Enya - Biography
By Marcus Kagler
As the most successful solo artist to ever come out of Ireland, Enya has a place in the pantheon of influential female musical artists of her time. Not only did she open up the celestial harmonies of new age music to mainstream audiences around the globe, but Enya also singlehandedly eradicated much of the derogatory stigma surrounding the genre. Her unique and melodic blend of traditional Celtic music, world tones/instrumentation, and cinematic use of synthesizers helped broaden the appeal of new age music to the masses so much that the genre would become redefined into pre- and post-Enya entities.
Enya’s rise to prominence in the early ’90s arguably legitimized the genre by broadening its palate to include elements of ambient electronica, Celtic overtones, vocal harmonies in various languages, and a distinct pop sensibility. Where traditional new age music was largely created as a companion for meditative spirituality, Enya’s distinct brand ebbed and flowed between a wide range of emotions from lush pastoral pieces to apocalyptic orchestral movements. In essence, the key to Enya’s resounding success has been her knack for removing the heady new age ideology from her music, thus opening it up to the masses from various religions and cultural backgrounds. The grandiose cinematic qualities of Enya’s music also allowed her to cross over into the realm of backdropping Hollywood films, making her one of the first new age artists to thrive in such a mainstream arena. Her enduring popularity also helped usher in the traditional Celtic music craze of the mid-to-late ’90s, resulting in the rise of Riverdance and Michael Flatley.
Eithne Patricia Ní Bhraonáin was born on May 17, 1961 in Gweedore, County Donegal, Ireland. Her father, Leo Brennan, was the leader of The Slieve Foy Band and encouraged all of his nine children to pursue a career in music from an early age. At age 20, Enya joined her siblings Máire, Pól, and Ciarán along with her uncles Noel and Padraig Duggan in the Irish folk group Clannad as a keyboardist. After recording the albums, Crann Ull (1980 Tara) and Fuaim (1982 Atlantic) however, Clannad’s manager/producer Nicky Ryan left the group with Enya following suit soon after. Ryan, along with his wife and lyricist, Roma, soon formed a working partnership with Enya that endures to the present day. Although the name Enya is merely the English translation of her given name, Eithne, she wasn’t actually billed under the stage name until she composed (but did not perform) a portion of the score for the 1984 film, The Frog Prince. Two years later Enya was commissioned to write and perform the soundtrack for the BBC documentary series The Celts. The resulting soundtrack compositions were subsequently culled together as the haunting self-titled debut full-length, Enya (1986 Atlantic), although the album was largely ignored upon release.
After two years of writing and recording, Enya returned with her second full-length, Watermark (1988 Reprise). Awash in her signature multi-layered vocals harmonies and trademark synthesizer ambience, Watermark was an international smash hit on the strength of her catchy single, “Orinoco Flow.” The subsequent single—“Storms In Africa”—was also a moderately successful and it wasn’t long before Watermark catapulted Enya into international stardom, selling four million copies. Despite the album’s resounding success, however, Enya would prove to be an enigmatic star. To this day she rarely performs live, grants but few interviews, and has never gone on tour, making her one of the most reluctant superstars in recent memory.
Enya’s career would also come to be marked by prolonged interstices between albums, with a three-year lapse between the breakout record Watermark and its successor. Shepherd Moons (1991 Reprise) was an instant worldwide success upon release in the winter of 1991, selling ten million copies and earning Enya her first Grammy for Best New Age Album. The majority of Shepherd Moons massive success is attributed to the English version of the single, “Book of Days,” a song that is included on the soundtrack and featured heavily in the ad campaign for the Tom Cruise film, Far and Away. Originally sung in Gaelic, the English version of the song essentially broke Enya to mainstream audiences in North America and became so popular it was included on a re-pressing of Shepherd Moons in 1993.
In an attempt to satisfy her burgeoning fanbase, Enya’s overlooked self-titled debut album was repackaged and re-released as The Celts (1992). The album, which was a commissioned effort, would serve to show the subtle trajectory of the Irish traditionalist whose prowess is already in evidence.
The Memory of Trees (1995 Reprise) filtered in more of a traditional Irish folk influence but on whole stuck with the winning formula of its predecessors. Bedrocked by singles like the heavenly “On My Way Home” and the epic closing track “Anywhere Is,” The Memory of Trees became another multi-platinum worldwide success, winning Enya her second Grammy for Best New Age Album.
Enya’s first greatest hits compilation, Paint the Sky with Stars: The Best of Enya (Reprise) followed in 1997, and featured two new tracks, “Only If . . . ” and “Paint the Sky with Stars.”
Despite a five-year hiatus between albums, A Day Without Rain (2000 Reprise) was Enya’s most successful album to date, due in large part to the single, “Only Time.” The track would become an anthem of healing heard on mainstream radio stations around the world after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. When a remixed version containing sound-bites from that fateful day began circulating, Enya released her own remixed version of “Only Time” as a single with proceeds benefiting the victim’s families. A Day Without Rain eventually sold more than 12 million copies worldwide, and Enya picked up her third Grammy for Best New Age Album in 2001.
Aside from contributing material to Peter Jackson’s award-winning Lord of the Rings trilogy of films, Enya was largely silent for the next five years. Amarantine (2005 Reprise) subtly broke from the winning Enya formula by stripping down many of her layers of sound effects, leaving an often sparse yet intimate album. Amarantine is also notable as its use of Loxian, a language invented by lyricist Roma Ryan, inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien’s Elvish language created for The Lord of the Rings novel.
The following year an expanded version of Amarantine was released including a four-track bonus disc of holiday songs. The first official Enya holiday album, Sounds of the Season with Enya (Rhino) was released in 2006, and features her popular rendition of the traditional Christmas carol “Silent Night” titled, “Oíche Chiun,” originally recorded in 1989.
In 2008, the reclusive Irish superstar released And Winter Came, which followed up the scaled-back Amarantine well. The album, which featured the elegiac “White Is In the Winter Night,” topped Billboard’s Top New Age Album chart.
