Dark Sky Island [Deluxe Edition]

by Enya

Overview

Since the late '80s, Irish singer/composer Enya has become the most unlikely of international stars, delivering lush, Celtic-driven pseudo-classical odes in her signature Wall of Sound vocal style, rarely granting interviews, never touring, and generally taking as much time as she wishes between albums. Bucking odds and industry trends, her popularity has remained steadfast, allowing her to become the best-selling Irish solo artist of all time. Following 2008's snowbound And Winter Came, her silence stretched to eight years -- the longest of her career -- before the mists once again parted to reveal her eighth album, the evocatively titled Dark Sky Island. Named for Sark, the smallest of Britain's Channel Islands and first in the world receive the Dark Sky designation for its lack of light pollution, it has all the thematic and sonic hallmarks typical of an Enya release but with significantly more highlights than on her two prior works. Since the release of her 1986 debut, changes in her overall approach have been subtle and critics have often derided her for her unwavering dedication to dated, late-'80s synth patches and her reliance on formulaic methods, but Enya's consistency is actually one of her greatest assets. Her low public profile -- especially in the age of social media -- demands that her music remains the sole focus, and even if she and collaborators Roma and Nicky Ryan choose to keep working within their unique, self-designed milieu, it's one that they own completely and have nurtured over the years. Opening track "The Humming," with its eerie staccato swing and mystical musings on the cycles of the universe, is one of the strongest tracks she's produced in decades and resembles a dark cousin to 1991's masterwork "Caribbean Blue." Inspired lead single "Echoes of Rain" also harkens back to her Shepherd Moons heyday and features some fine, cascading piano work amid the pulsing strings and exalted vocal layers. Dark Sky Island also marks the return of Loxian, a language lyricist Roma Ryan first created for Enya on 2005's Amarantine and which is used here on the lavish march "The Forge of Angels" and the powerful "The Loxian Gate," which again echoes early Watermark-era standouts like "Storms in Africa" and "The Longships." While it would be unfair to call Dark Sky Island a throwback, it does manage to harness some of the power and creativity of Enya's early days and pairs it with both the confidence and shadows of age. [A Deluxe Edition added three bonus tracks: "Solace," "Pale Grass Blue," and "Remember Your Smile."]

Product Details

Release Date:	11/20/2015
Label:	Warner Records
UPC:	0825646994441
catalogNumber:	553131
Rank:	4283

Tracks

1. The Humming
2. So I Could Find My Way
3. Even In the Shadows
4. The Forge of the Angels
5. Echoes in Rain
6. I Could Never Say Goodbye
7. Dark Sky Island
8. Sancta Maria
9. Astra Et Luna
10. The Loxian Gates
11. Diamonds On The Water
12. Solace
13. Pale Grass Blue
14. Remember Your Smile

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Enya   Primary Artist,Vocals
Eddie Lee   Double Bass

Technical Credits

Enya   Composer,Instrumentation
Roma Ryan   Composer,translation
Nicky Ryan   Producer,Engineer,Sleeve Design
Simon Fowler   Sleeve Design
Daniel Polley   Sound Advisor
Richard Welland   Layout

Editorial Reviews

After 75 million sales; four Grammy Awards; six World Music Awards; an Ivor Novello, an Oscar nomination, a Golden Globe nomination; and seven studio albums which have hit the upper echelons of charts all over the world, Enya will embark upon a new chapter in her spectacular career with the November 20th release of her new album ‘Dark Sky Island’. The Enya creative triumvirate - Enya, producer and sound engineer Nicky Ryan, and lyricist Roma Ryan - started work on the album in the spring of 2012, inspired by Roma’s work on a series of poetry books themed around islands and specifically the island of Sark’s decision to be designated as a dark sky island. “This album has a theme of journeys,” states Enya. “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.”

Sonically, ‘Dark Sky Island’ is a collection that’s both incredibly diverse and innately unified by the production: almost Spector-esque in its lavish, wide-screen multi-tracked layers of sound. The euphoric lead single ‘Echoes in Rain’ gives a sense of optimism, yet its rhythmic march celebrates the anticipation of a journey’s end. The opening track ‘The Humming’ is an immediate highlight as it subliminally works its infectious magic within the course of a single listen. By contrast, ‘Even In The Shadows’ pulses with an insistent rhythm; the hymnal ‘I Could Never Say Goodbye’ is sparse in its reflective beauty; while ‘Sancta Maria’ blends synthesisers and classical instrumentation to create an ethereal soundscape that comfortably sits in both the past and the future. It’s almost a history of sound encapsulated in four hypnotic and otherworldly minutes. This sense of exploration also extends to ‘The Forge of the Angels’ and ‘The Loxian Gates’ which continue the use of the Loxian language that Roma created and popularized with three songs from 2005’s ‘Amarantine’.

From the Publisher