by Dave Franklin

Created on: February 04, 2007   Last Updated: May 09, 2007

I must be going through a bit of a mellower stage of life at the moment, hot on the heels of a Loreena McKennitt review comes one for Enya, probably the best known artist working in the same hard to categorise musical field. Like Loreena McKennitt, Enya mixes a range of musical styles, and even languages, to create her own beautiful musical tapestry. Both women borrow from a wide range of cultures from around the world and don't even limit themselves to the here and now, delving back in time as the need arises to create soundscapes full of mystery and timeless wonder. Enya, as I said, is probable seen as the ambassador for this genre and since the release of Watermark in 1988 has sold 44 million album, received a handful Grammy nominations (and two wins) and has managed to propel herself to the position of most successful female solo artist in her homeland of Ireland. Although it becomes difficult to separate one from the other Enya the vocalist is not the same as Enya the band, indeed the vocalist is always credited with her given name, Eithne N Bhraonin Although always regarded as purely a solo affair, the albums released under her more manageable professional name are the collaboration between the high profile vocalist herself, producer Nicky Ryan and lyricist Roma Ryan. By her own admission without any of them Enya would not exist. This album is a "best of" collection and was released in 1997 and so is a collection of the tracks found on Watermark, Shepherds Moon and Memory of Trees as well as The Celts, a pre-Watermark sound track to a T.V. documentary, which was re-mastered and released in its own right in 1992.

Best of albums are great as a furtive dip into the watery depths of an artist, and Paint the Sky is ideal for that. Fourteen tracks outline the ex-Clannad members career (I told myself I wasn't going to mention her former band, oh well) and two new creations that sound as if they were big hits for her anyway.

The album opens, quite rightly, with Orinoco Flow, this is after all where it all began, the one that got the girl noticed and marked her out for great things. An almost pop induced collection of classical cellos, piano and modern keyboards provide a platform for this nautical journey that takes us

From Bissau to Palau - in the shade of Avalon,
From Fiji to Tiree and the Isles of Ebony,
From Peru to Cebu hear the power of Babylon,
From Bali to Cali - far beneath the Coral Sea

and Orinoco Flow appears to relate to the name of a boat and a long dreamt

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