Amarantine (album)
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''Amarantine'' is the sixth studio album by Irish singer-songwriter and musician
Enya Enya Patricia Brennan (; ga, Eithne Pádraigín Ní Bhraonáin; born 17 May 1961), known professionally by the mononym Enya, is an Irish singer, songwriter, and musician known for modern Celtic music. She is the best-selling Irish solo arti ...
, released on 21 November 2005 by
Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...
internationally and by Reprise Records in the United States the next day. Following the release of her 2002 compilation box set ''
Only Time – The Collection ''Only Time: The Collection'' is a box set from Irish singer, songwriter and musician Enya, released in November 2002. The set contains 51 tracks across four discs that spans her 1987 debut album ''Enya'' through her 2002 single "May It Be". A 48 ...
'', Enya took a short break before she started work on a new album in September 2003, her first since ''
A Day Without Rain ''A Day Without Rain'' is the fifth studio album by the Irish singer, songwriter and musician Enya, released on 20 November 2000 by WEA. Following a promotional tour in support of her compilation album ''Paint the Sky with Stars'' (1997), Enya ...
'' (2000). ''Amarantine'' was recorded in Ireland with her longtime recording partners, arranger and producer
Nicky Ryan Nicholas Dominick Ryan (born 14 July 1946) is an Irish music producer, recording engineer, and manager. He is best known as the longtime business and recording partner for the singer, songwriter and musician Enya alongside his wife, poet and lyri ...
and his wife, lyricist
Roma Ryan Roma Shane Ryan (born 20 January 1954 in Belfast) is an Irish writer, poet, and lyricist, currently living in Killiney, Ireland, with her husband Nicky Ryan. Ryan is the primary lyricist for the singer Enya, who has stated that the importance of ...
. It is Enya's first album not to include a song in Irish and her first to include songs sung in Japanese and Loxian, a fictional language created by Roma. ''Amarantine'' received mixed reviews from critics, but it was a commercial success and reached No. 6 on the ''Billboard'' 200 in the United States, where it sold one million copies in its first month of release, and No. 8 on the
UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...
. Enya released two singles from the album, " Amarantine" and " It's in the Rain". A Christmas Special Edition was released on the album's one year anniversary. To promote the album, Enya did several interviews and televised performances, including the 2006 World Music Awards. In 2007, the album won Enya her fourth
Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...
for Best New Age Album. According to Nielsen SoundScan, it was the third top selling new age album of the 2000s in the United States.


Recording and music

After the release of her box set ''
Only Time – The Collection ''Only Time: The Collection'' is a box set from Irish singer, songwriter and musician Enya, released in November 2002. The set contains 51 tracks across four discs that spans her 1987 debut album ''Enya'' through her 2002 single "May It Be". A 48 ...
'' in November 2002, Enya took several months off from writing, recording, and releasing music. She resumed in September 2003 to start work on ''Amarantine'', her first studio album since her commercially successful 2000 release, ''
A Day Without Rain ''A Day Without Rain'' is the fifth studio album by the Irish singer, songwriter and musician Enya, released on 20 November 2000 by WEA. Following a promotional tour in support of her compilation album ''Paint the Sky with Stars'' (1997), Enya ...
''. She worked with her longtime recording partners, producer and arranger
Nicky Ryan Nicholas Dominick Ryan (born 14 July 1946) is an Irish music producer, recording engineer, and manager. He is best known as the longtime business and recording partner for the singer, songwriter and musician Enya alongside his wife, poet and lyri ...
and his wife, lyricist
Roma Ryan Roma Shane Ryan (born 20 January 1954 in Belfast) is an Irish writer, poet, and lyricist, currently living in Killiney, Ireland, with her husband Nicky Ryan. Ryan is the primary lyricist for the singer Enya, who has stated that the importance of ...
. Recording took place at Aigle Studio, a facility installed at the Ryan's home in
Killiney Killiney () is an affluent seaside resort and suburb in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, Ireland. It lies south of neighbouring Dalkey, east of Ballybrack and Sallynoggin and north of Shankill. The place grew around the 11th century Killiney Churc ...
,
County Dublin "Action to match our speech" , image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Dublin.svg , map_alt = map showing County Dublin as a small area of darker green on the east coast within the lighter green background of ...
in Ireland. Enya adopted a five-day working schedule to work on the album, working from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and taking weekends off. The album was dedicated to
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
producer
Tony McAuley Tony McAuley (24 October 1939 – 7 June 2003) was a Northern Irish broadcaster, producer and musician. Biography Early life and education McAuley was born Anthony on 24 October 1939 to a chemist from Cookstown, County Tyrone. Tony was the nep ...
, who commissioned Enya to compose the soundtrack to the 1987 BBC documentary series '' The Celts'' which was subsequently released as her debut album, ''
Enya Enya Patricia Brennan (; ga, Eithne Pádraigín Ní Bhraonáin; born 17 May 1961), known professionally by the mononym Enya, is an Irish singer, songwriter, and musician known for modern Celtic music. She is the best-selling Irish solo arti ...
'' (1987). McAuley died in 2003. The album was Enya's first of her career not to include a song sung in Gaelic, her first language. " Amarantine" is a love song, of which its title is a word that Enya said addresses the idea of everlasting and love. Roma had used the word in "Flora's Secret" on ''A Day Without Rain'', which in its lyric was spelled "amaranthine". In her notes about the song, Roma wrote the track is "a song of sadness", adding: "for how else can one describe such sorrow? Not knowing where a loved one is, not knowing how they are, not knowing how to find them". The idea of returning home after a long journey is what "Long Long Journey" was written about, and is a theme Enya has covered across her career. The lyrics to "Sumiregusa" are inspired by
hokku is the opening stanza of a Japanese orthodox collaborative linked poem, '' renga'', or of its later derivative, '' renku'' (''haikai no renga''). From the time of Matsuo Bashō (1644–1694), the ''hokku'' began to appear as an independent poem, ...
, the opening stanza to the Japanese form of poetry
renga ''Renga'' (, ''linked verse'') is a genre of Japanese collaborative poetry in which alternating stanzas, or ''ku (''句), of 5-7-5 and 7-7 mora (sound units, not to be confused with syllables) per line are linked in succession by multiple poets. ...
and
renku , or , is a Japanese form of popular collaborative linked verse poetry. It is a development of the older Japanese poetic tradition of ''ushin'' renga, or orthodox collaborative linked verse. At renku gatherings participating poets take turns provi ...
, written by the poet Matsuo Bashō who once felt his heart leap "at the sight of a wild violet". The theme of sadness is revisited on "Someone Said Goodbye", a song about one reflecting on life, which at times may bring on sad feelings. "A Moment Lost" addressed two ideas: the regretful feeling of words spoken at times of anger by a loved one that leave a mark on one's heart, and a song of love that in turn heals it and forgives. "Drifting" is an instrumental that developed from a piano melody, typical of Enya's other instrumental tracks. According to Roma, "Amid Falling Snow" is inspired by a child or a person's amazement of seeing snowfall for the first time, and Christmas time in general. ''Amarantine'' features Enya singing in two new languages for the first time. "Sumiregusa (Wild Violet)" is sung in Japanese, and its opening bars are taken from an arrangement of the hymn "Hark! The Vesper Hymn Is Stealing" by the Irish composer
John Andrew Stevenson Sir John Andrew Stevenson (November 1761 – 14 September 1833) was an Irish composer. He is best known for his piano arrangements of ''Irish Melodies'' with poet Thomas Moore. He was granted an honorary doctorate by the University of Dublin an ...
. The album also marks the creation of Loxian, a
fictional language Fictional languages are the subset of constructed languages (conlangs) that have been created as part of a fictional setting (e.g. for use in a book, movie, television show, or video game). Typically they are the creation of one individual, while ...
created by Roma Ryan during the development of "Water Shows the Hidden Heart". The track tells the story of a man who is looking for "whom he loves and has lost" and the emotions he experiences. Attempts to sing the song with a set of English, Gaelic and Latin lyrics did not provide results strong enough, causing Roma to suggest the idea of a new language, inspired by the fictional
Elvish languages Elvish languages are constructed languages used by Elves in a fantasy setting. The philologist and fantasy author J. R. R. Tolkien created the first of these languages, including Quenya and Sindarin. Tolkien's Elvish languages The philologist ...
by author
J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlins ...
that she had used for Enya's songs "
May It Be "May It Be" is a song by Irish recording artist Enya. It was composed by Enya and Roma Ryan for Peter Jackson's 2001 film '' The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring''. The song entered the German Singles Chart at number one in 2002 a ...
" and " Aníron" for '' The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring'' (2001), and the wordless sounds Enya made while singing to the songs she was working on in the studio. Roma said she created words for Enya's voice "so the poetry of the lyrics sit on the curves of the music", and initially named it Errakan. The idea was a success, which led its name changing to Loxian, and Roma creating a culture and history behind it that concerned the Loxians, a race of another planet who question the existence of life on another. Enya took a liking to the language, and sung "Less Than a Pearl" and "The River Sings" in Loxian. Roma described the latter track as a song whereby the Loxians "send their words out into the night ... expressing their quest to discover if they are alone in the universe". In December 2005, Roma released a book about Loxian titled ''Water Shows the Hidden Heart''.


Release and reception

An album launch party was held on 27 October 2005 at
Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte The Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte (English: Palace of Vaux-le-Vicomte) is a Baroque French château located in Maincy, near Melun, southeast of Paris in the Seine-et-Marne department of Île-de-France. Built between 1658 and 1661 for Nicolas Fo ...
in Maincy, France. The album was first released on 21 November 2005 by
Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...
internationally Enter "Amarantine" in the field 'Keywords'. Select 'Title' in the field 'Search by'. Select 'Album' in the field 'By Format'. Click 'Search'. and on 22 November 2005 by Reprise Records in the United States. In addition to the standard version, a Christmas special edition was released on 21 November 2006 that included a second disc of four Christmas songs: " Adeste, Fideles", "The Magic of the Night", "
We Wish You a Merry Christmas "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" is an English Christmas carol, listed as numbers 230 and 9681 in the Roud Folk Song Index. The famous version of the carol is from the English West Country The West Country (occasionally Westcountry) is ...
" and "Christmas Secrets". These four tracks were released as an
extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.
named '' Sounds of the Season with Enya'' in the United States and ''Christmas Secrets EP'' in Canada. A deluxe collector's edition followed on 27 November 2006 that contained the album, the second edition of the book ''Water Shows the Hidden Heart'' by Roma Ryan, and three exclusive photos. The album became a worldwide chart success, reaching its peak of number 8 on the
UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...
during its first week on the chart out of a total 13-week run. and number 6 on the ''Billboard'' 200 in the United States during a 33-week stay on the chart. On the ''Billboard'' Top New-Age Albums chart, ''Amarantine'' spent 38 weeks at number one. In November 2008, the album had sold 1,344,593 certified units in the United States. In September 2004, "Sumiregusa (Wild Violet)" was released as a single in Japan as part of a television advertising campaign for
Panasonic formerly between 1935 and 2008 and the first incarnation of between 2008 and 2022, is a major Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation, headquartered in Kadoma, Osaka. It was founded by Kōnosuke Matsushita in 1918 as a lightbulb ...
. ''Amarantine'' received mixed reviews from music critics. At
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an
average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7 ...
score of 55, which indicates "mixed or average reviews", based on 7 reviews. Sarah Tomlinson wrote a positive review in ''
The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...
'', remarking that the album displays Enya's "trademark dreamy elegance". A review from Daniel Durchholz was published in ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'', with Durchholz welcoming the use of Japanese and Loxian lyrics as he noted Roma's English lyrics "are often banal", but wrote "What's left is the music's epic sweep and the crystalline beauty of Enya's voice. Neither is insubstantial, nor particularly arresting ... Enya succeeds here in crafting the perfect soundtrack to an evening by the fire". In a review for the
Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...
published in ''
The Daily Herald ''Herald'' or ''The Herald'' is the name of various newspapers. ''Herald'' or ''The Herald'' Australia * ''The Herald'' (Adelaide) and several similar names (1894–1924), a South Australian Labor weekly, then daily * '' Barossa and Light Heral ...
'', Matt Moore wrote that like her previous albums, ''Amarantine'' is "haunting and ethereal, with music that undulates in soft, almost shimmering fashion". The songs, he thought, are "a welcome offering of soft yet rhythmic vocals, lush instrumentation and lyrics", which make up a "decidedly satisfying" album that does not break any new ground but nonetheless "excels at setting the mood". Jeff Miers in ''
The Buffalo News ''The Buffalo News'' is the daily newspaper of the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area, located in downtown Buffalo, New York. It recently sold its headquarters to Uniland Development Corp. It was for decades the only paper fully owned by W ...
'' gave the album three stars out of four, writing the album "Does nothing to modify or update the formula ... Why should it? ... She does what she's good at, which is conjure mystical dream worlds bathed in multitracked vocal harmonies and enough reverb to make
Phil Spector Harvey Phillip Spector (born Harvey Philip Spector; December 26, 1939January 16, 2021) was an American record producer and songwriter, best known for his innovative recording practices and entrepreneurship in the 1960s, followed decades later by ...
nervous". To Miers the songs sound "ancient" in their melodic construction with a sound that he compared to a "Celtic Brian Eno". He concluded with "It's all very beautiful, like the best church music". The album was given a "C+" rating by Christopher Blagg in ''
The Boston Herald The ''Boston Herald'' is an American daily newspaper whose primary market is Boston, Massachusetts, and its surrounding area. It was founded in 1846 and is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the United States. It has been awarded eight Puli ...
''. "Drifting" received a
Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...
nomination for
Best Pop Instrumental Performance The Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by m ...
.


Track listing

All music by
Enya Enya Patricia Brennan (; ga, Eithne Pádraigín Ní Bhraonáin; born 17 May 1961), known professionally by the mononym Enya, is an Irish singer, songwriter, and musician known for modern Celtic music. She is the best-selling Irish solo arti ...
, all lyrics by
Roma Ryan Roma Shane Ryan (born 20 January 1954 in Belfast) is an Irish writer, poet, and lyricist, currently living in Killiney, Ireland, with her husband Nicky Ryan. Ryan is the primary lyricist for the singer Enya, who has stated that the importance of ...
, and all tracks produced by
Nicky Ryan Nicholas Dominick Ryan (born 14 July 1946) is an Irish music producer, recording engineer, and manager. He is best known as the longtime business and recording partner for the singer, songwriter and musician Enya alongside his wife, poet and lyri ...
, except " Adeste, Fideles" and "
We Wish You a Merry Christmas "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" is an English Christmas carol, listed as numbers 230 and 9681 in the Roud Folk Song Index. The famous version of the carol is from the English West Country The West Country (occasionally Westcountry) is ...
" traditional, arr. Enya and N. Ryan.


Personnel

Credits are adapted from the album's 2006 liner notes. Musicians *
Enya Enya Patricia Brennan (; ga, Eithne Pádraigín Ní Bhraonáin; born 17 May 1961), known professionally by the mononym Enya, is an Irish singer, songwriter, and musician known for modern Celtic music. She is the best-selling Irish solo arti ...
– vocals, instruments Production * Enya – arrangement, mixing *
Nicky Ryan Nicholas Dominick Ryan (born 14 July 1946) is an Irish music producer, recording engineer, and manager. He is best known as the longtime business and recording partner for the singer, songwriter and musician Enya alongside his wife, poet and lyri ...
– production, arrangement, engineering, mixing, conceptual cover design, inner sleeve design and artwork, layout *
Roma Ryan Roma Shane Ryan (born 20 January 1954 in Belfast) is an Irish writer, poet, and lyricist, currently living in Killiney, Ireland, with her husband Nicky Ryan. Ryan is the primary lyricist for the singer Enya, who has stated that the importance of ...
– Loxian language and font, lyrics (except "Adeste, Fideles" and "We Wish You a Merry Christmas") * Dick Beetham – mastering at 360 Mastering, London * Daniel Polley – digital technical adviser, engineering * Simon Fowler – photography * Ebony Ryan – conceptual cover design, inner sleeve design, layout * Persia Ryan – inner sleeve artwork * Intro – cover and inner sleeve production


Charts


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


Certifications and sales


Release history


References

Sources *


External links


Enya's website

Loxian on the BBC


* {{Authority control Enya albums 2005 albums Grammy Award for Best New Age Album Reprise Records albums