Dark Sky Island

‘Dark Sky Island’ is Enya’s eight studio album, announced on 16 September 2015 and released on 20 November 2015, seven years after ‘And Winter Came’. Enya started working on it in 2012 after she took a three-year musical break. Like always, Enya performs all the vocals and instruments on the album herself, with the exception of Eddie Lee’s contribution on ‘Even in the Shadows’.

The album was released digitally, on cd, and for the first time since 1992 also on vinyl. The standard version includes eleven tracks, the deluxe version contains three additional songs. To despair of Enya collectors around the world, there were no commercially available singles or b-sides, only a few promotional singles without exclusive artwork.

Tracklistings

Standard edition

01	The Humming	3:42	English
02	So I Could Find My Way	4:25	English
03	Even in the Shadows	4:13	English
04	The Forge of the Angels	5:12	Loxian
05	Echoes in Rain	3:33	English
06	I Could Never Say Goodbye	3:28	English
07	Dark Sky Island	4:56	English
08	Sancta Maria	3:50	–
09	Astra et Luna	3:20	Latin
10	The Loxian Gates	3:33	Loxian
11	Diamonds on the Water	3:33	English

Deluxe edition bonus tracks

12	Solace	3:56	English
13	Pale Grass Blue	3:33	English
14	Remember Your Smile	2:57	English

Music

If you haven’t heard the album yet, this video containing excerpts from all the songs is a great start. It was published on Enya’s official Youtube channel two weeks before the official release date and we all listened to it 4879 times on loop while counting the days until the entire album would be available.

Suprisingly enough, the album became legally available for streaming one week before the release date, which forced fans to make a hard decision whether to succomb to temptation or wait for the physical release. I made a poll on Twitter, 25 % of fans waited. Now, that’s what I call resolve! Of course, I was not one of them, let’s be realistic.

Themes

‘Dark Sky Island’ was named after the island of Sark that was the first island designated as a dark sky area. As there is no light pollution on the island (and no cars!), the locals and visitors can observe the night sky without any distractions. ‘Dark Sky Island’ was also the first song written for the album.

This album has a theme of journeys. Journeys to the island; through the length of a lifetime; through history, through emotions; and journeys across great oceans. So although it’s not a ‘themed’ album, as such, we nevertheless have an underlying connection between songs.Enya, Dark Sky Island press release, 2015

Visuals

Album artwork

Design and art direction for the album were done by Stylorouge who have taken care of all Enya artwork since ‘A Day without Rain’ (apart from the ‘Amarantine’ album booklet). All photos are in hues of blue and violet to keep with the dark sky theme.

Photography

Promotional photography for the album was shot by Simon Fowler. Without surprise, Enya looks beautiful like her usual self.

Music Videos

For the first time since the beginning of her career, Enya didn’t release a classical music video to promote the album. Instead, there were lyric videos for ‘Echoes in Rain’, ‘The Humming’ and ‘Even in the Shadows’ and performance-style videos filmed with Wired Strings for ‘Echoes in Rain’ and ‘So I Could Find My Way’.

Promotion

Album launch

The album got not one, not two, but three launch parties! Moreover, Warner Music Italy organised a listening event for fans and journalists which Enya did not attend.

The first listening event took place on 16 September in Dublin, the same day the album was announced online. The event was not mentioned on the official website or in press but the lightshow did catch the attention of a passerby and photos soon appeared on Flickr and later Instagram.

The second album launch was held at James Burden Mansion in New York a month later. This time, it was reported in detail on Instagram and also on Enya’s official forum by the head moderator Nigel Sellens. Eight songs from the new album were played, ‘Echoes in Rain’ twice.

Enya didn’t forget Germany, her biggest European market, and on 4 November introduced ‘Dark Sky Island’ to fifty guests at Schlosshotel Berlin. On the occassion, she received several awards for sales of her previous albums in Central Europe. I bought my (first) ‘Amarantine’ copy in Central Europe, so I am glad to say that I contributed. Well done, everyone!

Electronic Press Kit

Enya, Nicky and Roma were intervieved about making of the album and the resulting video was uploaded on Enya’s official Youtube channel. I really like Roma talking about the songs, I’d love to see more of her.

Performances

Enya performed several songs from the album, mostly for Japanese and American TV shows. Most of these performances were lip-synced, with the exception of ‘Even in the Shadows’ on Good Day New York and ‘Echoes in Rain’ on Live with Kelly and Michael.

 

Awards

Enya was nominated for the 2016 Echo Award in the ‘Best International Rock/Pop Female Artist’ category but lost to Adele. Enya attended the ceremony and performed ‘Echoes in Rain’ with rain falling in the background. It seems that she doesn’t want to reproduce the ‘Only Time’ video.

Discography

Album Releases

Dark Sky Island (standard version)
The Humming – So I Could Find My Way – Even in the Shadows
The Forge of the Angels – Echoes in Rain – I Could Never Say Goodbye
Dark Sky Island – Sancta Maria – Astra et Luna
The Loxian Gates – Diamonds on the Water

Dark Sky Island (deluxe version)
The Humming – So I Could Find My Way – Even in the Shadows
The Forge of the Angels – Echoes in Rain – I Could Never Say Goodbye
Dark Sky Island – Sancta Maria – Astra et Luna
The Loxian Gates – Diamonds on the Water
Solace – Pale Grass Blue – Remember Your Smile

Dark Sky Island (vinyl version)
SIDE A: The Humming – So I Could Find My Way – Even in the Shadows
The Forge of the Angels – Echoes in Rain
SIDE B: I Could Never Say Goodbye – Dark Sky Island – Sancta Maria
Astra et Luna – The Loxian Gates – Diamonds on the Water

Singles

A handful of one-track promotional cd singles housed in carboard sleeves were sent out by Warner Music UK to radio stations. The cover is identical to the album, but some of them have a sticker on the back with details on ‘Dark Sky Island’ promotional schedule. ‘Echoes in Rain’ single contains a shortened version of the song that runs for just under 3 minutes, ‘Even in the Shadows’ is identical to the album version.

Lack of promotional exclusives prompted fans to design their own singles (which often look great and professional) and unfortunately also bootleggers to sell dodgy unofficial copies to eager unsuspecting collectors.

Echoes in Rain (promo)
01 Echoes in Rain (radio edit)

Even in the Shadows (promo)
01 Even in the Shadows (album version)

Credits

Everything you hear on the album is Enya multi-layered to perfection:

MUSIC COMPOSED BY ENYA
LYRICS BY ROMA RYAN
PRODUCED BY NICKY RYAN

All instrumentation* and vocals performed by Enya.
All titles arranged by Enya and Nicky Ryan.
Engineered by Nicky Ryan. Mixed by Nicky Ryan and Enya.
Recorded at Aigle Studio.

Mastered by Dick Beetham at 360 Mastering, Hastings.
Digital advisor and technician: Daniel Polley.

Album sleeve conception by Nicky Ryan and Simon Fowler.
Booklet layout: Richard Welland. Photography: Simon Fowler.
Commissioned by Michael Wliitham.

*other than Eddie Lee on Double Bass on ‘Even in the Shadows’

Loxian language and font by Roma Ryan.

Lyrics reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
All titles © 2015 Sony/ATV Music Publishing Ltd.

Recorded in the digital domain by an analogue brain.

Enya, Nicky and Roma would like to thank:
All of our friends at the Warner Music. family worldwide.
Thanks in particular to our Warner UK Team,
especially Max Lousada and Miles Leonard.
Also to Stu Bergen, Cameron Strang, Jeremy Marsh and Bernd Dopp.

To Fran Malyan and Guy Moot of Sony/ATV Music Publishing Ltd.
To all of our Moderators, both past and present, we say “Thank-you”
with particular thanks to Nigel Sellens and Jackie Lane.
To all our Forum members, thanks for your support and encouragement.

To Ronny Schreinzer and Robert Trebus and Fairlight EU.
To Phillip Lawo of Lawo AG and the Lawo team.

A special mention also for Dick Beetham,
Lee Tobin, Aran Gues, Nadia Pfeiffer,
Brian Curtin of DC Chauffeur Drive, Frank Byrne,
Ailish McKenna and Alan Lander.

And finally, to Daniel Polley.

www.enya.com
www.romaryan.com
www.nickyryan.com [ Someone made a typo here, Nicky is the man with the net — Ed. ]