Roma Ryan wrote the lyrics for Aníron in JRR Tolkien’s elvish dialect Sindarin, which in turn inspired her to develop Loxian, a fully realised language for Enya’s Celtic space travellers. Aníron (2001)Įnya’s singular and timeless evocation of vast landscapes and Celtic-inspired otherworldliness made her the obvious candidate to contribute to the soundtracks of Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings films. At one point it featured 100 layered vocals, all eventually removed. A fascinating document of an artist finding her feet, this simple piano sketch would later reappear as a transportive instrumental on Watermark. Miss Clare Remembers (1984)Įnya’s first solo release, as Eithne Ní Bhraonáin, was on a cassette compilation put out by the experimental label Touch Travel. Photograph: Pictorial Press Ltd/Alamy 17. Aldebaran (1987)Īldebaran’s sparkling, synthetic harp and pipes are the backing for a text written by Enya lyricist Roma Ryan that tells of Celtic civilisation voyaging into space in hope of a better future – a concept that sits in curious musical parallel to Afrofuturist techno group Drexciya’s vision of a Black nation living safe from persecution beneath the sea.Įnya in 1997. She’s not a solo artist, but actually a team, and producer Nicky Ryan’s roots were in sonic experimentation, such as designing a vibrating room so that deaf schoolchildren could sense music and dance. March of the Celts showcases the oddness of Enya’s music.
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Indeed, for years it seemed that its ubiquity obscured the stranger treasures in her discography.Īfter Enya left family band Clannad, her solo career struggled until she got a chance to soundtrack the 1987 BBC TV series The Celts. With the plinking, clipped synths and infernally moreish chorus, Orinoco Flow is the Enya song that everyone knows, yet it is arguably the least interesting moment on her breakthrough album, Watermark.