Let Her Songs Sail Into Your Heart
With her blend of folk melodies, synthesized backdrops and classical motifs1, Enya created a distinctive style that more closely resembled the new age 2 than the folk music that provided her initial influences.
Enya was born on May 17, 1961 in Ireland. Enya was born into a musical family.
Her father, Leo Brennan, was the leader of a popular Irish show band; her mother was an amateur musician. Most important to Enya's career were her siblings, who formed Clannad in 1976 with several of their uncles. She left her hometown in 1980 to join Clannad.
She stayed with Clannad for two years. In 1982, she left Clannad, claiming that she was uninterested in following the pop direction the group had begun to pursue.
She hooked up with producer Nicky Ryan and lyricist Roma Ryan, with whom she recorded film and television scores3. The result was a successful album of TV music for the BBC. The soundtrack was released in 1986 as her eponymous solo album. Enya didn't receive much notice, but Enya and the Ryans' second effort, Watermark, became a surprise hit upon its release in 1988. It featured her distinctive, flowing music and multi overdubbed trancelike singing; the album sold four million copies world wide. Watermark established Enya as an international star and launched a successful career that lasted well into the'90s.
"Orinoco Flow", the first single, became a number one hit in Britain, helping the album eventually sell eight million copies worldwide. Enya spent the years following the success of Watermark rather quietly; her most notable appearance was a cameo on Sinead O'Connor's I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got. She finally released Shepherd Moons, her follow-up to Watermark, in 1991. Shepherd Moons was even more successful than its predecessor, eventually selling over ten million copies worldwide; it entered the U.S.
Charts at number 17 and remained in the Top 200 for almost four years. Again, Enya was slow to follow up on the success of Shepherd Moons, spending nearly four years working on her fourth album. The record, entitled Memory of Trees, was released in December of 1995. Memory of Trees entered the U.S. charts at number nine and sold over two million copies within its first year of release. 1997 saw the release of a greatest-hits collection, Paint the Sky with Stars: The Best of Enya, which featured two new songs. Enya's first album of new material in five years, Day Without Rain, was released in late 2000.
练习题:
Ⅰ. Translate the following Chinese words or phrases into English :
1. 她的同名独唱专辑
2. 她的同胞兄弟姐妹
3. 一段小品
4. 打进美国排行榜第二名
Ⅱ. Question:
Why did Enya leave the group named Clannad?