-led track with sincere, diaristic lyrics about getting lost in someone. The song features in the film Departures, focusing on songs that connect landscape and music. Lankum and Anna Mieke are two fellow contemporaries whose tracks were also chosen to appear in the flick.

Jack’s most 2021 album, Wild Place, explored links between literature and nature while returning to piano and his folk, blues and ballad roots. Tracks on the LP kept the story at the centre of the song; with tales of inspiration, the wildness of love and healing from grief.

‘Runaway Train’ tells the story of an impending reunion following a long period of absence. “The journey from Kent Station in Cork to Dublin has always seemed like a movie reel when looking out the window,” says Jack.

”There’s folk and piano ballad elements to the song, but I was inspired by The National and particularly, Sharon Van Etten and Angel Olsen’s song ‘Like I Used To’, so there’s a bit of an 80’s rock banger element in the melody of the chorus. I recorded it on an old piano on the Triskel like the rest of Wild Place and it features Hugh Dillon on dreamy Daniel Lanois-inspired guitars and Aisling Fitzpatrick on cello.”

Jack recently departed these shores to take up a writing residency at Centre Culturel Irlandaise in Paris, where he worked on a concept album about Oscar Wilde, Brendan Behan and other Irish LGBTQ figures who lived in the French capital. The Cork songwriter also has a number of upcoming shows, as well as a live tribute to Phil Lynott and Thin Lizzy with RTE Concert Orchestra at Collins’ Barracks on 27th August

Wild Place marked Jack's first release since 2019's Ivory Towers and first full album release since his acclaimed debut, Dreamcatcher, which entered the Irish Top 5. For the recording of Wild Place during lockdown, Jack and his band based themselves in Triskel Christchurch in Cork and used the wonderful acoustics and grand piano. The results are captivating songs emanating from a soulful and folk-inspired place.

Watch the video for 'Runaway Train' below.

Upcoming Shows:

August 27th - Collins’ Barracks, Dublin (RTE Concert Orchestra interprets Phil Lynnott and Thin Lizzy) with soloists Jack O’Rourke, Wallis Bird, Jess Kav, Mundy, Shobsy and Tom Dunne.
September 10th - Liberty Hall, Dublin
September 27th - Monroes, Galway (Rock Against Homelessness)
October 9th - Sea Church, Ballycotton, Co Cork
December 27th, Raheen House, Clonmel, Co. Tipperary