UNLIMITED FANTASY FOCUS: ENYA

I have never heard a more lovely and enchanting singing voice than that of Enya, an Irish born singer/songwriter. Her music simply captivates me and really touches a lot of emotions. From her music I am taken to distant fantastic worlds and taken to the inner reaches of my own spirituality where I find a connection to all that exists around me. This music is far and away a liberating experience to listen to. This kind of music seems to merge time and thought into many images generated by the imagination. The first time I heard this music was in 1994, I listened to her probably most well known song, Carribean Blue, and the events of the day and the music that played while I was watching this laser display at a local Science Center seemed to fit nicely, and this song has been like almost a score and soundtrack to my life at certain what would seem to be appropriate points in time and place. I have found myself "Sailing Away" and time becoming meaningless while the images from my mind emerged upon the pages of my novel Khakain: The Coming of the Chosen One. Of the many things my existance has coincided with, I am happy one of them was the music of Enya. Thanks for making my world better Enya!

DOWNLOAD ENYA (MP3) Orinoco Flow Caribbean Blue Anywhere Is Book of Days Enya's actual name is, Eithne Ni Bhroanain. She was born on May 17, 1961, spending her childhood in Gweedore in County Donegal located in north-west Ireland. She is one of nine brothers and sisters. In School Enya studied the Piano and classical music, and later collaborated with three of her brothers and sisters as well as her uncles Padraid O Dugain and Noel O Duggan to form a Folk Music Group dubbed Clannad. In 1980, their manager, Fachtna O'Kelly suggested that she join with the group. She performed with them on a European tour until in 1982 she left the group for reasons unknown.

Since that time she has resided in Artane north of Dublin, Ireland sharing a house together with Nicky Ryan and Roma, his wife who originates from Belfast. They had previously been involved with Clannad. Fachtna O'Kelly had advised Enya after she left the group to devote her talents toward composing for films. In 1984 she began composing for the film, The Frog Prince, after Roma Ryan sent a cassette of Enya to film producer David Puttnam who was credited for films such as Midnight Express, Chariots of Fire, and Los Gritos Del Silencio. Using her own home studio and a Roland Juno 60 Synthesizer, a Kurzweil sampler, a piano, and her own vocalization. Nicky Ryan finalized the compositions and recorded everything.

She was then commissioned by the British Broadcasting Company for a TV documentary series on the history of the Celtic people spanning 2700 years of historical account. This series, The Celts, took around 10 months to score, but the music was so ethereal and impressive that the BBC released the score as an independant album entitled, Enya. Enya played almost all the recorded instruments, even using effects like doubling of voices and tracks to create the ambiance that has made her famous, the perpetual dream of sound and thought. Almost all the vocals are sung in Gaelic. This recording quickly climbed the charts and become number one on the Irish charts.

She then signed with an international label and had rapid success with her second Album, Watermark which has passed 10 million sales worldwide, reaching platinum status in 14 different countries. Her third album Shepherd Moons, spent 199 weeks on the Billboard charts in the United States and has since its debut sold over 11 million copies.

"People listen to the music and sense what it is about. Sometimes they know exactly what the songs are about, sometimes they interpret their own meaning to the music, and that's great when this happens because it shows it's striking a chord." - Enya

"People don't know what I'm all about because I prefer to keep that to myself. There are a lot of artists who are bigger than their music, but for me it's the other way around." - Enya quotes in the 01/29/96 issue of People Magazine,

"People can conjure in their own way what I'm all about, by my music." - Enya quotes in the 11/25/95 issue of Billboard Magazine

"People don't know what I'm all about because I prefer to keep that to myself. There are a lot of artists who are bigger than their music, but for me it's the other way around." - Enya