ENYA

Born: Eithne Ní Bhraonáin; Gweedore, County Donegal, Ireland, 17 May 1961

Genre: New Age

Best-selling album since 1990: Shepherd Moons (1991)

Hit songs since 1990: "Orinoco Flow," "Book of Days," "Anywhere Is"

Enya was raised in a musical family: her mother was a musician and her father, Leo Brennan, was the leader of the famous Irish band Slieve Foy. She began her musical training at an early age with a grounding in classical piano. Her uncles, brothers, and sisters formed the famous Irish band Clannad in 1976. Joining Clannad in 1980, Enya gained invaluable musical experience for two years before leaving and working with lyricist Roma Ryan and producer Nicky Ryan. With them she recorded various television and film scores, stints that led to a score for the BBC-TV series, The Celts. It was the soundtrack to this film that became her first album, Enya, released in 1986.

In 1988 Enya and the Ryans released the album Watermark, which became a huge success. The first single, "Orinoco Flow," which is mainly sung in Gaelic, soared to number one in the U.K. and helped sell 8 million copies of the album worldwide. This track captures the essence of Enya's sound, one of undulating, trancelike, melodic themes interwoven with modal harmonies. What is striking in this song is the expanse of layered vocal parts that fuses Celtic themes to a new age style. Engaging in her vocal delivery, Enya was able to find a niche in the pop market with a freshness and sense of personal searching that was unique.

Her next album, Shepherd Moons (1991), surpassed the commercial success of her previous album. This album entered the U.S. charts at number seven, remaining there for almost four years and selling more than 10 million copies. Like Watermark, this album maintains a romantic Celtic feel through its highly polished production. The folk references are cushioned in waves of hushed vocal parts underpinned by soothing and seductive rhythms. With its mix of ballads, Shepherd Moons fuses a variety of popular styles; rock creeps into the best-known song on the album, "Caribbean Blue."

Taking almost four years to complete, her next album, The Memory of Trees (1995), entered the U.S. charts at number nine and sold more than 2 million copies in its first year. By this stage in her career, Enya had established herself as a New Age Celtic artist with a contemporary flavor who appealed to a more adult public. With Memory of Trees, her style had crystallized into a form of expression that was both sensual and spiritual. This album draws on a range of themes that are at once global, Druidic, and neo-pagan, with strains of Latin and Gaelic verse woven into the textural fabric of the melodic material. Songs such as "Hope Has a Place" meld simple folk phrases with lush layers of instrumentation. Always at the center of these tracks is Enya's voice, pristine, tranquil, and elegantly pitched.

A greatest hits collection entitled Paint the Sky with Stars: The Best of Enya (1997) features two new songs. Consisting of an assortment of Enya's songs, this album captures the spirit of her style, highlighting the consistency of her musical style over more than a decade. Her next album, A Day Without Rain, came out at the end of 2000. It lived up to the expectations of millions of fans by delivering an intimate and soothing quality that one associates with Enya. Lasting only thirty-five minutes, this album builds around melancholic phrases and melodramatic gestures that at times overpower her vocal parts, most notably in songs such as "Fallen Embers." Throughout the album Enya not only sings but also plays all the instruments and has insisted in press interviews that none of her material was sampled—hence the time span of five years to produce the album. In many ways this album lives up to the standard of Enya's earlier work and delivers what her fans are looking for: a collection of songs that are beautifully melodious and skilfully arranged and performed.

Fusing strands of traditional Irish folk music with classical and popular elements, Enya's musical idiom has played a major role in shaping the direction of New Age music. Writing and performing much of her material, she was able to find a niche for herself in the pop industry during the 1980s and 1990s, selling millions of records worldwide. As one of the top female artists of her generation, she possesses a warmth in expression that is enchanting and appealing. Enya's inimitably ethereal voice is set within rich arrangements and glossy productions that conjure an aura of calm and peace. She has earned her reputation as a leader in Celtic New Age music.

SELECTIVE DISCOGRAPHY:

Enya (The Celts) (Atlantic, 1987); Watermark (Reprise, 1988); Shepherd Moons (Reprise, 1991); Frog Prince (Alex, 1995); The Memory of Trees (Reprise, 1995); Paint the Sky with Stars: The Best of Enya (Reprise, 1997); Storms in Africa (WEA, 1998); A Day Without Rain (Reprise, 2000).

stan hawkins