FEATURE:
A Buyer’s Guide
PHOTO CREDIT: Alan Betson/The Irish Times
Part Ninety-One: Enya
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OVER the next couple of weeks…
PHOTO CREDIT: Sheila Rock/Rex/Shutterstock
I am going in very different directions when it comes to A Buyer’s Guide. Next week, I am heading to California for Cypress Hill. This week, I am traveling to County Donegal in Ireland for Enya. A hugely influential artist whose music cannot be mistaken for anyone else, I am going to recommend the four albums of hers that you should get. I will also suggest one that is underrated and worthy and in need of more focus. I will finish by looking at her most recent studio album (she did release a Christmas album in 2019, but I am keen not to feature holiday albums). I will also suggest an Enya book that is worth taking a look at. Before then, AllMusic provide some biography about one of music’s most distinct voices:
“With her blend of folk melodies, synthesized backdrops, and classical motifs, Enya created a distinctive style that more closely resembled new age than the folk and Celtic music that provided her initial influences. Enya is from Gweedore, County Donegal, Ireland, which she left in 1980 to join the Irish band Clannad, the group that already featured her older brothers and sisters. She stayed with Clannad for two years, then left, hooking up with producer Nicky Ryan and lyricist Roma Ryan, with whom she recorded film and television scores. The result was a successful album of TV music for the BBC. Enya then recorded Watermark (1988), which featured her distinctive, flowing music and multi-overdubbed trancelike singing; the album sold eight million copies worldwide. Watermark established Enya as an international star and launched a successful career that has continued into the new millennium.
Enya (born Eithne Ní Bhraonáin) was born into a musical family. Her father, Leo Brennan, was the leader of the Slieve Foy Band, a popular Irish show band; her mother was an amateur musician. Most important to Enya's career were her siblings, who formed Clannad in 1970 with several of their uncles. Enya joined the band as a keyboardist in 1980 and contributed to several of the group's popular television soundtracks. In 1982, she left Clannad, claiming that she was uninterested in following the pop direction the group had begun to pursue. Within a few years, she was commissioned, along with producer/arranger Nicky Ryan and lyricist Roma Ryan, to provide the score for a BBC-TV series called The Celts. The soundtrack was released in 1986 as her eponymous solo album.
Enya didn't receive much notice, but Enya and the Ryans' second effort, Watermark, became a surprise hit upon its release in 1988. Enya spent the years following the success of Watermark rather quietly; her most notable appearance was a cameo on Sinéad O'Connor's I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got. She finally released Shepherd Moons, her follow-up to Watermark, in 1991. Shepherd Moons was even more successful than its predecessor, eventually selling over ten million copies worldwide; it entered the U.S. charts at number 17 and remained in the Top 200 for almost four years.
Again, Enya was slow to follow up on the success of Shepherd Moons, spending nearly four years working on her fourth album. The record, entitled Memory of Trees, was released in December 1995. Memory of Trees entered the U.S. charts at number nine and sold over two million copies within its first year of release. In 1997 came the release of a greatest-hits collection, Paint the Sky with Stars: The Best of Enya, which featured two new songs. Enya's first album of new material in five years, Day Without Rain, was released in late 2000. In 2001, she contributed material to the first film in Peter Jackson's award-winning Lord of the Rings trilogy, scoring a hit with the single "May It Be." Amarantine, her first full-length recording since Day Without Rain, followed in November 2005. A holiday EP, Christmas Secrets, arrived in 2006, followed by an all new, full-length collection of original seasonal music called And Winter Came in 2008.
Her second greatest-hits collection, The Very Best of Enya, was released in 2009, though it would be another six years until her next album arrived. "Echoes in Rain," the first of two singles from Enya's eighth album, appeared in September 2015, and the normally reclusive star opened up for a number of interviews and was promoted heavily on social media for the first time. Created with longtime collaborators Roma and Nicky Ryan, Dark Sky Island was released in November of that year”.
To show the amazing albums Enya has produced, below are my suggestions regarding the ones that you need to own. Even if you are not a big Enya fan, I guarantee there will be something from her that takes your fancy. Here is the essential work of a…
WONDERFUL artist.
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The Four Essential Albums
Enya/The Celts (1992 Reissue)
Release Date: March 1987/November 1992 (Reissue)
Labels: BBC (1987, U.K.)/Atlantic (1987, U.S.)/WEA (1992, Europe)/Reprise (1992, U.S.)
Producer: Nicky Ryan
Standout Tracks: I Want Tomorrow/The Sun in the Stream/Triad
Buy: https://www.discogs.com/sell/list?master_id=27579&ev=mb
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/2L4XSyyDeIW30SawLTOlj4?si=5--BOsKdRTejwljGk-UArg
Review:
“Initially released simply as Enya, The Celts shows that the style she became famous for on Watermark was already well under way. With production and lyrical help fully in place thanks to her husband-and-wife gurus Nicky and Roma Ryan, Enya's combination of Celtic traditionalism and distinctly modern approach finds lush flower here. All the elements that characterize her music -- open, clear nods to her Irish heritage, any number of vocal overdubs to create an echoing, haunting feeling, and layers of synth and electronic percussion -- can be found almost track for track. The flip side is that those who find such a combination to be gloopy mush won't be at all convinced further by her work here. It's understandable why folk music traditionalists and anti-mainstream types would get the hives, but those not coming from that angle will find much that's rewarding. Given that The Celts is a commissioned piece of work, it actually stands on its own quite well. The charging surge of the title track functions both as a fine introduction and its own stirring, quietly powerful anthem, a good sign for the rest of the album. There are a couple of slight missteps -- an electric guitar solo disrupts the string-and-vocal flow of the truly lovely "I Want Tomorrow," for instance. Generally, though, her musical instincts serve her very well, with many striking highlights. The appropriately three-part "Triad" showcases her ear for vocal work excellently, while both versions of "To Go Beyond," especially the second, which closes the disc with an exquisite extra string part, also are worthy of note” – AllMusic
Choice Cut: The Celts
Watermark
Release Date: 19th September, 1988
Labels: WEA (U.K.)/Geffen (U.S.)
Producers: Nicky Ryan/Ross Cullum/Enya
Standout Tracks: Watermark/Storms in Africa/Evening Fall
Buy: https://www.discogs.com/sell/list?master_id=27697&ev=mb
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/0NJjvdOd3ULUTvoVFCCFJN?si=w97TlQ3RQ0GcmYfFnbs2qg
Review:
“Watermark is the second album by the Irish musician Enya, who began her career with the traditional group Clannad and went solo in 1986. Her first U.S. release, Watermark may sound overly subtle at first, but it quickly establishes itself as a rich mood piece of broad proportions.
As evidence of Watermark's broad appeal, both the album and its single "Orinoco Flow" have shot up the U.S. charts – mirroring the album's phenomenal recent success in Europe. The opening, title track sails the listener gently into an ebb-and-flow movement that permeates the album. This simple instrumental leads into the complex "Cursum Perficio" ("Journey's End"), for which producer Nicky Ryan overdubbed up to 100 voice tracks to create a chorus of Latin-chanting Enyas. This distinctive choral effect is also used on "Orinoco Flow" and "The Longships," and its striking harmonies are countered by the exquisite clarity of Enya's solo vocal on the third track, "On Your Shore."
From ethereal plaint to rippling sea chantey, Watermark becomes a glorious aural mosaic. The lyrics, by Roma Ryan, are unornamented but compelling, accentuating the multifarious feel of the album by using Latin, Gaelic and English. The ethnic touches throughout tend to enrich without dominating, as with the Gaelic lyrics on the closing track, "Na Laetha Gael M'Oige."
With its traditional and classical elements and its broad acoustic vocabulary – ranging from Irish uilleann pipes to clarinets and even church organs – Watermark transcends the category of Celtic New Age. It is a tapestry of sound and image to be discovered over time, its evocations ultimately personal, subjective and definitely worth a journey of exploration. (RS 548)” – Rolling Stone
Choice Cut: Orinoco Flow
Shepherd Moons
Release Date: 4th November, 1991
Labels: WEA (U.K.)/Reprise (U.S.)
Producer: Nicky Ryan
Standout Tracks: How Can I Keep from Singing?/Book of Days/Marble Halls
Buy: https://www.discogs.com/master/27537-Enya-Shepherd-Moons
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/6ZuPbMe6CvQKl1nvAy0nZm?si=cSe61gnhRsOp5AgLOxdLsw
Review:
“In November 1991, Reprise Records released Enya’s Shepherd Moons, the follow-up to the Irish singer’s 1988 album, Watermark. Within the confines of the Entertainment Weekly music department, we did what most critic types did at the time: We gave a quick listen to its pristine, immaculately produced surfaces and then made sarcastic jokes about Celtic New Age stars who resemble Demi Moore. When we begrudgingly realized a review was called for, we relegated Shepherd Moons to a quick paragraph and a B grade and thought that was the end of it.
Shows how much we know. Almost a year and a half later, the album still sells at the rate of roughly 18,000 copies a week — 2 million copies so far — and continues to linger on the fringes of the Billboard Top 40 album chart. ”That’s pretty strong,” says Mike Fine, CEO of SoundScan, the company that tabulates record sales. ”Most artists don’t generate that type of sales 75 weeks after release.” It has also grabbed the No. 1 spot on the Billboard New Age chart for 47 consecutive weeks. Watermark, meanwhile, has sold more than 2 million.
Sales figures tell only half the story, though. Enya (née Eithne Ni Bhraonain) has become something of a soundtrack for our lives. Her music can be heard in restaurants and bookstores, on TV commercials, and on the soundtracks of movies like Far and Away, Green Card, and Toys. A few weeks back, the Shepherd Moons track ”Caribbean Blue” (a breathy, upbeat waltz that personifies everything Enya) popped up as background music on, of all things, the surf-and-mirth TV series Baywatch.
Sleeper albums aren’t new in pop. As of this writing, The Best of Van Morrison and Nine Inch Nails’ 1989 debut Pretty Hate Machine are loitering on the pop charts long after they should have departed (150 and 109 weeks, respectively), and rock’s ultimate cult item, Pink Floyd’s 1973 headphone symphony The Dark Side of the Moon, has just been given the deluxe treatment for its 20th birthday.
Maybe it has something to do with the word moon, but like that album, Shepherd Moons is more than a chart mainstay; clearly it has tapped into our collective psyche. How else do you explain the way people who normally hate anything even remotely New Age — like Top 40 fans and college-radio mavens — are drawn to Enya? Maybe a colleague nailed it when she said Enya’s interchangeable albums (including her tentative, eponymous debut from 1986) are a form of mass hypnosis: Beneath the records’ crystalline grooves are voices telling us to listen to Enya, listen to Enya, listen to Enya.
For those who haven’t had the pleasure of hearing the music, a quick sonic description: Although it is called New Age, Enya’s vacuum-packed music is more like pop with classical pretensions. She sings — or, more like it, breathes — in a pure, virginal soprano, occasionally in Gaelic. She then records up to 200 additional vocal parts and layers them for a gothic-choir effect. Other songs are strictly instrumentals. In either case, Enya’s glistening cascades of piano and synthesizers sound soothingly like a gently flowing waterfall. (That could explain why Shepherd Moons sells best on the water-loving West Coast.) The combined effect is both captivating and elusive. The frail melodies seem to slip through your fingers, repeatedly drawing you back into the record in the vain hope that this time you will pin it down. Much like Enya herself, in fact, who rarely does interviews and keeps a low profile in Ireland when not recording.
No, sleeper albums don’t get any sleepier than Shepherd Moons. But at the same time, Enya’s music isn’t nearly as numbing as anesthetics like Kenny G. Her relaxing melodies are a retreat — from more clattering forms of pop like rap and alternative rock, from the barrage of media and hype in contemporary culture, from the struggles and annoyances of daily life. But as escapes go, her music is surprisingly realistic. Beneath the aural beauty lies the forlorn, brooding pessimism common to the Irish. In album photos, Enya is often shown in stark black-and-white shots standing before rocky cliffs and windswept beaches. The love songs are predominantly mournful (”Who then can warm my soul?/Who can quell my passion?” she murmurs on Watermark‘s ”Exile”). And though she may acknowledge the world’s injustices on Moon‘s ”How Can I Keep From Singing?” she doesn’t sound terribly convinced that her music can change anything.
You don’t have to be Celtic to appreciate those sentiments, which may be the key to the ongoing success of Shepherd Moons. Enya’s fans don’t kid themselves: Her music may be escapist, but sorrow, loss, and displacement are lurking around the corner — often just like in life itself. On second thought, Shepherd Moons is an A-“ – Entertainment Weekly
Choice Cut: Caribbean Blue
And Winter Came…
Release Date: 7th November, 2008
Labels: Warner Bros. (E.U.)/Reprise (U.S.)
Producer: Nicky Ryan
Standout Tracks: White Is in the Winter Night/O Come, O Come, Emmanuel/Oíche Chiúin - Chorale
Buy: https://www.discogs.com/sell/list?master_id=27464&ev=mb
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/2CemN34rnpp6wrCFJo555S?si=TbMxovToQWS4URJWKkL7TQ
Review:
“If you think about it for more than a second you wonder why it's taken this long for the Irish queen of new age-lite to make a Yuletide album. The softly arpeggiated synth strings and lushly manifold, overdubbed voices put one in mind of nothing less than snowflakes and heavenly choirs. Well, actually she has made a couple of seasonal EPs, but this is the first full-length effort - and for Enya afficianados this can be taken as something that fits perfectly into her canon thus far while giving them considerable amounts of seasonal cheer into the bargain.
And Winter Came... features Enya herself on writing duties for all but two tracks, aided by her usual team of Roma Ryan on lyrics and Nicky Ryan as producer. It's a billing that's been together since 1987's debut; indeed they might be considered a band, working under the singer's name. The usual blend of ambient synthesizer chords and floating whispery voices speak of stars, moonlight, angels and even toys (One Toy Soldier). Aurally, it's like curling up in front of a log fire with a glass of your favourite Amontillado.
Of course, huge swathes of people regard this stuff as evil in small round silvery plastic form (let's not even go near the analogy that the creators of Southpark used her music as), yet there's a reason why she's garnered so much film soundtrack work and racked up the sales. Her music fulfills a very specific purpose: to evoke calm and a palpable atmosphere (no matter how ersatz and air freshener bland you regard it).
Only My! My! Time Flies! breaks the spell with its Beatle tribute tune and wailing guitar solo. It's still a mellow kind of rocking, mind you, and the solo is reverb-drenched enough to make it not too intrusive while you're writing those Xmas lists or resting after an excess of pudding.
Finally, just to ensure the maximum amount of esprit de noel there's the inclusion of two traditional tunes. O Come, O Come, Emmanuel and Oiche Chiuin (Silent Night rendered beautifully in Gaelic). It's actually on these adaptations that you get to hear the true mastery of the multi-tracking and deceptively simple arrangements that have netted them over 70 million sales. It makes you wish that she'd put more traditional fare on this lushly indulgent, gift-wrapped album” - BBC
Choice Cut: Trains and Winter Rains
The Underrated Gem
The Memory of Trees
Release Date: 20th November, 1995
Labels: WEA (U.K.)/Reprise (U.S.)
Producer: Nicky Ryan
Standout Tracks: The Memory of Trees/China Roses/On My Way Home
Buy: https://www.discogs.com/sell/list?master_id=27630&ev=mb
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/34NreMWi5xh62VQFWLPm9U?si=9dPs54sFQcWUdRlbpwavKA
Review:
“No surprises here, of course -- Enya didn't achieve new age superstardom by challenging anyone's expectations. This album is every bit as hushed, lovely, and soulless as everything else she's ever done; like a perfect angel food cake, it's sweet, soft, and utterly lacking in nutritive substance. There's nothing the matter with angel food cake, of course, and there's also nothing really the matter with The Memory of Trees, though its Druidic theme does smell awfully trendy (nothing was quite so hip as neopaganism in 1995), and it steers so strictly the same melodic and textural course she's been following throughout her solo career that you're tempted to wonder why anyone would want to spend the money on what amounts to a complete rehash of her earlier work. While other cultural influences play a greater part in this album, the beautiful and brooding Celtic melodies she brought with her from her earlier work with Clannad are still the primary raw materials, and her skillful use of them is still the main thing that sets her apart from the new age pack. She also has a truly lovely voice, and there's no point trying to resist the gentle charm of "China Roses" and the incantatory power of "Anywhere Is." But so little of the album lives up to the promise of these and one or two other tracks that it's hard to recommend it very enthusiastically” – AllMusic
Choice Cut: Anywhere Is
The Latest Album
Dark Sky Island
Release Date: 20th November, 2015
Label: Warner Bros.
Producer: Nicky Ryan
Standout Tracks: The Humming/So I Could Find My Way/Sancta Maria
Buy: https://www.discogs.com/sell/list?master_id=916153&ev=mb
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/4FStw70Tk1spCN8V1o11oW?si=Nl_fRwYAQrO1yT11pBYuDQ
Review:
“Enya’s new record is partly inspired by Sark, the Channel Island that, with its exceptional night sky, became the world’s first “dark sky island” in 2011.
The album, however, also reveals a profound and expansive meditation on nature, and our relationship to it, reaching back to earlier work such as 1991’s Shepherd Moons.
The album opens with the moving The Humming, which explores a recurring motif and perhaps Enya’s most central image – the sea, its melody resembling the waves she sings of.
Her vocal power seems to increase as years go by; on So I Could Find My Way it manages to be both frail and strong.
The song Even in the Shadows retains a sense of urgency, with layers of vocal and electronics building up to something tremendous, and her touchstones of folk, church music and traditional Irish haunt subtly, illuminating the celestial Sancta Maria, and, indeed, the work as a whole. Nourishing and immersive” – The Irish Times
Choice Cut: Echoes in Rain
The Enya Book
Enya: The Discography (Limited Edition)
Author: Phillip Callaghan
Publication Date: 20th November, 2020
Publisher: Independently published
Synopsis:
“As an avid Enya fan, we all get hooked on collecting the music, each song the Irish songstress releases. Hunting down tracks, we’ve never heard in our early stages, to prolific collecting and following. Each song having a favorite place in our hearts, or simply to relax and unwind, whatever the occasion. Some collectors only reach for certain memorabilia like posters, cd’s, cassettes or vinyl and then there are the complete collectors, who sort after anything that's been released from the star, baseball caps, limited edition box sets, press kits, to bootlegs and anything else they can find, worldwide. Purpose. Many Enya releases are unique by geography, printing company, and other variants. In order to develop a comprehensive overview of all her releases, a standardized index and collection of these various products needed to be established. This discography will include, soundtrack, albums, singles, videos, EP’s, attributed on, Inc some photographic evidence. Formats will include, CD’s, cassettes, vinyl, VHS, DVD, 3inch CD’s, laserdisc, memorabilia, promotional products, minidisc, long-boxes, collections, and many more... with catalogue numbers (where possible) Years Covered. The early years 1980-1985The Celts/ Watermark 1986-1989-1990Shepherd moons/ The Celts (Re-issue) 1991-1992-1994The Memory of Trees/ Paint The Sky With Stars 1995-1997-1998A Day Without Rain/ May It Be/ Only Time Collection 2000-2001-2002Amarantine/ Christmas Edition/ Sounds Of the Season 2005-2006And Winter Came/ The Very Best Of Enya 2008-2009Dark Sky Island 2015.in this discography there many pictures and there is plenty of readable material too. this book measures 7inch x 10 inch. 260pages. This Is an updated new version” – Amazon.co.uk