The Memory Of Trees

Performer: Enya
Engineer: Nicky Ryan
Producer: Nicky Ryan
Distributor: WEA (Distributor)

Notes: Solo performer: Enya (vocals, various instruments). THE MEMORY OF TREES won the 1997 Grammy Award for Best New Age Album. Personnel: Enya (vocals). Recording information: Aigle Studio. These are specifically those trees held sacred by the Druids of ancient Irish mythology; but there is just enough ambiguity in the title of Enya's latest album to please her enthusiasts, who tend to interpret her hard-to-classify music in deeply personal ways. Enya's distinctive style--an ethereal, hypnotic sound based on orchestral synthesizer and piano work, with multiple vocal layers which turn Enya's voice into an angelic choir--stands out on THE MEMORY OF TREES. Saved by strong, simple melodies from being lumped in with other New Age, Enya never loses track of the heart of each song. While most of the material here is tinged with melancholy and mysticism, "Anywhere Is" is a joyous, spiritual anthem to confusion and indecision. And Enya's lyrics, written in English, Spanish, Latin and Gaelic by longtime collaborator Roma Ryan, are often equally enigmatic. It doesn't matter--this is a musical landscape, and the listener is taken there by Enya's unmistakable voice, then left there to enjoy the scenery.

Rolling Stone (1/25/96, p.73) - 3 Stars (out of 5) - "...Even the instrumental tracks seem to carry soothing hidden messages, urging listeners to chill out and shift their focus to the beauty that presumably surrounds them..." Entertainment Weekly (12/8/95, p.68) - "...With its layered, breathing-lesson choral harmonies cushioned in sullen keyboards, the album is....wistful....A gorgeous formula..." - Rating: B Q (2/96, p.65) - Included in Q's 50 Best Albums of 1995. Q (1/96, p.120) - 4 Stars (out of 5) - "...the only genuine global star of new age and ambient..." Dirty Linen (4-5/96, pp.67-68) - "...she ingeniously mines territory that was previously the exclusive domain of pop, folk, and world music artists and works that product into her unique ambient-based talent and around her sublimely pure voice..."

Celtic vocalist Enya first gained notoriety as a member of the group Clannad in the 1980s, but became a superstar as a solo artist by fusing traditional music from the British Isles with dreamy new-age textures. Enya is a true crossover artist: her music is catchy enough to appeal to mainstream pop audiences, yet possessed of an ethereal quality that appeals to fans of the Cocteau Twins and Muzak alike. Her career received an added boost in the United States when her song "Orinico Flow (Sail Away)" was featured in a popular Volkswagen television commercial.

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