Charlie Fenwick wrote his first song at 19. He has released his first album at 61.

Fenwick Road, a nine-track collection recorded in Invercargill, gathers songs the More FM account manager has been carrying around for the best part of four decades.

Most of the material dates from the 1980s. The earliest track, When Love Has, was written when Fenwick was a teenager.

The album was recorded, mixed, mastered and co-produced by Lachlan Hickford at Synergy Recordings, who also played much of the instrumental backing. Invercargill singer Michael Kuresa sang lead vocals on three tracks before moving to Australia, and Fenwick rates him an exceptional talent.

An earlier attempt to record the songs with Geoff Burn around 2016 was never completed.

From jingles to a long-player

Fenwick's working life has been in advertising. He started in Wellington, later founded his own production company and spent years writing jingles, a trade he says taught him that a memorable hook matters more than slick production.

He credits Auckland jingle writer Murray Grindlay as a mentor, having cold-called him for advice early in his career.

That background shaped how he made the record. Studio work with live vocalists had shown him how exposed a singer can be once the tape is rolling, so he leaned on singers he trusted to hit the notes.

His influences run to Bob Dylan and Paul Weller rather than the pop formulas of the decade in which most of the songs were written.

The road that does not exist

The title refers to an imaginary road named for the Fenwick family home at Butchers Dam, near Alexandra in Central Otago.

"It's imaginary. There is no place called that," Fenwick said, explaining that the name marks his connection to the area.

Writing runs in the family. His father wrote verse for the Dunedin Evening Star, and Fenwick was writing poetry before he picked up a guitar. One of the new songs, Energy Islands, takes the Clutha River as its subject.

Reviewing the album for the Southland Tribune, Chris Chilton called it "an effortless and rewarding listen", singling out its optimistic tone and understated production.

Fenwick is not stopping at one. He says two or three more albums are planned, and he is continuing to work with Hickford in the producer's home studio.

Fenwick Road is available on CD in Invercargill from Threes and Sevens Records and Windsor Stationery, and online through Bandcamp.