(Sail Away)
November 23, 2015 9:05 AM Subscribe
"Enya emerges from the shadows wearing a full-length black taffeta dress and a velvet shrug. She’s 54, but she has the skin of someone much younger — or someone who spends most of her time in an Irish castle. She looks like a mix of Deanna Troi and my mom, which is to say, she is the most beautiful woman in the world. She appears, nods as the room applauds her, and disappears without a word. “Now, for a light mingle,” the exec announces." -- Anne Helen Petersen on Enya, her avoidance of celebrity, her history, her massively successful career, and her castles.
Enya, for her part, describes her genre of music as “Enya.”
this is the quickening
posted by Potomac Avenue at 9:13 AM on November 23, 2015 [7 favorites]
this is the quickening
posted by Potomac Avenue at 9:13 AM on November 23, 2015 [7 favorites]
three of Enya’s siblings and twin uncles were in a band, Clannad,
Whoa #Enyafacts
posted by Potomac Avenue at 9:17 AM on November 23, 2015 [4 favorites]
Whoa #Enyafacts
posted by Potomac Avenue at 9:17 AM on November 23, 2015 [4 favorites]
i want a small tasteful castle
posted by poffin boffin at 9:18 AM on November 23, 2015 [7 favorites]
posted by poffin boffin at 9:18 AM on November 23, 2015 [7 favorites]
Was going to snark about the castles, plural, but these days you can get stone castles in Europe for less than the cost of a Manhattan condo, so I guess that as celebrity real estate goes it's not that big a deal any more.
posted by ardgedee at 9:20 AM on November 23, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by ardgedee at 9:20 AM on November 23, 2015 [2 favorites]
You can buy an entire island for less than a manhattan 450 square foot studio.
posted by poffin boffin at 9:21 AM on November 23, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by poffin boffin at 9:21 AM on November 23, 2015 [1 favorite]
I'm more in the Clannad camp myself, but that must have been one heck of a talented musical family. I would have liked to have read more about those siblings growing up.
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 9:22 AM on November 23, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 9:22 AM on November 23, 2015 [3 favorites]
Enya has what Americans would call resting bitchface
Like, this may be a burn, but that just makes me want to hang out with her more.
#Enyafacts
posted by Potomac Avenue at 9:23 AM on November 23, 2015 [14 favorites]
Like, this may be a burn, but that just makes me want to hang out with her more.
#Enyafacts
posted by Potomac Avenue at 9:23 AM on November 23, 2015 [14 favorites]
I'll stop quoting this now but rest assured that I could continue indefinitely if I so chose.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 9:26 AM on November 23, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Potomac Avenue at 9:26 AM on November 23, 2015 [2 favorites]
Enya was all over the place in the 80s, and then I heard nothing about her until an Evan Dando show where he explained his long absence by saying he'd been "doing monitors for Enya."
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 9:28 AM on November 23, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 9:28 AM on November 23, 2015 [3 favorites]
That article was very interesting, but it was so oddly written.
"People probably don’t have much sex to Enya, but women have assuredly orgasmed to it...."
"People start closing their eyes, trancelike — even the journalists with the coolest hair...."
“'Sancta Maria,'” the sort of escalating march to which my brother and I would’ve made an intricately choreographed dance when we were 6 and 9...."
And my personal favorite: "Enya — whose wealth is estimated at $136 million, about double that of Chris Martin."
I mean, are we measuring people's wealth in CPUs now? (That's Coldplay Units.)
posted by mudpuppie at 9:33 AM on November 23, 2015 [12 favorites]
"People probably don’t have much sex to Enya, but women have assuredly orgasmed to it...."
"People start closing their eyes, trancelike — even the journalists with the coolest hair...."
“'Sancta Maria,'” the sort of escalating march to which my brother and I would’ve made an intricately choreographed dance when we were 6 and 9...."
And my personal favorite: "Enya — whose wealth is estimated at $136 million, about double that of Chris Martin."
I mean, are we measuring people's wealth in CPUs now? (That's Coldplay Units.)
posted by mudpuppie at 9:33 AM on November 23, 2015 [12 favorites]
This is a fascinating read. On a briefly related note, I've long wanted to visit Sark.
posted by Kitteh at 9:34 AM on November 23, 2015
posted by Kitteh at 9:34 AM on November 23, 2015
It's fairly easy to find the castle on Google streetview from the description in the article. As castles go it seems tastefully small? I guess? Rich person real estate is weird.
Enya seems like someone who has been talented and hardworking and fortunate enough to succeed on her own terms, so congratulations to her.
posted by Wretch729 at 9:35 AM on November 23, 2015 [1 favorite]
Enya seems like someone who has been talented and hardworking and fortunate enough to succeed on her own terms, so congratulations to her.
posted by Wretch729 at 9:35 AM on November 23, 2015 [1 favorite]
My husband is an avid Enya collector (literally our home office is wall to wall Enya ephemera, CDs, tapes, vinyl, promotional material, so on) and he's been so excited this last month with hew new album. I sent him this article and he said "oh yes I saw that and saved all the pictures". So thanks for keeping me up with him.
posted by msbutah at 9:37 AM on November 23, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by msbutah at 9:37 AM on November 23, 2015 [2 favorites]
Whoa #Enyafacts
Their Robin Hood theme tune Totally sounds like it could be one of hers.
posted by Artw at 9:38 AM on November 23, 2015 [1 favorite]
Their Robin Hood theme tune Totally sounds like it could be one of hers.
posted by Artw at 9:38 AM on November 23, 2015 [1 favorite]
Enya named her castle "Manderley" and I can somehow hear 1990's Mike squealing about it from here.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 9:42 AM on November 23, 2015 [5 favorites]
posted by MCMikeNamara at 9:42 AM on November 23, 2015 [5 favorites]
On a briefly related note, I've long wanted to visit Sark.
Me too, mostly because it sounds like it should be in Earthsea (the East Reach, in particular).
posted by The Tensor at 9:50 AM on November 23, 2015 [2 favorites]
Me too, mostly because it sounds like it should be in Earthsea (the East Reach, in particular).
posted by The Tensor at 9:50 AM on November 23, 2015 [2 favorites]
People probably don’t have much sex to Enya
Lost my virginity while Watermark was playing.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 9:55 AM on November 23, 2015 [12 favorites]
Lost my virginity while Watermark was playing.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 9:55 AM on November 23, 2015 [12 favorites]
This reminded me I haven't checked it what she's been up to in about 10 years. Still haunting and beautiful music, as always
posted by thebotanyofsouls at 10:21 AM on November 23, 2015
posted by thebotanyofsouls at 10:21 AM on November 23, 2015
Enya has what Americans would call resting bitchface
Not all Americans would refer to Enya—or any person—as having "resting bitchface", because it's mean and sexist. And they should have used the second photo of her as the opening shot and used that first photo not at all, because it isn't great. I feel like they only used it so they could line up the "resting bitchface" zinger later on.
Anyway, thanks for the post. Big Enya fan here. One of those things from my childhood that I don't really have any choice but to like.
posted by The Minotaur at 10:27 AM on November 23, 2015
Not all Americans would refer to Enya—or any person—as having "resting bitchface", because it's mean and sexist. And they should have used the second photo of her as the opening shot and used that first photo not at all, because it isn't great. I feel like they only used it so they could line up the "resting bitchface" zinger later on.
Anyway, thanks for the post. Big Enya fan here. One of those things from my childhood that I don't really have any choice but to like.
posted by The Minotaur at 10:27 AM on November 23, 2015
I had no idea that she's never toured. Huh.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 10:34 AM on November 23, 2015
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 10:34 AM on November 23, 2015
The Clannad connection I did not know.
Thanks - think I'll listen to some Enya this aft.
posted by parki at 10:44 AM on November 23, 2015
Thanks - think I'll listen to some Enya this aft.
posted by parki at 10:44 AM on November 23, 2015
I saw her playing with Clannad in the National Stadium in Dublin in the late 70's early 80's. The only reason I remember her is that after the break she didn't appear back on stage with the band. Her sister went back and led her her on. She looked like she was coming back reluctantly. There was a huge cheer from the crowd and the poor girl looked mortified. I was not surprised when I heard she did not do tours.
posted by night_train at 10:49 AM on November 23, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by night_train at 10:49 AM on November 23, 2015 [1 favorite]
I guess this is where I admit that for the longest time I really enjoyed that one Enya song with the "franglais" lyrics.
You know… "C'est le way, c'est le way, c'est le way…"
posted by Kabanos at 10:50 AM on November 23, 2015 [9 favorites]
You know… "C'est le way, c'est le way, c'est le way…"
posted by Kabanos at 10:50 AM on November 23, 2015 [9 favorites]
People probably don’t have much sex to Enya
Yeah, to fffm's point above, I feel like, for better or for worse, this was written by and is agreed to by people who lived through a very different version of the 1990s than I did.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 11:09 AM on November 23, 2015 [4 favorites]
Yeah, to fffm's point above, I feel like, for better or for worse, this was written by and is agreed to by people who lived through a very different version of the 1990s than I did.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 11:09 AM on November 23, 2015 [4 favorites]
And my personal favorite: "Enya — whose wealth is estimated at $136 million, about double that of Chris Martin."
Wow, I had no idea. I know that one song and if I thought about her at all, I figured that she was a one hit wonder.
posted by octothorpe at 11:23 AM on November 23, 2015
Wow, I had no idea. I know that one song and if I thought about her at all, I figured that she was a one hit wonder.
posted by octothorpe at 11:23 AM on November 23, 2015
I listened to a lot of Enya in the early 90s, but hadn't thought of her in years. Glad she's still going strong.
posted by mogget at 11:32 AM on November 23, 2015
posted by mogget at 11:32 AM on November 23, 2015
I feel like, for better or for worse, this was written by and is agreed to by people who lived through a very different version of the 1990s than I did.
Those people did not have the experience of having someone light a few candles, pour you a glass of wine, then cue up their new(!) multiple-CD player with George Winston's December and Enya's Watermark on the player. Let the Bush I-era seduction commence!
posted by sobell at 11:38 AM on November 23, 2015 [15 favorites]
Those people did not have the experience of having someone light a few candles, pour you a glass of wine, then cue up their new(!) multiple-CD player with George Winston's December and Enya's Watermark on the player. Let the Bush I-era seduction commence!
posted by sobell at 11:38 AM on November 23, 2015 [15 favorites]
She's great, a great advertisement for my native Co Donegal. Publicity-wise she's very much in the Kate Bush mould.
posted by GallonOfAlan at 11:50 AM on November 23, 2015
posted by GallonOfAlan at 11:50 AM on November 23, 2015
My brother-in-law got married this fall. Among the music played at the reception: Dubstep Enya. I wish I was making this up.
posted by pxe2000 at 12:00 PM on November 23, 2015
posted by pxe2000 at 12:00 PM on November 23, 2015
I would like to know more about Dubstep Enya!
In return, I offer Orinoco Is in the Heart, a mashup that has no business working as well as it does.
posted by Shmuel510 at 12:10 PM on November 23, 2015 [8 favorites]
In return, I offer Orinoco Is in the Heart, a mashup that has no business working as well as it does.
posted by Shmuel510 at 12:10 PM on November 23, 2015 [8 favorites]
Let the Bush I-era seduction commence!
Did you see a thousand points of light afterwards?
posted by Kabanos at 12:22 PM on November 23, 2015 [1 favorite]
Did you see a thousand points of light afterwards?
posted by Kabanos at 12:22 PM on November 23, 2015 [1 favorite]
who else is listening to Enya at work after reading this post??
posted by nakedmolerats at 12:30 PM on November 23, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by nakedmolerats at 12:30 PM on November 23, 2015 [3 favorites]
This is all much more . . . straightforward . . . than I had imagined. I had no idea that Enya was her actual name, or that she was actually from Ireland, or even that she wrote the melodies herself. Based solely on hearing the music occasionally, I'd always kind of imagined someone from California who was, like, really into dreamcatchers.
Her music's still not really my thing, but you have to admire someone who's so completely succeeded at creating exactly the kind of atmosphere she wants for her life. (And funded it with creative work that a lot of people obviously find valuable, rather than, I dunno, corporate raiding.) She seems like she has a very happy life.
posted by ostro at 12:39 PM on November 23, 2015 [9 favorites]
Her music's still not really my thing, but you have to admire someone who's so completely succeeded at creating exactly the kind of atmosphere she wants for her life. (And funded it with creative work that a lot of people obviously find valuable, rather than, I dunno, corporate raiding.) She seems like she has a very happy life.
posted by ostro at 12:39 PM on November 23, 2015 [9 favorites]
Am I the only one who is absolutely dying to see the inside of Manderley and what she does with all that space?
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 12:42 PM on November 23, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 12:42 PM on November 23, 2015 [4 favorites]
People probably don’t have much sex to EnyaFar from the first person to say so, but yeah: this is not quite as true as I personally would like it to be.
posted by Zeinab Badawi's Twenty Hotels at 1:07 PM on November 23, 2015 [1 favorite]
watermark is the first cd i ever bought and is still one of my favorite albums of all time! who knows? only time :P
posted by kliuless at 1:49 PM on November 23, 2015
posted by kliuless at 1:49 PM on November 23, 2015
Am I the only one who is absolutely dying to see the inside of Manderley and what she does with all that space?
I assume there is a lot of ethereal swooping in billowy gowns but who knows, it could be krumping.
posted by poffin boffin at 1:50 PM on November 23, 2015 [8 favorites]
I assume there is a lot of ethereal swooping in billowy gowns but who knows, it could be krumping.
posted by poffin boffin at 1:50 PM on November 23, 2015 [8 favorites]
I'm quite bemused by the lack of knowledge of the Clannad connection - it was quite literally the only thing I knew about her during peak Enya, after the release of Watermark. My mother had (and still has) musical tastes that align with the romantic and mystical strain of folk, and Clannad had been one of her favourites for a long time beforehand. There are numerous aesthetic, thematic and musical similarities between Enya's work and Clannad's. But coming from that to Watermark was still this utter revelation. I would have been 8 or 9 when Mum bought the CD, and lined it up on my dad's immaculate hifi (NAD components, handmade speakers) which had already been an eye-popping experience for tiny7.
You have to understand (if you don't already) that 1980s 'adult contemporary' was already full of stunningly bonkers music. Multitimbral digital synths, high-end multi-effects units, Miles Davis gone digital, Peter Gabriel videos, Phil Collins producing Eric Clapton, all of the biggest loudest more more more you could imagine. And into this comes 'Orinoco Flow' which as we all know is a great, surging rush of what the actual fuck. A lot of the profiles of her in the lead-up to the new album are claiming 'nostalgia' or 'timelessness' as the attractive qualities of her music, but what it always has been for me is utter exhilaration. It's a child's awe at space and sound and voices soaring into the void while great bell-like tones and sweeps crash and rush around me.
But do yourself a favour: alternate Enya albums with Coil albums from the same period. Now that's a mystical connection.
posted by prismatic7 at 2:14 PM on November 23, 2015 [16 favorites]
You have to understand (if you don't already) that 1980s 'adult contemporary' was already full of stunningly bonkers music. Multitimbral digital synths, high-end multi-effects units, Miles Davis gone digital, Peter Gabriel videos, Phil Collins producing Eric Clapton, all of the biggest loudest more more more you could imagine. And into this comes 'Orinoco Flow' which as we all know is a great, surging rush of what the actual fuck. A lot of the profiles of her in the lead-up to the new album are claiming 'nostalgia' or 'timelessness' as the attractive qualities of her music, but what it always has been for me is utter exhilaration. It's a child's awe at space and sound and voices soaring into the void while great bell-like tones and sweeps crash and rush around me.
But do yourself a favour: alternate Enya albums with Coil albums from the same period. Now that's a mystical connection.
posted by prismatic7 at 2:14 PM on November 23, 2015 [16 favorites]
There was a night my first year in college when I was sick - not, like death's door, not go-to-the-hospital, but serious enough that going to bed was called for. It was the first time I was sick without the near presence of my mom, and I wanted a little comforting; so I put Watermark on and lay down.
For the next hour, I just remember fading in and out of consciousness, while whatever bug or creeping ick I had kept me bedridden, but every time I did wake up there was beautiful music, and it felt like everything was going to be okay.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 2:18 PM on November 23, 2015 [5 favorites]
For the next hour, I just remember fading in and out of consciousness, while whatever bug or creeping ick I had kept me bedridden, but every time I did wake up there was beautiful music, and it felt like everything was going to be okay.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 2:18 PM on November 23, 2015 [5 favorites]
This is all much more . . . straightforward . . . than I had imagined. I had no idea that Enya was her actual name, or that she was actually from Ireland, or even that she wrote the melodies herself.
It always seems that way with "reclusive" artists -- they're normal people who just don't talk to the press much.
The funny thing about the mystical image to me is that (a) I've heard more than one person in Ireland say "she looks just like my auntie", and (b) "Eithne" is kind of a dowdy name to begin with. It's the Irish language equivalent of like Doris or Maureen.
posted by rollick at 2:22 PM on November 23, 2015 [2 favorites]
It always seems that way with "reclusive" artists -- they're normal people who just don't talk to the press much.
The funny thing about the mystical image to me is that (a) I've heard more than one person in Ireland say "she looks just like my auntie", and (b) "Eithne" is kind of a dowdy name to begin with. It's the Irish language equivalent of like Doris or Maureen.
posted by rollick at 2:22 PM on November 23, 2015 [2 favorites]
I'm one of the supernerds who was suuuuper into Robin of Sherwood (what? It came on late-night PBS when I was babysitting and was like nothing else on tv at the time!) and thus came to Enya via Clannad.
Enya is still my go-to music for nights when anxiety keeps me from sleeping and, somewhat conversely, when the shit is getting real on a deadline and I need music that is soothing but keeps me focused.
In short: I didn't know there was new Enya out, but yay Enya!
posted by TwoStride at 2:23 PM on November 23, 2015 [1 favorite]
Enya is still my go-to music for nights when anxiety keeps me from sleeping and, somewhat conversely, when the shit is getting real on a deadline and I need music that is soothing but keeps me focused.
In short: I didn't know there was new Enya out, but yay Enya!
posted by TwoStride at 2:23 PM on November 23, 2015 [1 favorite]
Wow, I would never have thought MetaFilter, of all places, would be a hotbed of Enya fans. I went through a big Enya phase in the early 90s (as well as Clannad and Loreena McKennit), and still love that music even though my tastes have wandered considerably.
posted by briank at 2:47 PM on November 23, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by briank at 2:47 PM on November 23, 2015 [1 favorite]
Oh yeah, Loreena McKennit is my other can't sleep/must work go-to.
posted by TwoStride at 2:51 PM on November 23, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by TwoStride at 2:51 PM on November 23, 2015 [2 favorites]
She sings like angels.
posted by kirkaracha at 2:52 PM on November 23, 2015
posted by kirkaracha at 2:52 PM on November 23, 2015
I know! This thread may or may not be responsible for me going to the iTunes Music Store and hovering over the "Buy" button on Watermark for two minutes.
It won't be the same as listening to the album in a dorm room (or a would-be swain's crappy undergraduate apartment), but oh, for a moment I might travel back in time.
posted by sobell at 2:52 PM on November 23, 2015 [1 favorite]
It won't be the same as listening to the album in a dorm room (or a would-be swain's crappy undergraduate apartment), but oh, for a moment I might travel back in time.
posted by sobell at 2:52 PM on November 23, 2015 [1 favorite]
Yeah, I was very into Enya back in the day. I remember hearing "Orinoco Flow" for the first time while watching VH1, actually. I'm into sort of symphonic+electronic music to begin with (Vangelis, anyone?), so it was very cool.
Thing is, I can't help feeling like she's just never evolved from that. Just now, as I read the linked article, I pulled up iTunes and hit "preview all" on the new album (which I didn't even know existed till now), and there are just so many of the exact same synth strings, synth pianos, synth drums.... Most of what I hear in the previews of the tracks is just not at all different from her previous stuff and, well, I already have those, and I have my memories along with them, so I'm not really moved to buy more. I feel like she could use a dose of Imogen Heap in terms of exploring the variety of what synths can sound like.
Another thing, regarding her not ever touring. The only real experience I have of her singing live is when she performed at the Oscars for her Lord of the Rings song. Some of the flaws you can hear there are nerves, sure, but I feel like a lot of it is just the natural imperfections of her voice which you can hear she goes to great pains to eliminate on her recordings. Other singers (Sinead O'Connor comes to mind here, as she has a similar Irish background) make those vocal quirks into their unique character and embrace them. Enya uses the studio to erase them, something she's never going to be able to do live. Mind you, I don't think fans would actually mind at all, but I think she minds. Or at least can't get her head around not minding.
posted by dnash at 4:58 PM on November 23, 2015
Thing is, I can't help feeling like she's just never evolved from that. Just now, as I read the linked article, I pulled up iTunes and hit "preview all" on the new album (which I didn't even know existed till now), and there are just so many of the exact same synth strings, synth pianos, synth drums.... Most of what I hear in the previews of the tracks is just not at all different from her previous stuff and, well, I already have those, and I have my memories along with them, so I'm not really moved to buy more. I feel like she could use a dose of Imogen Heap in terms of exploring the variety of what synths can sound like.
Another thing, regarding her not ever touring. The only real experience I have of her singing live is when she performed at the Oscars for her Lord of the Rings song. Some of the flaws you can hear there are nerves, sure, but I feel like a lot of it is just the natural imperfections of her voice which you can hear she goes to great pains to eliminate on her recordings. Other singers (Sinead O'Connor comes to mind here, as she has a similar Irish background) make those vocal quirks into their unique character and embrace them. Enya uses the studio to erase them, something she's never going to be able to do live. Mind you, I don't think fans would actually mind at all, but I think she minds. Or at least can't get her head around not minding.
posted by dnash at 4:58 PM on November 23, 2015
I will confess, actually, that while the other songs of hers that caught be back in the day still catch me....I'm kind of...sick of "Orinoco Flow".
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:09 PM on November 23, 2015
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:09 PM on November 23, 2015
Oh wow, Loreena McKennitt! I spent probably a solid three of my teen years falling asleep every night to Lady of Shallott on repeat. Then a decade later I found out she was my boyfriend's cousin! And apparently in person she's exactly as one would imagine; slightly ethereal and loves a good laugh.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 5:58 PM on November 23, 2015 [7 favorites]
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 5:58 PM on November 23, 2015 [7 favorites]
Enya has a new album? That is literally the best news I heard in the last year.
"Orinoco Flow" was the first song I painstakingly recorded off the radio onto my brand-new cassette recorder when I was 11 or so. I would lie in bed at night, the cassette recorder perched precariously on the edge of the bed, and I would rewind the tape and listen to it over and over again, with the volume very low since I was supposed to be asleep. Then one night I managed to knock the cassette recorder off the bed, and it came crashing down. In the approximately four seconds between this event and my mother angrily storming into my room, I managed to pick up the recorder, arrange it back on the shelf, get back into bed, and pretend to be deeply asleep.
All totally worth it for Enya.
And her music stayed with me all these years, and has calmed me down on those countless nights when the world seemed hostile and difficult, whether I was 11 or 35.
posted by Ender's Friend at 8:23 PM on November 23, 2015 [3 favorites]
"Orinoco Flow" was the first song I painstakingly recorded off the radio onto my brand-new cassette recorder when I was 11 or so. I would lie in bed at night, the cassette recorder perched precariously on the edge of the bed, and I would rewind the tape and listen to it over and over again, with the volume very low since I was supposed to be asleep. Then one night I managed to knock the cassette recorder off the bed, and it came crashing down. In the approximately four seconds between this event and my mother angrily storming into my room, I managed to pick up the recorder, arrange it back on the shelf, get back into bed, and pretend to be deeply asleep.
All totally worth it for Enya.
And her music stayed with me all these years, and has calmed me down on those countless nights when the world seemed hostile and difficult, whether I was 11 or 35.
posted by Ender's Friend at 8:23 PM on November 23, 2015 [3 favorites]
Ok so I had to hunt down my much-treasured copy of The Visit (buried in a box), and I'm listening to Lady of Shallott, and my eyelids are drooping reflexively. Yaas.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 8:23 PM on November 23, 2015
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 8:23 PM on November 23, 2015
Like I'm pretty certain I felt my heart rate drop. The aural equivalent of a bubble bath with candles and a glass of wine.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 8:25 PM on November 23, 2015
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 8:25 PM on November 23, 2015
Guess who lost their virginity to Watermark (the album containing Orinoco Flow)? GUESS GUESS GUESSSSSSSS, you can do it! Did you guess me? Because you would be correct. (I did not pick the music.) It was about the experience you would imagine BUT you have to also imagine that I had a sinus infection at the time because I did. OH, 90's. Oh, cute grunge boy with your long hair and flannel shirt, so pretty, such a weird fucking album to put on for teh sex.
posted by fluffy battle kitten at 1:12 AM on November 24, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by fluffy battle kitten at 1:12 AM on November 24, 2015 [3 favorites]
Loved loved loved reading about her intimate collaboration with the couple that produces her music. That's awesome and I respect the heck out of that.
Also, this:
Loved this article, love Enya. Thank you for this post.
posted by rorgy at 6:33 AM on November 24, 2015
Also, this:
“What I gather,” Enya continues, “is that there’s a basic emotional message within a song, even without any words, without any arrangement — it’s already there. Nicky and Roma and I, we just try to enhance that. That’s all we try to do.”Which utterly comes across in her music. (In most of the other great "New Age" musicians' music, too—though, as the article makes apparent, Enya's "wall of sound" production puts her a bit more squarely in the camp of things that I can transition to through pop phases, rather than through classical or folk as is usually the case for other people in her camp.)
Loved this article, love Enya. Thank you for this post.
posted by rorgy at 6:33 AM on November 24, 2015
So what one album should I listen to of hers? Watermark? or is there a better one that's less appreciated?
posted by fiercecupcake at 7:28 AM on November 24, 2015
posted by fiercecupcake at 7:28 AM on November 24, 2015
So what one album should I listen to of hers? Watermark? or is there a better one that's less appreciated?
I like Shepherd Moons a little bit better than Watermark, but Watermark is undoubtedly her best-known, and if you were going to listen to only one, that would probably be the one to go with.
posted by briank at 7:38 AM on November 24, 2015
I like Shepherd Moons a little bit better than Watermark, but Watermark is undoubtedly her best-known, and if you were going to listen to only one, that would probably be the one to go with.
posted by briank at 7:38 AM on November 24, 2015
I'm currently obsessing over Kate Bush's "Hounds of Love," if that helps any.
posted by fiercecupcake at 7:40 AM on November 24, 2015
posted by fiercecupcake at 7:40 AM on November 24, 2015
I first heard Orinoco Flow when the teacher who ran my middle school's afterschool poetry club (...yep) put it on to help inspire us. I remember being totally exhilarated by it, and I wrote and wrote and wrote.
Her album The Celts is the only one that's stuck with me to this day, for some reason. But her more well known albums certainly made up part of the soundtrack of my early teen years, and informed my interior landscape pretty comprehensively.
posted by merriment at 9:18 AM on November 24, 2015
Her album The Celts is the only one that's stuck with me to this day, for some reason. But her more well known albums certainly made up part of the soundtrack of my early teen years, and informed my interior landscape pretty comprehensively.
posted by merriment at 9:18 AM on November 24, 2015
I'm listening to the samples from iTunes right now, and it's okay, but it's not going to have the same impact on me that Watermark did. (I came to her from the Celtic side so my experience is a little different.) It does echo her older stuff, and I don't dislike it, but I have the older stuff and I don't need similar stuff in the same vein without the emotional resonance.
I've got a male friend who is tearing up twitter about how awful this album is and how her music is the equivalent of Thomas Kinkade for music and how terrible it is that people won't tear her up for her music being mediocre and pretty like they do with Kinkade (I'm not really convinced this is a good argument in a world where the concept of basic-ness exists and applies to her music, but whatever). The most annoying part is that he's doing this in front of a (female) friend who really likes Enya and yeah, I'm just feeling the gendered nature of the whole throwing down about Enya when there are 9000000 dudes making mediocre electronic music, so why pick on Enya, who, whether you like her music or not, has made her own way and done her own thing?
posted by immlass at 9:29 AM on November 24, 2015 [3 favorites]
I've got a male friend who is tearing up twitter about how awful this album is and how her music is the equivalent of Thomas Kinkade for music and how terrible it is that people won't tear her up for her music being mediocre and pretty like they do with Kinkade (I'm not really convinced this is a good argument in a world where the concept of basic-ness exists and applies to her music, but whatever). The most annoying part is that he's doing this in front of a (female) friend who really likes Enya and yeah, I'm just feeling the gendered nature of the whole throwing down about Enya when there are 9000000 dudes making mediocre electronic music, so why pick on Enya, who, whether you like her music or not, has made her own way and done her own thing?
posted by immlass at 9:29 AM on November 24, 2015 [3 favorites]
...9000000 dudes making mediocre electronic music, so why pick on Enya...
Enya probably makes more money than all those dudes combined, as did Kinkade.
Her music is highly crafted & professional, as was Kinkade's paintings.
If she were struggling, there'd be no argument about how creative she is.
In my mind, if you stick to one way of producing something without progressing it, it ceases to be viable art and becomes commercial output.
I'd put myself somewhere in the middle between you and your friend's argument.
posted by artdrectr at 12:51 PM on November 24, 2015
Enya probably makes more money than all those dudes combined, as did Kinkade.
Her music is highly crafted & professional, as was Kinkade's paintings.
If she were struggling, there'd be no argument about how creative she is.
In my mind, if you stick to one way of producing something without progressing it, it ceases to be viable art and becomes commercial output.
I'd put myself somewhere in the middle between you and your friend's argument.
posted by artdrectr at 12:51 PM on November 24, 2015
Kinkade's paintings were neither well-crafted nor professional, from either a technical or artistic standpoint. Comparing him to Enya is like comparing Dan Brown to Stephen King.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 5:27 PM on November 24, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 5:27 PM on November 24, 2015 [2 favorites]
So I guess this is now the thread for metafilter users that lost their virginity to Enya's Watermark?
Never really thought this would be a thing...but uh...
Guilty.
posted by Jonathan Taylor Swift at 6:44 PM on November 24, 2015 [4 favorites]
Never really thought this would be a thing...but uh...
Guilty.
posted by Jonathan Taylor Swift at 6:44 PM on November 24, 2015 [4 favorites]
In my mind, if you stick to one way of producing something without progressing it, it ceases to be viable art and becomes commercial output.
Honestly, my response to this is a big fat "so what if it is?". If she wants to make commercial music, or make her style of music commercial (which is one of the things I get from the article, with the ad placement and all), there's exactly nothing wrong with that. When I gave up being a silent good girl and finally went off a bit on my friend, he was all about the positioning and the brand management stuff for dudes (which I think he meant to exclude himself from) as much as about the mediocrity of the music. I told him that the insecurity of dudes was not my problem and that if people spent more time enjoying music and less time worrying about the image of what they listened to, they'd be happier.
I'm not a huge Enya fan, but all this artistic criticism of Enya from snobby music dudes, and it does seem to be dudes, really makes me ask "who the fuck are you and why should I care what you think about music?" because it's like watching them throw tantrums because something is not explicitly for them and made to their tastes. There is more music that is to any particular individual's taste now than any person can listen to in a lifetime, so why is it a big deal that there is popular music, music that sells well, that is made to the taste of other people?
(That's a rhetorical question. With Enya, there's one reason staring us in the face. It's not the only reason, but the "it's purely on artistic grounds that I don't like her" stuff is as credible as bridge sales in Brooklyn.)
posted by immlass at 10:13 PM on November 24, 2015 [12 favorites]
Honestly, my response to this is a big fat "so what if it is?". If she wants to make commercial music, or make her style of music commercial (which is one of the things I get from the article, with the ad placement and all), there's exactly nothing wrong with that. When I gave up being a silent good girl and finally went off a bit on my friend, he was all about the positioning and the brand management stuff for dudes (which I think he meant to exclude himself from) as much as about the mediocrity of the music. I told him that the insecurity of dudes was not my problem and that if people spent more time enjoying music and less time worrying about the image of what they listened to, they'd be happier.
I'm not a huge Enya fan, but all this artistic criticism of Enya from snobby music dudes, and it does seem to be dudes, really makes me ask "who the fuck are you and why should I care what you think about music?" because it's like watching them throw tantrums because something is not explicitly for them and made to their tastes. There is more music that is to any particular individual's taste now than any person can listen to in a lifetime, so why is it a big deal that there is popular music, music that sells well, that is made to the taste of other people?
(That's a rhetorical question. With Enya, there's one reason staring us in the face. It's not the only reason, but the "it's purely on artistic grounds that I don't like her" stuff is as credible as bridge sales in Brooklyn.)
posted by immlass at 10:13 PM on November 24, 2015 [12 favorites]
I regret that I have but one favorite to give for that comment, immlass.
posted by fiercecupcake at 6:26 AM on November 25, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by fiercecupcake at 6:26 AM on November 25, 2015 [2 favorites]
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posted by Potomac Avenue at 9:12 AM on November 23, 2015 [1 favorite]