Enya: 1986 cover of The Celts soundtrack

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Enya to Shepherd Moons

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The Best of the Articles & Interviews

The Memory of Trees through A Day Without Rain:

The Art of Saying Nothing at All: Enya and the promotion of The Memory of Trees.

Enya's promotion of The Memory of Trees is an art of answering questions without saying a darn thing. Reporters who have interviewed her in the past comment on a new-found confidence she exhibits, the sparkle in her eyes and the warm greetings they receive. Confident, warm and sparkly she might have been, but by The Memory of Trees, Enya had become a master of gliding past personal questions with polite but noninformative responses.

Enya not only "opens up her little book of answers" as she tells one reporter, but has stockpiled the book with pat responses that will become very familiar to her fans over the next 10 years. While The Memory of Trees is one of Enya's richest and most beautiful albums, her interviews during this time are plain boring. Part of the problem is that Enya was by and large interviewed only by the mainstream press, by reporters who came to the interview little background information on the singer and no musical expertise. Whether Enya avoided them on purpose, or they simply were not interested in her music by this time, she was not interviewed by Hot Press, Q, Keyboard or any other music publication whose reporters might have done more than scratched the surface.

The Enigma of Enya, The Irish Times. December 15, 1995. Kevin Courtney
An interesting look at Enya at the launch party for The Memory of Trees, and a decent interview with Enya on the following day. Contains on the best quotes from Enya: "Just because you're a pop star, it doesn't mean that you have to be seen in nightclubs. And I find it really strange. A person has to have a choice, and my choice is to be somewhere else."

Enya's Quiet Space, The Boston Globe January 21, 1996. Jim Sullivan
A lengthy look at Enya, Sullivan's interview was carried in varying lengths and edits in several U.S. papers in the Winter of 1996. The emphasis continues on Enya's preference for privacy. Sullivan does ask her if she realizes that her insistence on remaining out of the spotlight can lead to erroneous suppositions about her life. Enya admits, but adds, "I still think it was the right thing to do." An article full of facts with no flights of reportorial fancy, competently written but, like almost everything since, lacking in the rhythm and atmosphere of the best Hot Press interviews.

All Things Considers, NPR Public Radio Interview. January 15, 1996. Noah Adams
Okay, I have a soft spot for Noah Adams. His All Things Considered program was once a staple of my public radio mornings, and I had the pleasure of meeting him at a local NPR (National Public Radio) station where I did volunteer work, scribbling their press releases. He's pleasant and sincere and is as interesting in general conversation as he is interviewing the celebrities of the day like--Enya. He's an interviewer who asks questions, and then gives his guest time to answer.

Enya at Ease: A Day Without Rain

One of the Hot Picks of this era is Enya at Ease from the Winter 2000 issue of The World of Hibernia. The title sums up many of the interviews the singer gave at this time: Enya, relaxed and at ease as she steps into the spotlight. Reflecting the sunny, uptempo music of A Day Without Rain, Enya seemed to be more at home with the press than she had in the past--at ease. As at ease as a soccer mom chauffeuring her twelve little charges on the album on a promo tour around the world.

The music is front and center as the topic in the A Day Without Rain interviews, as Enya speaks extensively on the recording process, and her own more relaxed pace of life that is reflected in the music. The interviews won't make your heart pound with their drama but, like the album itself, they leave you with a warm sense of an artist who's come to grips with herself. A Day Without Rain finds an Enya entirely comfortable with the myriad choices she's made in her life.