It’s hard not to picture Eithne Ní Bhraonáin entombed in velvet and surrounded by a coven of comforting witches who have trained butterflies to gently flutter their wings in rhythm with the sound of a babbling brook. Bhraonáin, who is better known by her far more easily pronounced stage name, Enya, makes music to astral-project to. In 1988, Enya had a massive, if somewhat inexplicable, hit with the song “Orinoco Flow.” At a time when Phil Collins’s “A Groovy Kind of Love” and George Michael’s “Faith” were topping the charts, “Orinoco Flow” was like a fat gust of fresh air tumbling over the Irish Sea. It blended Enya’s otherworldly voice with heavy production, world music, Celtic undertones, and a fluid rhythm quite unlike anything else out there. The song hit number one in the United Kingdom, a position it held for three weeks before ceding its title to its musical opposite—Robin Beck’s “First Time,” a hair-metal-inspired slow jam made famous in a Coca-Cola ad.

It was a turning point for the artist, who had started her career in a family band called Clannad. She had joined the group out of university at the suggestion of Nicky Ryan—Clannad’s manager, soundman, and producer. Two years and two albums later, Enya was born.

Enya is not just a person but is in fact “the triumvirate of Enya”: Enya herself composes the songs, Nicky Ryan acts as manager and arranges and produces the music, while his wife, Roma Ryan, handles lyrics. After their overwhelming success with “Orinoco Flow,” the triumvirate has gone on to record seven immensely successful studio albums. Their 1991 album, Shepherd Moons, spent 199 weeks on the US charts. The group has sold 75 million records, won four Grammy Awards and six World Music Awards, and earned Oscar and Golden Globe nominations for their work on the Lord of the Rings soundtrack (sung in Elvish, naturally).

While Enya has earned fervent fans across the globe, she prefers to live behind the music and rarely makes public appearances. She doesn’t perform live. In spite of this, she agreed to have a chat (never an “interview”) about her album, Dark Sky Island. Contrary to my hope, and perhaps your hope as well, Enya did not wear velvet or noticeable crystal adornments.

Instead she was swathed in a chic white Dior sheath dress and sat primly on a settee. Her makeup was immaculate and her hair was expertly coiffed. She is very small, with moon-white skin that she credits to the Irish weather and her heritage.

—Melissa Locker

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