- Title: UK: Just in time for Christmas, record-selling artist Enya releases new album
- Date: 19th December 2008
- Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (RECENT) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) ENYA, SAYING "I'm always able to focus firstly on music, that's important to me, so my advice is that you should really think if it's possible that people who you trust that are surrounding you and then every step that you have to make a decision about think about, does it suit you as a person."
- Embargoed: 3rd January 2009 14:08
- Keywords:
- Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment
- Reuters ID: LVA49QGPDSLURY0Q52977RJAVW2B
- Aspect Ratio: 4:3
- Story Text: She has sold more records than Madonna and has just released her seventh studio album 'And Winter Came'. Enya talks about winter songs, P Diddy and advice for the young.
Twenty years after emerging with her landmark album 'Watermark', top-selling artist Enya released her seventh studio album 'And Winter Came'.
The first single taken from the album is 'Trains and Winter Rains'. Her phenomenally successful career has encompassed 70 million album sales and four Grammy awards.
The album, which took two years to make, was originally envisioned as a Christmas album, but as recording progressed it became clear that a broader seasonal theme had emerged:
"To me I would always say that there is a spirituality kind of feeling to the music more than religious. And I think it's because the melodies to me go very personal, I'm a very private person but this is where I will share my emotions with the listeners. "
Enya is one of the world's biggest-selling female solo artists. In her career spanning two decades she however released relatively few records:
"I think it's known that between every album there is quite a few years and I think it's about two to three years between each album and to me it's something...I can never rush an album just for the sake of it and the record company has been very understanding to that because of the way I work and I suppose within twenty years only seven albums it's not a lot of albums for an artist. But I've always felt that it's really important the end result of the albums to me and I like to be able to stand back sometimes from the music, leave the studio and then come back sometimes and you can then be a critic of your own music so I enjoy that challenge.
Enya's 1987 debut album sees her perform songs in English and Gaeilge but it failed to cause much of a stir until almost a decade later when the track Boadicea was sampled by The Fugees on the single 'Ready or Not'.
Interest in the song didn't end there, and soon Enya picked up the phone to none other than P Diddy who requested permission to use the track on the Mario Winan's single 'I don't wanna know'.
"We said yes we're happy to work with him and his song and he said anytime he could help he would come along and add vocals to my album if it was required and I said we'll hold you to that."
In her successful twenty-year career in the music business, Enya has never gone off the rails - so what advice would she have for the likes of Amy Winehouse and Britney Spears?
"I'm always able to focus firstly on music, that's important to me, so my advice is that you should really think if it's possible that people who you trust that are surrounding you and then every step that you have to make a decision about think about, does it suit you as a person."
"And Winter Came" is out now. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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