A Day Without Rain | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 20 November 2000 | |||
Recorded | 1998–2000 | |||
Studio | Aigle, Killiney, County Dublin, Ireland | |||
Genre | New-age | |||
Length | 37:30 | |||
Label | ||||
Producer | Nicky Ryan | |||
Enya chronology | ||||
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Singles from A Day Without Rain | ||||
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A Day Without Rain is the fifth studio album by Irish singer-songwriter and musician Enya, released on 20 November 2000 by WEA in Europe and on 21 November 2000 by Reprise Records in the US. Following a promotional tour in support of her compilation albums Paint the Sky with Stars and A Box of Dreams in late 1997, Enya started work on a new studio album in mid-1998 with her longtime recording partners, producer and arranger Nicky Ryan and his wife, lyricist Roma Ryan. In a musical departure from her keyboard-oriented sound, Enya incorporates a string section in her songs.
A Day Without Rain received mixed reviews from critics; some felt it too derivative of Enya's previous albums whilst others complimented the minimal use of overdubbing that her sound had become known for. It was a commercial success peaking at No. 6 in the United Kingdom and initially, No. 17 on the Billboard 200 in the United States. Following the 11 September 2001 attacks, sales of the album and its lead single, "Only Time", skyrocketed after it was used by several radio and television networks in their coverage and aftermath of the attacks. As a result, "Only Time" climbed to No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and A Day Without Rain reached a new peak on the Billboard 200 at No. 2. It became the fifth highest selling album of 2001 in the United States. [1] [2]
A Day Without Rain is the best selling new age album in history with an estimated 16 million copies sold worldwide. [3] Enya supported it with a promotional tour which included live televised performances. In 2002, the album won Enya her third Grammy Award for Best New Age Album.
Following a promotional tour in support of her two compilation albums Paint the Sky with Stars and A Box of Dreams at the end of 1997, Enya started work on a new studio album in the mid-1998 with her longtime recording partners, producer and arranger Nicky Ryan and his wife, lyricist Roma Ryan. [4] It marked her first studio album since The Memory of Trees in 1995. Around the time of starting on A Day Without Rain, Enya questioned some decisions she had made in her life and found herself answering them in the songs she was writing. She compared the album to reading her own diary: "Like in 'Pilgrim' I was asking myself: So many years have passed, am I happy with the way I'm working? And my answer is that I wouldn't change anything. I really love what I do." [5]
A Day Without Rain was written and recorded in a similar way to Enya's previous albums and without a timeline or deadline set by their label. She first spends time alone developing melodies and outlines of songs on the piano, which she then presents to the Ryans: "I'm quite anxious at this point because it really is an act of laying your soul bare". While Roma starts to write lyrics to the melodies, Enya and Nicky develop them into completed arrangements. After two years' work, Enya felt it was time to "step out of the studio ... time for it to have its life out in the world". [6] The album was recorded at Aigle, the Ryan's home studio in Killiney, County Dublin. Enya adopted a less intensive schedule, working just five days a week and having weekends off instead of working seven days like she had done on The Memory of Trees. The change made her feel happier as a result. [5]
In a musical departure from her keyboard-oriented sound, the album features a string section which Enya said was not a conscious decision initially. Nicky Ryan and she were open to exploring all possibilities with the songs, and stick with elements that give the best creative result. [7] Most of the songs were written in the major key, as Enya believed it helped create a more positive and uplifting mood. [5]
"Flora's Secret" is a song that makes reference to Flora, the Roman mythological goddess of flowers. [5] Enya and Roma incorporated some of Enya's experiences from her own love life on "Only Time" and "Fallen Embers". The former alludes to the difficulties and pressures of finding "the perfect love", which Enya has found difficult throughout her career due to her private lifestyle and that her past relationships were not the right ones. [5]
A Day Without Rain opens with an instrumental title track, which Enya had also done on her previous four studio albums. It was named after the high amount of rainfall over Ireland in the course of a year. After one particular stretch of consistent rain over a few days the sun came out, which inspired Enya to write it. She described its meaning as "the mood of a particularly peaceful day". [8] It was planned for the track to be a song and Roma had prepared an incomplete set of lyrics for it, but as the arrangement developed it was decided for it to remain instrumental. [9] "Wild Child" is a song about embracing positivity and finding moments for yourself during difficult days. [6] "Deora Ar Mo Chroí" is Irish for "Tears on My Heart". [6]
Enya gave permission for "Only Time" to be included in the soundtrack to the romantic film Sweet November (2001) where one of the lead characters finds out they are dying of cancer. She agreed in connection with the death of Irish musician Frankie Kennedy, co-founder of the Celtic group Altan with his wife Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh, from bone cancer in 1994. Enya played synthesiser on their album Ceol Aduaidh (1983), and found Kennedy's death particularly sad. [10] "Tempus Vernum" is a darker and moody track in comparison to the opening three tracks that Enya said represents the fragility of life and how we are all together as one in its struggles. [6]
"Flora's Secret" is about two lovers laying on the grass on a romantic afternoon. [6] Enya singled out "Fallen Embers" as her favourite track on A Day Without Rain. She knew it was a particularly strong track when she presented it to Roma, who understood the emotion that she tried to put across musically. After Roma finished its lyrics, Enya recalled, "It was so moving to actually sing them". [11] Billboard magazine rated it as Enya's best vocal performance of her career at the time. The song is about the reminiscence of a lost love, "a celebration of that special time and a lament that it is over." [6] According to Roma Ryan, the lyrics to "Pilgrim" were inspired by Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela. The song is about a journey of self-discovery on a more broad scale. [6]
"The First of Autumn" is an instrumental that gained inspiration from a poem Roma had written as part of a collection of poems about the seasons. Among them was a haiku that was first printed in the liner notes to Enya's limited edition box set Only Time – The Collection (2002). [9] The Japanese edition of the album includes "Isobella", a song that Roma described as a song for "A spirit child. One whom both Enya and myself experienced yet know nothing about", and named it Isobella. [9]
A Day Without Rain received a launch party at Somerset House in London on 19 October 2000, where guests received a promotional CD of the album containing a personal organiser and a handmade frontispiece. [12] [13] It was released in the UK on 20 November 2000 on Warner Music. Its North American release followed on 21 November on Reprise Records. [14] In the US, Reprise promoted A Day Without Rain with an Internet-driven campaign that involved E-cards and Amazon.com pages with 30-second snippets of "Only Time", exclusive displays offered at select retail stores, and a dedicated section of the label's web page to the album. [6] It went on to reach, before the 11 September attacks, an initial peak of No. 17 on the US Billboard 200 in December 2000 [15] and No. 6 on the UK Albums Chart.
"Only Time" was released as the album's lead single on 6 November 2000 in the United States and on 13 November 2000 in the United Kingdom. [16] [17] A promotional edition was shipped to adult contemporary radio stations across the US on 24 October, and the song premiered on the nationally-syndicated radio show Delilah on the same day. Its music video, directed by Graham Fink, was distributed to various music television networks from 31 October. [6] The song gained nationwide radio airplay following its use in an episode of the drama series Providence and the soundtrack to Sweet November (2001). [18] By October 2001, the single had spent 43 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard New Age chart. [19] The song, in April 2001, was remixed without authorisation with added electronic dance beats and keyboards by the Swiss American Federation (S.A.F.), a group formed of Los Angeles-based radio DJ and producer Christian Burkholder, a longtime Enya fan, and Marc Dold. [20] [21] The song received radio airplay in Los Angeles before it spread to stations across the country. When the song aired on WHTZ in New York City in June, other stations followed suit, which led to Burkholder being contacted by Nicky and Enya, who approved his remix. [22] The second single released from A Day Without Rain, "Wild Child", was issued on 19 March 2001. [23] It charted on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart with a peak of No. 12. [24] Its B-side, "Midnight Blue", is originally an instrumental that was extended with added vocals. It was then renamed as the title track for Enya's album And Winter Came... (2008).[ citation needed ]
In 2001, the album won Best International Pop Albums of the Year at the Japan Gold Disc Awards. [25] In 2002, it won a Grammy Award for Best New Age Album. [26]
Following the 11 September 2001 attacks, "Only Time" was used in radio and television coverage of the disaster, which led to increased sales and radio airplay of the single and A Day Without Rain, [27] to the point of both records surpassing their initial peak on the US charts. CNN and ABC News, among other networks, played the song with "Fallen Embers" as backdrops of footage of the victims. [28] Its position on the Billboard 200 climbed from No. 20 prior to the attacks [29] to its all-time peak of No. 2, driven by the increased audience exposure of "Only Time". [30] In the same month, "Only Time" reached No. 1 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart after it already spent 33 weeks on the chart, [31] breaking a seven-year-old record for the longest climb to the top position in the chart's history. [19] In November 2001, the single climbed to its peak of No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, [32] making it Enya's highest-charting single in the US. From October 2001 to January 2002, over 3 million RIAA-certified units of A Day Without Rain were sold in the US alone, which included a peak of one million copies sold in 19 days. [14]
"Only Time" gained further exposure following its use as a sound bed for promos of the comedy series Friends on the first five episodes of the eighth season. [33] Following the media response and increased sales of Enya's records, "Only Time" was reissued as a maxi-CD on 20 November 2001 containing the S.A.F remix and original version, with earnings from its sales donated to the Uniform Firefighters Association's Widows' and Children's Fund in aid of families of fire fighters involved in the attack rescue operations. [34] [35]
A Day Without Rain became the eight highest selling album worldwide in 2001, selling 6.6 million copies. [36] It also was the top selling new age album of the 2000s in the US, according to Nielsen SoundScan. [37] It remains Enya's highest selling album of her career [1] with a total of 16 million copies sold worldwide. [2]
Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 41/100 [38] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [39] |
Entertainment Weekly | D [40] |
Los Angeles Times | [41] |
Q | [42] |
Rolling Stone | [43] |
The Village Voice | D− [44] |
A Day Without Rain received mixed reviews from music critics. In a review for Dallas Morning News , Mario Tarradell gave a rating of "B+". He thought the album was worth the five-year wait since The Memory of Trees and is "another lovely piece of work" from Enya. The title track is "an elegant piano melody" that is followed by "dark-to-light, chaos-to-peace progression" for the rest of the album. "Lazy Days", he thought, was "an engulfing pop song filled with swooshing flourishes that one-ups the hooky, wall-of-sound pull" of Enya's past singles "Orinoco Flow" and "Caribbean Blue". Tarradell finalises with the album is "quintessential Enya". [45] Fiona Shepherd reviewed the album for The Scotsman and was more critical, writing Enya continues a "policy of releasing the same album over and over again using a different title and cover" with "drab Celtic moods". She thought the album was not on par with her "earlier epic stuff". [46] A critical review appeared from Gavin Martin of The Mirror , who thought that the title track and "Only Time" would please her fans, but the album "still sounds like undistinguished new age fodder ... The rest of us can go back to watching paint dry." [47]
R.S. Murthi for New Straits Times gave a rating of two-and-a-half stars out of five for Enya's performance and three out of five for the album's sound quality. He wrote that the album is a "ho-hum New Age effort" with "pretty melodies" but, on the other hand, its "dense textures conceal a compositional shallowness". He deemed some of the track titles "pompous" but the more successful songs, such as "Deora Ar Mo Chroi", are so due to their traditional Celtic elements rather than Enya's own compositions. [48] Stephen Thompson of The A.V. Club found it too derivative of Enya's previous albums, which he found far superior to A Day Without Rain. [49] In his review for The Village Voice , Robert Christgau panned the album as nonsense, "goopier, more simplistic" than Watermark (1988). [44]
Steve Morse welcomed the album in a report for The Boston Globe . He thought the album is "arguably her best work because there is more emphasis on her gorgeous soprano lead vocals rather than the lush, multitracked harmony vocals". [5] Billboard complimented the album's production, writing the more experimental songs like "Only Time" and "Lazy Days" "not only freshen a musical formula that still works extremely well but also leave the listener happily curious about Enya's next move". [50] Rolling Stone remarked that the album sounded too similar to her previous releases and thought a change in musical direction after Paint the Sky with Stars would have been better. Her "skill at ephemeral sonic watercolors has grown wearisome, like a relative who tells the same stories every holiday." [7] In The Baltimore Sun , J. D. Considine thought the album belonged in "the same lush, contemplative vein" as Enya's previous albums, which he thought were formed of "pretty but unconnected" tracks. A Day Without Rain, however, was more of a unified album that compared to "a suite instead of a pop album". "One by One", he thought, "conveys all the qualities of a pop hit without succumbing to the typical transience of a Top-40 favorite". [51] People recommended the "masterful" album for a "rainy day" because of Enya's characteristic sound and tranquil mood. [52]
All music by Enya, all lyrics by Roma Ryan except "Deora Ar Mo Chroí" adapted into Irish lyrics by Enya from Roma Ryan's poem in English. All songs produced by Nicky Ryan. [53]
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "A Day Without Rain" | 2:36 |
2. | "Wild Child" | 3:47 |
3. | "Only Time" | 3:38 |
4. | "Tempus Vernum" | 2:24 |
5. | "Deora Ar Mo Chroí" | 2:48 |
6. | "Flora's Secret" | 4:07 |
7. | "Fallen Embers" | 2:28 |
8. | "Silver Inches" | 1:37 |
9. | "Pilgrim" | 3:12 |
10. | "One by One" | 3:56 |
11. | "The First of Autumn" | 3:08 |
12. | "Lazy Days" | 3:43 |
Total length: | 37:30 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
11. | "Lazy Days" | 3:43 |
("The First of Autumn" was omitted from the US edition)
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
11. | "Isobella" | 4:29 |
12. | "Lazy Days" | 3:43 |
("Isobella" replaced "The First of Autumn" on the Japanese edition)
Credits adapted from the album's 2000 liner notes. [53]
Music
Production
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
All-time charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Argentina (CAPIF) [104] | Gold | 30,000^ |
Australia (ARIA) [105] | 3× Platinum | 210,000^ |
Austria (IFPI Austria) [106] | Platinum | 50,000* |
Belgium (BEA) [107] | 2× Platinum | 100,000* |
Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil) [108] | Gold | 100,000* |
Canada (Music Canada) [109] | 8× Platinum | 800,000^ |
Denmark (IFPI Danmark) [110] | Platinum | 50,000^ |
France (SNEP) [111] | Gold | 100,000* |
Germany (BVMI) [112] | 3× Platinum | 900,000^ |
Italy | — | 250,000 [113] |
Japan (RIAJ) [114] | 4× Platinum | 800,000^ |
Mexico (AMPROFON) [115] | Gold | 75,000^ |
Netherlands (NVPI) [116] | 3× Platinum | 240,000^ |
New Zealand (RMNZ) [117] | Platinum | 15,000^ |
Poland (ZPAV) [118] | Gold | 50,000* |
Spain (PROMUSICAE) [119] | 2× Platinum | 200,000^ |
Sweden (GLF) [120] | Platinum | 80,000^ |
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland) [121] | 2× Platinum | 100,000^ |
United Kingdom (BPI) [122] | 2× Platinum | 600,000^ |
United States (RIAA) [123] | 7× Platinum | 7,000,000^ |
Summaries | ||
Europe (IFPI) [124] | 3× Platinum | 3,000,000* |
Worldwide | — | 16,000,000 [125] |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |
Country | Date | Format | Label |
---|---|---|---|
Europe | 20 November 2000 | WEA | |
United States | 21 November 2000 | Reprise | |
Worldwide [126] | 16 June 2017 | LP |
|
Eithne "Enya" Pádraigín Ní Bhraonáin known mononymously as Enya, is an Irish singer and composer. Enya is also the best-selling Irish solo artist, with an estimated 80 million albums sold worldwide;the second-best-selling music act from Ireland overall, after the rock band U2. The music of Enya has been widely recognised for featuring multi-layers of her own vocals and instrumentation, lengthened reverb, and interwoven elements of Celtic music. Enya's career in music spans across four decades; she has been composing and recording music since the 1980s.
Watermark is the second studio album by Irish singer, songwriter and musician Enya, released on 19 September 1988 by WEA. After the release of her previous album Enya (1987), she secured a recording contract with Warner following a chance meeting with chairman Rob Dickins, who had become a fan of her music. Her contract allowed her considerable artistic and creative freedom, with minimal interference from the label and no deadlines. Enya recorded Watermark in ten months with her long-time collaborators: manager, producer and arranger Nicky Ryan and his wife, lyricist Roma Ryan. It was initially recorded in Ireland in demo form before production relocated to London to re-record, mix, and master it digitally. Watermark features music in different styles, displaying Enya's sound of multi-tracked vocals with keyboards, percussion instruments, and elements of Celtic, ambient, and new-age music, though Enya believes her music does not belong in the latter genre.
Shepherd Moons is the third studio album by Irish singer, songwriter and musician Enya, released on 4 November 1991 by WEA. After the unexpected critical and commercial success of her previous album Watermark (1988), Enya embarked on a worldwide promotional tour to support it. At its conclusion, she wrote and rehearsed new material for her next album with her long time recording partners, manager, arranger and producer Nicky Ryan and his wife, lyricist Roma Ryan. The album was recorded in Ireland and London and continued to display Enya's sound of multi-tracked vocals with keyboards and elements of Celtic and new-age music.
The Memory of Trees is the fourth studio album by Irish singer, songwriter, and musician Enya, released on 20 November 1995 by WEA. After travelling worldwide to promote her previous album Shepherd Moons (1991), and contributing to film soundtracks, Enya took a short break before she started writing and recording a new album in 1993 with her longtime recording partners, arranger and producer Nicky Ryan and his wife, lyricist Roma Ryan. The album is Enya's first to be recorded entirely in Ireland, and covers themes that include Irish and Druid mythology, the idea of one's home, journeys, religion, dreams, and love. Enya continues to display her sound of multi-tracked vocals with keyboards and elements of Celtic and new age music, though Enya does not consider her music to be in the latter genre. She sings in English, Irish, Latin, and Spanish.
Paint the Sky with Stars: The Best of Enya is the first greatest hits album by Irish singer-songwriter Enya, released on 3 November 1997 by WEA. Following her worldwide promotional tour in support of her previous album The Memory of Trees (1995), Enya began selecting tracks for a compilation album in early 1997, as her recording contract with WEA permitted her to do so. The album contains songs from her debut album Enya (1987) to The Memory of Trees (1995) and two new tracks, "Paint the Sky with Stars" and "Only If...".
Enya is the debut studio album by Irish singer, songwriter, and musician Enya, released in March 1987 by BBC Records in the UK and by Atlantic Records in the US. It was renamed as The Celts for the 1992 international re-release of the album by WEA Records in Europe and by Reprise Records in the US. The album features a selection of music that she recorded for the soundtrack to The Celts, a BBC documentary series about the origins, growth, and influence of Celtic culture.
Travelling Without Moving is the third studio album by English funk and acid jazz band Jamiroquai, released on 28 August 1996 in Japan, then on 9 September 1996 in the United Kingdom under Sony Soho Square. Front-man Jay Kay intended for the album to have a more universal style, revolving around "cars, life and love". Critics have generally praised the album for being more focused and refined than the band's previous work, while others panned its lyrics and found the album too derivative. Its visual concept of sports cars received backlash from press, as it contradicted Kay's professed environmental beliefs.
Synkronized is the fourth studio album by English funk and acid jazz band Jamiroquai. It was released on 8 June 1999 by Work Group in the United States, and on 14 June 1999 by S2 Records in the United Kingdom. Bassist Stuart Zender left the band during recording, and Nick Fyffe was hired as a replacement. The album contains funk, acid jazz and disco elements.
"Only Time" is a song by Irish musician Enya. It was released on 6 November 2000 as the lead single from her fifth studio album, A Day Without Rain (2000). The song reached number one in Canada, Germany, Poland and Switzerland, number two in Austria, and became Enya's only top-10 single as a solo artist in the United States, peaking at number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. It became an anthem for the victims of the 11 September attacks, with Enya donating to a fund for the victims' families.
"Wild Child" is a single by Irish singer-songwriter Enya. It was released on 19 March 2001 as the second and final single from her fifth studio album, A Day Without Rain (2000).
"May It Be" is a song by the Irish recording artist Enya. She and Roma Ryan respectively composed and wrote lyrics to the song, for Peter Jackson's 2001 film The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. The song entered the German Singles Chart at number one in 2002, and Enya performed it at the 74th Academy Awards. "May It Be" was acclaimed by music critics and received nominations for the Academy Award for Best Original Song, the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song, and the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media.
The discography of Irish singer-songwriter Enya consists of eight studio albums, two compilation albums, twenty-one singles as lead artist and a number of other appearances. Enya achieved a breakthrough in her career in 1988 with the album Watermark, containing the big hit song "Orinoco Flow" which topped the UK Singles Chart and the European Hot 100 Singles.
The Essential Bob Dylan is a compilation by Bob Dylan, released in 2000 as the inaugural entry in Sony Music's "The Essential" double-disc compilation series. The Essential Bob Dylan spans from 1963's "Blowin' in the Wind" to 2000's "Things Have Changed".
Living Proof is the twenty-fourth studio album by American singer Cher. It was first released on November 6, 2001 by WEA and distributed in North America by Warner Bros. Records in 2002. After the commercial success of Believe (1998), Cher began work on her twenty-fourth studio album in 2000. Rob Dickins was chosen as the executive producer for the album, enlisting producers such as Johan Åberg, Chris Cox, Tony Moran, Bruce Roberts, Wayne Rodriguez, Stargate, Chicane, Ray Hedges, and Mark Taylor. Its music incorporates dance-pop, disco and house styles.
Amarantine is the sixth studio album by Irish singer-songwriter and musician Enya, released on 21 November 2005 by Warner Bros. Records internationally and by Reprise Records in the United States the next day. Following the release of her 2002 compilation box set Only Time – The Collection, Enya took a short break before she started work on a new album in September 2003, her first since A Day Without Rain (2000). Amarantine was recorded in Ireland with her longtime recording partners, arranger and producer Nicky Ryan and his wife, lyricist Roma Ryan. It is Enya's first album not to include a song in Irish and her first to include songs sung in Japanese and Loxian, a fictional language created by Roma.
Only Time: The Collection is a box set from Irish singer, songwriter and musician Enya, released on 5 November 2002 in the United States and on 2 December 2002 in Europe. The set contains 51 tracks across four discs that spans her 1987 debut album Enya through her 2002 single "May It Be". A 48-page booklet with liner notes and lyrics by her longtime lyricist Roma Ryan is included. The video of "Oíche Chiúin " is also included on the fourth disc, the performance comes from the BBC programme Christmas Day in the Morning aired on 25 December 1996 and was recorded at Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin. In addition to this computer playable video, there is also a screensaver in the cover art motif and a slideshow of pictures from the booklet. This release was a limited worldwide release of 200,000, with US sales of over 60,000 copies. The selection of songs was made by Enya, Nicky and Roma.
And Winter Came... is the seventh studio album by Irish singer, songwriter, and musician Enya, released on 7 November 2008 by Warner Bros. Records internationally and by Reprise Records in the United States on 11 November 2008. After recording new Christmas songs for her fourth EP Sounds of the Season: The Enya Collection (2006), Enya started work on a Christmas album of traditional carols and original tracks, but the idea was changed to a collection of songs with a Christmas or winter theme as it better suited the style of the new material. It was recorded with her longtime collaborators, arranger and producer Nicky Ryan and his wife, lyricist Roma Ryan.
The Very Best of Enya is the second greatest hits album by the Irish singer, songwriter and musician Enya, released on 23 November 2009 by Warner Bros. Records.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack was released on 20 November 2001. It was composed, orchestrated, and conducted by Howard Shore, and performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, the London Voices, London Oratory School Schola choir and multiple featured instrumental and vocal soloists.
Dark Sky Island is the eighth studio album by Irish singer, songwriter, and musician Enya, released on 20 November 2015 by Warner Bros. Records. After the release of her previous album, And Winter Came... (2008), Enya was unsure of her next career move, so she decided to take a break from music, which lasted three years. In the spring of 2012, she started to write and record new material for a new album with her longtime collaborators, producer and arranger Nicky Ryan, and his wife, lyricist Roma Ryan. Enya gained inspiration for the title track and the album from the 2011 designation of Sark in the Channel Islands as a dark-sky preserve and a collection of Roma Ryan's poems on islands.
I took a little break, and then I got to work on the new album (A Day Without Rain) in the summer of 1998.
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