How does Enya do it? As Ireland’s most successful solo artist her ethereal, almost hypnotising music is instantly recognisable but if you passed her in the street you probably would not have a clue who she was.
Anti-fame, publicity-shy and fond of taking years out between albums, the 54-year-old singer songwriter has sold more than 80 million records worldwide without doing any concerts, a phenomenon labelled Enyanomics.
Defined as the inexplicable growth in sales of an artist in inverse relation to how much exposure they have, it is how Enya has rocked since she urged us all to sail away in her 1988 hit Orinoco Flow.
Yet with album sales in terminal decline thanks to downloading and piracy, and record companies pushing live performances more than ever, could Enya’s first “gig” be just a whisper away with her latest album Dark Sky Island? As ever, the Celtic queen is keeping her cards close to her chest.
“It’s much easier to talk about touring now that stage productions are massive.
“Today we can have an orchestra but in 1988 it wasn’t really seen as practical, especially for a debut album. I don’t know.
“The album has just happened so there’s a lot to think about. I’m just going along with it. I almost quite like not knowing what’s coming next.”
Enya has just returned from New York, where she was introduced to the Metropolitan Opera’s pioneering “live” series when her performance was simultaneously beamed into cinemas around the world.
“That was an idea that has been strongly put forward, so we’ll see,” she says.
One gets the impression that whatever happens, Enya will have the final say, with the help of the couple she describes as her “musical family”, producer and manager Nicky Ryan and his lyricist wife Roma.
Having managed Enya’s real musical family in Clannad, the group including three of her siblings, it was Nicky who persuaded the then 20-year-old to go solo in a move that prompted an “it’s the Ryans or us” showdown with her parents and a falling out with her siblings that dragged on for years.
Asked whether she still sees her family in County Donegal, Enya is characteristically guarded, although she chuckles at the notion of being forced into anything against her will.
“You make it sound very dramatic, like I was kidnapped or something!”
The truth is she craved independence. Having trained as a classical pianist, Enya toyed with the idea of becoming an opera singer before “surprising” herself by agreeing to join Clannad.
“I was very strong in that regard. Anything that I thought of, any step I had to take had to be my own step.
“Every decision is my decision and that comes from being at boarding school at 11 years of age.
“When you’re in a big family, your older brothers and sisters make all the decisions. Then suddenly I found myself at school, hearing my own voice saying ‘What would you like to do?’ So I got very used to that.”
Born Eithne Patricia Ní Bhraonáin in 1961, the sixth of nine children, “Enya Brennan” proudly tells me her grandmother was “the first female drummer in Ireland” and recalls having mixed feelings about her stage debut as Red Riding Hood when she was three years old.
“I loved it but it was odd being out front. You’re looking up at the stage and all of a sudden you’re looking down at the audience at such a young age.”
Solo singing competitions were “a part of life” in the Gaelic-speaking village of Gweedore, where her father ran the Irish folk music venue Leo’s Tavern and her mother taught music at the local school. “There’s this lovely story about Dad,” she says, in a rare moment of candour.
“He played a lot of beautiful Irish ballads combined with the big band sound, like Glenn Miller but he was self-taught. One day he tried to write music.
“He said, ‘Daughter, I sharpened my pencil, took out a manuscript and I sat there all day and I didn’t write anything, but I feel that that’s come through your work’.
He has lived my success and loves the fact he passed on his passion for music.”
The success of Watermark, Enya’s debut album featuring Orinoco Flow, was a surprise to say the least.
“Singing in Gaelic? It’s hardly hit-making stuff,” says Enya but then she “never dwelt on the sales side of things”, despite amassing a reported £100million on the back of her unique, other worldly, sound.
“We were outside the box,” she says, somewhat of an understatement for an act sung in a made-up language called Loxian.
“We gave ourselves freedom from the very beginning. We never put any restrictions on time, languages, or how we work.”
Shrewd as well as self-reliant, Enya managed to negotiate a contract with Warner Music that largely left her to her own devices.
She was given a minimum of three years off between each album, an unheard-of luxury these days. Enya was also determined not to become the focus of unwanted media attention.
“It’s portrayed like I’m a recluse because I don’t do any interviews other than the promotional ones but that’s because I want the focus to remain on the music.
“I always felt fame and success were two different things. When people heard Orinoco Flow they didn’t know, was it a band, was it a singer, who was it? They enjoyed the music. So it felt to me I don’t really need to flaunt it, to sell the music.”
Enya makes no secret of the fact that she enjoys her own company though.
She recalls the flack she got for revealing in an interview with Oprah Winfrey that she craves silence.
It was considered crazy talk in the brash 1980s compared to today’s more “mindful” times.
“The reaction was like, ‘Whoa, strange person here!’ Now people know what it’s about but, you know, life is so busy you need a moment.
“It was just kind of saying how noise is very difficult at all times. I don’t physically sit on my own, in silence, I was just saying sometimes it’s great to not have any noise factor. You know?
“There are times when with family, friends, relationships, it’s very difficult because I do need space.
“You want both worlds. You want the solitary moments to welcome the music but I’m very much within a family, a very social person, it’s just I do it privately.”
Enya’s love life remains as mysterious as the Elvish in her soundtrack to the Lord Of The Rings trilogy. While far warmer than her ice maiden image, like her vocals she has many layers and woe betide those who try to peel too many back.
In her spare time she enjoys travelling:“As soon as I’ve taken a break, it’s a suitcase and I’m away,” and reveals she spent part of the past seven years since her last album renovating her second home in the south of France:
“I took three years off because I needed a break and the music needed a break. It sounds like a long time but it flew. I had already renovated my castle, so…”
She is referring to Manderley Castle, her home in Killiney, south Dublin, a tribute to the estate which featured in her favourite book, Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier.
She reportedly outbid Michael Flatley for the 1840 slice of turreted Victoriana, paying £2.7million in 1997.
Because of the threat from stalkers, she spent £250,000 reinforcing security there, raising the ramparts to more than 9ft high.
Enya may have walls around her but the fans flock to her music, particularly in America which accounts for a third of her global album sales.
She believes the strong melodies and melancholy nature of her major to minor key changes explain her success.
“That’s what I’m always drawn to write, a strong melody. I do envy other people if they have written a great song.”
Like whom? “Sam Smith. That was a beautiful song,” she says, referring to the recently released Bond theme Writing’s On The Wall, from Spectre.
The Beatles have also proved an inspiration, not least for Nicky Ryan who wants to produce Enya’s next greatest hits album at Abbey Road. Enya met Paul McCartney at the 2002 Oscars when she gave a live performance.
“Paul McCartney said ‘I finally get to meet you’, so that was quite special.”
With the festive season approaching, Enya’s excitement is building: “There are people who love Christmas and people who don’t… I happen to love it,” she beams.
In the meantime, she is also eagerly awaiting responses to her seventh album in 27 years.
“I enjoy hearing reactions whether it’s negative or positive. If there are people who listen to the music that’s fine by me.
“Everything has always been very black and white with us, the ups and downs are discussed and you just kind of get on with it.
“You mellow out as a person as you grow older. You don’t get caught up in the minutiae.”
Like that feeling you get when you listen to her music, Enya seems content to let the words wash over her.
Camilla Tominey | The Sunday Express | 15 November 2015
28 November 2015 at 6:17 PM
I remember about five or six years ago chatting to a young lad of 18 or 19 years of age working in an internet cafe. In the course of our brief chat, it became clear he had no idea what a tape cassette was. I was shocked recalling vividly afterwards the convenience of personally moving from LPs to Cassettes when I was about 13 or 14 years of age. General Release of music on my favourite format of CDs was a few years away yet, but I was content with my first twin deck Radio/Cassette player as I was beginning to establish my own taste in music at the time.
So, why do I mention that story? Well, for two reasons, really. Firstly, I’m sure it has happened to us all that we have heard names in the music industry that we are aware of, but mean no more to us than merely an awareness of the name. In my case, two names who coincidentally have written songs for the James Bond franchise are Adele with the beautiful ‘Skyfall’, and now on the strength of this article Sam Smith’s ‘Writing’s On The Wall’. There are several others as well of course, but Adele and Sam Smith are just two examples of names I would be aware of without necessarily knowing their music.
Secondly, it is truly a sign of success when the music you produce has the ability to appeal to so many listeners who are unimpressed or disenchanted with the mainstream offerings in popular music. And, such is the case with Enya. So, I’m beginning to appreciate more and more now what she means by the difference between fame and success. In a very real way, it may simply be Enya’s name that people will be aware of and will be able to reference, or indeed one of her songs that will make an impact on the public zeitgeist and attract many new and loyal admirers yearning for something different.
So, here is to your continued success, Enya. May you continue to have the courage and independence to hear your own voice, and create music that is truly unique.
2 December 2015 at 10:54 PM
Thanks for that English Brian. Good language always heals an exhausted 21st century brain.
Allow me to add a few words beneath your thoughts.
Firstly, I need to confess that I still haven’t got my own copy of Dark Sky Island.
In our country we have some sort of banking-and-customs-trouble currently; added to that, that I live in a middle-sized city, it sounds reasonable that there is no new CD releases in retail stores. But I wouldn’t spend my pennies on iTunes store just to buy myself a bunch of kilobytes; I want to feel the real thing in my hands.
So, I went to the biggest retail store and asked if they still sell CDs. The shop assistant said: “… but of course, you have to climb the stairs down to the basement.”
So, I headed down the stairs and found a corner where hundreds of discs were laying on several benches. I started browsing arbitrarily, carefully as not to dirty my fingertips with dust. I went through The Fleetwood Mac, the Cardigans, the foo fighters and other names I was aware of and then I realised that I should look for the appropriate bench which hosted the “new releases”, “pop”,”new age” or likewise.
To my surprise, Dark Sky Island was not there, but guess what, there was 3 copies of an Adele album, I suppose the latest work. Then I looked under other labels, “heavy metal”, “reggae”, “indie” and whatsoever but Dark Sky Island was not there. I didn’t bother to ask an assistant for something that should have been bombastically obvious and was not.
Last time I looked for a CD was 5 years ago, in this store, when I bought “The Best of Enya”. At that time the album was standing prominently on a shelf right into the main entrance of the shop. Nowdays I suppose that the proper banner in a google-adds browser-frame will do the same job.
I’m pretty confident though, sooner or later I’m gonna get my hands on the real thing. Too many kilobytes, too much of an exhausted brain.
3 December 2015 at 1:33 PM
Thank you for those very kind words J. Grinbo.
I read your descriptive and interesting post with interest. My first response was one of reassurance. It was with a sense of increasing guilt that I thought of myself very much in the minority in not having obtained a copy of ‘Dark Sky Island’ up to two days ago. That said, I still do not possess the long-awaited new album, but have now ordered the deluxe version online through one of the larger retailers and expect delivery of it in the next couple of days.
You wrote with complete unity of our minds the words, ‘…I wouldn’t spend my pennies on iTunes store just to buy myself a bunch of kilobytes; I want to feel the real thing in my hands.’ As perhaps you may be also, I have no reluctance towards technology apart from my own limited ability, and indeed have a keen interest which is constantly adding to my store of skills. But, two considerations which influence my preference for owning CDs are firstly the durability of a disc without the fear of loosing the music to the vulnerabilities of electronic storage, and secondly all the lovely associated artwork and sense of possession such an item brings with it; not to mention the pleasure of building one’s own special music library. So, despite experiencing difficulties similar to your own in obtaining ‘Dark Sky Island’, I have persisted to hold the new album in my hands – albeit belatedly.
Yes indeed, there have been certain recent economic and technological circumstances around Europe, (if not large parts of the World), which have affected the distribution and sales of music. I can only hope that these will not continue to prevail, and we will be able to soon once again take quiet delight in the pride of seeing our admired musicians new releases on prominent display in stores. And, ideally, their full back catalogues as well!
Thanks again for your kind words J Grinbo, and I look forward to us sharing further thoughts and observations.
3 December 2015 at 8:26 PM
Thank you Brian Clifford for your fine language, again. Adding to your argument list, about possessing a CD instead of just downloaded files I have to mention the following:
– ‘ripping’ a CD may give me millions of MP3 files; no millions of MP3s can make for me an original retail CD and its artwork.
plus, a favourite CD is an indispensable part of my living room decoration. Who on Earth could hang an MP3 on the wall or place it on the fireplace surround?
4 December 2015 at 1:43 PM
Lovely to have read a further reply from you J. Grinbo. :)
Yes, two further arguments in favour of CDs well made by you. In truth, speculation I hear from time to time of the CD being eventually made redundant in the same way as Records and Cassettes were terrifies me. I know we have moved much closer to such a situation already, but the idea of the CD being made redundant in favour of “a bunch of kilobytes” as you so well described it leaves me feeling cold. Could it be that in 30 years time the succession of electronic storage of music files over CDs may lead to a resurgance of CDs as LPs are currently enjoying? :/ The CD is by far my preferred music medium having previously used the three forms of media mentioned, and very recently having acquired the knowledge of burning CDs and DVDs. Yes, I know! I probably sound as if I’m racing to catch-up with everybody else, but I’m teaching myself rather than having the advantage of growing up with such entertainment and personal technology. :)
Whilst being in absolute agreement with your position, I would recognise one particular benefit to burning MP3 music files or MP4 video files on to Blank CD or DVD discs respectively. As many of us, (of a certain age), would have done with blank cassettes on more than one occasion “back in the day”, being able to burn ones own discs does allow for the opportunity to archive rarities and compilations strictly for personal use that may not be readily available in retail outlets. I cite the most recent experience we have both shared in obtaining ‘Dark Sky Island’ from our much admired composer and singer, Enya. I don’t know who originally developed the solution, but much credit is due to whomever created the idea of the You Tube converter, for example. It was, like many good ideas, the answer to a demand which had been previously unaddressed.
Since my last reply to our conversation, I have been giving further thought to your difficulty in obtaining Enya’s new album J. Now, I don’t know what City you reside in, or whom your local music retailers might be, but have you considered a making a purchase if necessary online? As you know, in my case this is what I finally did in the last few days having failed to obtain the deluxe version of ‘Dark Sky Island’ at my own local retail outlet of HMV. :( Should you find that the larger retailers in your own City/Country do not have an online presence, might you consider “if needs must” using an international supplier such as Amazon.co.uk for Europe or Amazon.com for America? Please forgive me if I’m stating what is obvious to you, but I would like to see you obtaining Enya’s new album with as little hassle as possible. :)
Speaking of the wonderful music we have enjoyed for many years from Enya, I would be very interested to learn which is your favourite album, and which is your favourite song J.? Declaring my own “credentials” (Lol :D ), my favourite album is the one I first purchased on LP in 1988, and subsequently on Cassette and Compact Disc, namely ‘Watermark’. Oh! Don’t encourage me to describe to you how beautiful I consider this album to be. :) Neither of us would have the time!! :D Coincidentally, my favourite song is from the same album, namely ‘On Your Shore’. Just exquisite! ;) Of course, I should also add that several of Enya’s other albums also win my considerable admiration, but the above preferences I offer you as a way of us possibly continuing a conversation of mutual interest?
So, in this World of Boy Bands, X Factor, and Celebrity Jungles, I shall leave you with those humble thoughts to consider J. Should I ever find myself standing in a Court accused of promoting a love of Enya’s music, I shall seek you as my Senior Counsel to forward any mitigating factors in my defense, and hopefully avoid the death sentence. Lol! :D
Looking forward to your reply.
4 December 2015 at 7:10 PM
(Part 1, reply to Brian)
Dear Brian, among the lines of your reply there are a couple and a few more, arguments which I need to reply to with specificity.
1. “As perhaps you may be also, I have no reluctance towards technology …”
I have been raised and brought to the middle of my (expected) lifespan as an exceptionally technology-aware individual. Namely, my awareness of technology has been a naturally endorsed trait. I wouldn’t like to trigger right now a lengthy conversation so I just jump to the conclusion.
Possessing a car is not only about comfortable transport; not only about adding some value to one’s lifestyle. It’s also about planing a travel and reaching your destination with predicted accuracy, manyfold.
Thus (?) a healthy lifestyle, of a healthy individual offers plenty of time as to open the CD case, grasp the CD with the edges of one’s fingers and insert it in the CD player appliance slot; in order to reap the delight of having tens of violins, trumpets, harps and choirs singing for you a beloved melody; instantly on demand; upon the press of the ‘play’ button.
Come on! music has been there for more than 5000 years, at least 4000 years arranged on the Universal Harmonic Frequency Tuning of Pythagoras. Think how many generations of humans would be amazed by the majesty of having the sounds of tens of musicians playing for you upon demand, ordered by a slight slip of your fingers. No royalty but only a deity could aspire such a comfort two centuries ago or more. Ignorance makes people so unthankful!
If your life makes the opening of the CD case and the insertion of the disc in the player slot look like a huge waste of precious time then allow me to warn you that your life is an extremely accelerated hell, a genuine lifetime torture.
2. Concerning quality and safety, the CD may not be the optimal format for sound quality; although less than 1 in a 100 (1%) listeners enjoy audio on an appliance which surpasses the playback quality of a common CD. And it is not necessary. It is a different ritual when one listens to a favourite music piece on top audio quality, and a different ritual when one listens casually, on laptop equipment or radio. A beloved melody resides inside our living spirit (even within our own biochemistry -lol). Listening casually is nothing more than triggering (within our souls) the emotions onto which a melody is interwoven. (right, too many words already)
3. I live in Greece, in a mid sized-east coast city. Since July this year the national economy is restricted into some kind of ‘Capital Controls’. So, imports are very selective, slow, cash flow restricted and there’s some sort of daunting climate for any financial activity (in fact Capital Controls seem to have harmed an already suffering economy much deeper, the citizen’s mentality towards spending has deteriorated much further).
I feel not sorry about that; I’ve been praying long, decades now, for Goodness to cast a severe blow to the corruption in my land which has been feeding as a parasite and exploiting the biggest volume of our land’s economy. So, I don’t feel sad and afraid. And I’m ready to suffer much more than I currently do if that will heal the perversion and blasphemy of my earthly culture.
4. I live in a State of Grace; I live in a state of Love and Trust. And its domain is laying in some distant space, in the vicinity of the Aldebaran solar system, if you’re aware.
Here, Greece year 2015 C.E., I’m just serving an ‘in advance’ penalty of exile. So, instead of standing as a “Senior Counsel to forward any mitigating factors in your defense”, I’d rather serve you a permit for migration to my official land of residence ;))
4 December 2015 at 8:23 PM
P.S. to part 1,
… no, Brian, although one of the few things I can still buy using my debit card, while in Capital Controls, is digital music, no; I’d rather download a torrent MP3 at 320kBps. It’s stylish; It’s exactly the same thing, plus makes you feel smarter.
I can still have a friend buy a copy and post it to me. But instead of that I’d rather travel to Athens city centre and video myself in front of the muslim refugee camp begging and crying aloud, “please, hand me a copy of Dark Sky Island”; and upload that on youtube.
(Part 2 – my research for Dark Sky Island)
Today (Brian,) I went again to the marketplace, this time determined to get my hands on the real thing. I went again downstairs to the CD benches where I looked for Dark Sky Island a week ago.
There was 3 teenagers browsing the CDs while looking towards the vinyl-record bench, meanwhile burbling aloud about “… but who on earth could possibly buy a vinyl record nowdays”. I hardly kept the words slipping out of my mouth; just for the sake of skipping a mini-lecture which would make the boy feel uncomfortable of me, stealing the attention of his girlie friends.
I looked upon the International-new release bench and there was more than 5 copies of the latest Adele LP. So I thought “What if…” and flipped a couple of CDs seeking Dark Sky Island. But no luck again.
So I walked towards the assistant and asked for Dark Sky Island, a new release from the Irish singer Enya. She stood quiet for several minutes gazing at the computer screen. Then later she informed me that ‘a new Enya LP, Dark Sky Island, has no registry entry yet into our system, so you probably won’t be able to order it even from the headquarters in Athens’.
I walked out of the store towards the shop of a friend, in the city centre, and after wishing him a good morning I asked him if he has any idea where I can find a new release CD.
Aris said, “of course, Classic!”.
I replied “oh, well, Classic, how could I forget”, slapping my forehead with my open palm.
Its been almost two decades that I last went to this shop, dragged from lust, just to get my hands on an international vinyl record, which at my teens used to cost me more than half my monthly pocket money. I was a wealthy kid.
I walked down the road heading to where I thought Classic was situated; but I couldn’t find the shop.
So I returned to my friends ‘health food’ shop and asked him where Classic was. He replied to me, “next door to your left. Walk out the door to your right, two shop windows”.
Standing out of Classic, the then-biggest record shop of my city, I tried repeatedly to spot records and CDs at the shop window. There was all kinds of home decoration, fancy bamboo handcraft, glossy candles and chandeliers, ribbons and tutus but hardly any sign of CD.
I walked inside, and deeper inside the shop there was benches with records and CDs.
I asked the lady for the new Enya release, she wrote down my cell phone number and said she’d call me as soon as she has news from the supplier on whether and when she can bring me a deluxe copy of Dark Sky Island. I thought ‘ how I miss the days when opening the sleeve of a record gave me goosebumps!’
5 December 2015 at 1:46 PM
Hi J.
Perhaps I misled you in my previous reply. I was suggesting you buy an actual copy of the ‘Dark Sky Island’ CD album (deluxe) online as I have found myself needing to do. I wasn’t suggesting you buy any form of digitally downloaded music if you do not wish to. That said, my copy of the new album has not yet arrived even though I ordered it last Tuesday. Hopefully, it will arrive in the post on Monday.
Should current Capital Controls in Greece prohibit you doing this, the options of asking your friend to purchase and send the album to you, or preferably obtaining the album in Athens sound like good alternative solutions to my suggestion above.
The best of luck with your endeavors.
7 December 2015 at 12:26 AM
Brian, If you are still following this thread,
in spite of my lengthy replies I’ve still left few of your arguments unanswered.
So, right! Actually I did understand your suggestion to buy an actual copy of the CD online. I could do this but some friend of mine who lives abroad should charge his credit card, since no items can be purchased from abroad while on capital controls. And even so I feel some sort of aversion for those online megastores, especially if I like to buy some item of emotional or artistic value. No, I wouldn’t like to buy the Dark Sky Island from Amazon; instead, any small shop or retailer would be ok for me to buy it from, home or abroad. Maybe that sounds strange to you.
A good friend is flying here from NYC for the holidays and I asked him to bring me a certain CD; Some music from 2 very favourite American instrumentalists, one that would be impossible for me to find in Greece.
But not Dark Sky Island; I’d expect to find Enya’s work even in the smallest town in Greece. Often, seeking what one desires is more intriguing and enjoyable than achieving it easily, at once. There’s more to remember from a lengthy endeavour.
You also asked me about my favourite Enya songs and albums. Spontaneously, Caribbean Blue comes on my mind; or else Book of Days; Amarantine maybe. And that’s not all.
I could use lots of lines as to praise the musical arrangement of those scores; equally as many lines for the poetry of it. I won’t since I’m sure you had enough text lately.
7 December 2015 at 3:00 PM
Hi J. Grinbo,
Yes of course, I completely understand your wish to purchase Enya’s new album “offline” in a music store so to speak. I would be the same, hence my original attempt to buy the new album on its day of release. As a Writer with a keen interest in Graphic Design, especially Cover Artwork & Packaging, I have a particular appreciation of all that goes with buying a CD album as we have already discussed. I think you described it perfectly with the quotation, ‘Often, seeking what one desires is more intriguing and enjoyable than achieving it easily, at once. There’s more to remember from a lengthy endeavour.’ Thankfully, my lengthy endeavor bore fruit just this very morning! :D
Hmm yes, ‘Caribbean Blue’ and ‘Book of Days’ are really nice preferences, J. Two of Enya’s albums I particularly enjoy among many are ‘Watermark’ and ‘The Memory of Trees’. Wow! Individual tracks? Oh, I would have to give that some time to consider carefully. :)
Anyway J., as an interim contribution to our discussion, can I refer you to my latest post on the page enya-dark-sky-island-out-today in this website. More will follow as you will possibly read on my social media. I don’t want any one thread here to become dominated by our discussions alone.
Keep searching for ‘Dark Sky Island’. Kind regards.