Draíocht an Dúlra's Review
of Amarantine

As the release of Enya’s fifth album proper dawned, I was worried that she was to continue down the path of upbeat, middle-of- the-road songs as witnessed on A Day Without Rain, but what a formidable return to form. Gone are the happy, dare I say shallow sounding songs only to be replaced by what Enya does best: reflective, melancholy, soulful pieces. More reminiscent of her debut Watermark, but it is not Watermark either, but a more up-front, personal Enya, where she casts aside a lot of the multi layers of vocals to produce a gem of an album. This is Enya getting ‘up close and personal’.

As a native of Donegal’s Gaeltacht I was, and am still, disappointed not to hear herself sing in her beautiful native tongue, the soft lilting sounds of the Donegal Gaelic adding itself so well to Enya’s melodies. But somehow I feel that Amarantine is more ‘Irish’ than we have heard Enya for a long time.

Enya has said that her three biggest influences were the traditional music she heard when growing up, the classical music that she studied, and church music. With Watermark I could hear the traditional influences alot in On Your Shore, Storms in Africa, The Longships. However on Sheperd Moons the church music shone through more. The Memory of Trees had a more classical feel and A Day Without Rain was more pop. I feel that Amarantine is more like Watermark; the traditional influences have returned.

My favourites on the album…

Less than a Pearl: A great opening track to the album, I find the track and Enya’s vocal very mysterious, the fact that we don’t know what she is saying adding to the mystery. Like her early ‘Celts’ work I love the vocals as they build up to an almost chant at the end.

If I Could Be Where You Are: This is my favourite track on Amarantine. The crystal clear vocals, the sadness in the voice, Enya opening up her heart and allowing us hear her lonliness is what I love about the song. The melody is simple but there is beauty in the simplicity.

The River Sings: Enya has pushed the boat out on this one. Does it sound Gaelic, African, Scottish Gaelic? No, its Loxian and I love it. I love the beat of the song, the various voices and I can almost hear some Gaelic in there: ‘Chonaic mé an lá an oíche, chonaic mé an lá ó d’imigh tú’.

Water Shows the Hidden Heart: One word, masterpiece! Such a classical feel, it is what dreams are made of. Starting quiet and building to a crescendo Water Shows the Hidden Heart is sheer beauty.

Drifting: Again the melancholy hits in to make Drifting Enya’s best instrumental since Watermark. The piece to me is so sorrowful, lonely and sad, buartha, brónach agus briste, and following A Moment Lost is just perfect.

Apart from Someone said Goodbye, which to me should have been on A Day Without Rain, and Sumerigusa which, after try upon try, I cannot find its beauty, Amarantine is a fantastic Enya offering. Okay, it took five years in the making, but Enya has come up with the goods. This is Enya as we know her, with a lot of surprises thrown in. Amarantine will be everlasting. Timeless.

© Draíocht an Dúlra