Amarantine - Enya > Reviews > Soulful Celtic sounds for any occasion

First off, I have to say that unlike most of Enya's other, previous, albums, I did not purchase this one myself and was in fact given it as a gift. After seeing it trailered extensively both in Australia and the UK, I decided not to buy it as I thought it would probably be too similar to Enya's previous work, most of which I already own. However, after I received it as a Christmas present and started listening to it I began to form some different conclusions to those I expected.

Enya is basically a combination of 3 people, Eithnne herself ("Enya" is an approximate pronounciation of this Gaelic name) and two others (Nick and Roma Ryan) who assist with vocals, writing and production. Eithnne is perhaps best known as a former member of Clannad along with her various siblings and since the 1980s has been a solo artist, making a name for herself writing and singing Celtic-influenced ambient music. Often, she sings in Gaelic instead of English and of late her collaborators have developed a third synthetic "language" (Loxian) which she also uses. This phonetic language apparently allows her greater freedom of expression and sound than either Gaelic or English. Previous albums include the well-known "Watermark" and "Shepherd Moons", and Enya has also contributed to the soundtracks of several films, most notably the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Enya's music itself is a mix of vocals and some synthesiser generated sound, with a few instruments (pipes, flutes) thrown in. It is often highly syncopated and contains some more unusual features, such as the use of one voice (Eithnne's) to produce numerous backing vocals. This ultimately produces a characteristic haunting and mournful sound, and although there are some "lighter" tracks much of Enya's music is tinged with melancholy.

Well, any fans of Enya who enjoy their music will like this album, and it will also be appreciated by those who are looking for some relaxing ambient music with a bit of vocalisation, and those who like "Celtic" sounding music. My main criticism is that this is really so much like all Enya's previous stuff. Indeed, even the track listing follows a predictable pattern (e.g. a funereal dirge track followed by a bouncy, faster track etc.). If you sat down with two Enya albums you could probably match similar tracks from each album and produce pairs of, if not identical, then very similar songs. That said, fans of Enya have really come to expect a certain sound and style and perhaps to move away from a tried and tested formula would be a mistake. I also would like to say that for me this is the best Enya album that has been released for a while, probably the best one since "Shepherd Moons" if not since the debut "Watermark". Tracks to particularly listen out for are the bouncy "The river sings", the wistful "Long Long Journey" and my particular favourite "It's in the rain" which has some very smooth keyboard sounds together with Eithnne's unmistakeable and beautiful voice.

Fans of Enya will want this one, although I am glad that I was given it rather than having to buy it myself. However, I was also surprised by how good it was and it has certainly been a long time coming. This would also make a good introduction to those unfamiliar with Enya. It has the usual GBP 10-15 price tag depending on where you buy, and I would say that this sounds like a fair price

1. Less than a pearl *
2. Amarantine
3. It's in the rain
4. If I could be where you are
5. The river sings *
6. Long, long journey
7. Sumiregusa
8. Someone said goodbye
9. A moment lost
10. Drifting
11. Amid the falling snow
12. Water shows the hidden heart *

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