Talking about celtic new age music, and not featuring Enya, has to be almost a crime. Ireland’s best selling solo musician was born Eithne Ní Bhraonáin - her name has been translated to English - in 1961. Once with Clannad, her solo career took off with the single, “Orinoco Flow,” also known as “Sail Away.” This song crossed from the new age charts into popular music, and sold eight million CDs. Her next album, “Shepherds Moons,” in 1991, won Enya her first Grammy.

Like many neoclassical or new age artists, Enya does not embrace the label. This seems to be a trend with many artists that have fallen into the genre, perhaps because of the spirituality attached to the genre’s name. Regardless of the label, 1995 brought Enya another Grammy with “Memory of Trees.”

Some controversy has surrounded Enya and the use of her music shortly after the September 11th attacks on New York City. Television and radio stations nationwide began using her song, “Only Time,” as background to news reports and documentaries of the attacks and resulting tragedies. As altering the music (dubbing in other sounds relevant to the attack) was not approved by Enya, she had mixed feelings about the music’s use. However, she did produce a version of “Only Time,” that had all proceeds go to the families of 9-11 victims. Her fans have had some negative reaction to the association of the Irish singers music to the war on terrorism that began shortly after the attacks on New York City.

Fans of “Lord of the Rings,” recognize Enya’s voice on the soundtrack from “Fellowship of the Ring,” in which she sang, “May It Be.” She has done other songs that relate to “Lord of the Rings,” as far back as 1991.

Enya’s songs are sung in Irish, Latin, Japanese, English, or an language known as Loxian. Loxian is a language created by Roma Ryan, who describes it as “futuristic from a distant planet.” Ryan, who works closely with Enya, also worked with Tolkien’s languages, particularly Elvish, in writing music for Enya which was inspired by “Lord of the Rings.”

Enya’s latest album is “Amarantine,” released in November of 2005. Her official Web site has a beautiful presentation of a beautiful album.

Enya - The Official Web Site
This site was a little confusing to navigate at first, but once you get the hang of it you won’t have any problems. Click on the album cover, click on the key of the snowglobe and if you want to go back or change page, right click and take the first option, which will take you to the beginning. The site is well worth the time to investigate. It is beautifully done.

Out Of The Blue