DARK SKY ISLAND
| Enya
DARK SKY ISLAND
Dark Sky Island is the eighth studio album from Irish singer, songwriter and musician Enya, released on 20 November 2015 by Warner Music internationally and by Reprise Records in the United States. Following the release of her 2008 album And Winter Came..., Enya took an extended break from writing and recording music until she started work on a new album in 2012 with her long time recording partners, arranger and producer Nicky Ryan and his wife, lyricist Roma Ryan. The album was inspired by the island of Sark and its recent designation as a dark-sky preserve, and a collection of Roma's poems on islands.-Wikipedia
Critic Reviews
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Pitchfork
Her songs feel sharper than they have in a long time: the textures are glassier, the ballads heartbreaking.
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Spill Magazine
This album is for two discernable demographics: sleepy quinquagenarians and yawning infants. In this way, and this way only, Dark Sky Island is a universal piece of art.
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Drowned in Sound
Yes, Dark Sky Island’s mix of Irish folk, choral music, pianos, synths and vocals with more layers than a 50 foot gobstopper; but the music of Enya is impervious to outside influences: if she didn’t continue to make it, then nobody else would.
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New Age Music
I had high hopes for Dark Sky Island, Enya’s eight studio album. Having listened to it for months, I’m happy to say that the album does not disappoint in any way. On the contrary; Dark Sky Island is a worthy comeback. She has given her millions of fans another masterpiece to enjoy.
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The telegraph
her starry spell still works
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Irish Times
The album, however, also reveals a profound and expansive meditation on nature, and our relationship to it, reaching back to earlier work such as 1991’s Shepherd Moons.
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Observer
I mean, it’s almost sacred, it’s the sound of the Earth humming as it always has in the imagination of anyone who has looked at a sky scarred by an opal pink sunset, it’s the stars and the very soil itself om-mane-pading in harmony.
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Music OMH
A big part of Enya’s appeal is an apparent imperviousness to the outside world and to the passing of time. Throughout the words favour natural imagery over the material world, and the keyboard settings seem unchanged since time immemorial.
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The Guardian
an inconsistent but enjoyable trip to another world
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All Music
While it would be unfair to call Dark Sky Island a throwback, it does manage to harness some of the power and creativity of Enya's early days and pairs it with both the confidence and shadows of age.
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The Atlantic
But maybe not. Maybe Enya can soothe a weary, overworked, smartphone-addicted, EDM-exhausted populace with her Latin chants and Gaelic grace. Regardless, she’s back, and as the woman herself would say, hallelujah.
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Evening Standard
magnificent in every sense
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The New York Times
She’s eternally consonant, bringing melodies that are steeped in hymn, lullaby, waltz, Baroque opera and Celtic tradition, all radiating a free-floating reverence.
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A Frame Around Infinity
Dark Sky Island is a worthy addition to Enya’s catalogue of music – a new personal favourite that I anticipate replaying many days – and nights – and years to come.
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Journeyscapes
There is simply little doubt that Enya is the gold standard when it comes to ethereal perfection, and although I felt her later efforts overall lacked the magic of her earlier works, I am pleased to say that Dark Sky Island is undoubtedly classic Enya in every sense.
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A Bit of Pop Music
Overall, Enya once again manages to create a unique atmosphere that makes her music into an experience.
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RAINNREVIEWS
Honestly, this is a great album; it’s not more of the same and it’s different enough to hold on it’s on.
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The Arts Desk
Despite the soft focus, eighth album sticks with laser-like precision to the middle of the road
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The McGill Tribune
Nonetheless, the songs, while a tad restrained, are meticulously crafted—as are her vocals—and the general vibe of the album is, as always, other-wordly.
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Edmonton Journal
Even though Dark Sky Island isn’t a Christmas album, it sounds a lot like one — tinseled with floating rhythms, pious melodies and reverb-laden strings, chimes and vocals.
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El Broide
This is the Enya we know and love. Filled wit melodic harmonies, haunting vocals and a crisp, soft production, Enya delivers some of the fantastic Celtic music. Enya’s voice is the star of this album.
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Daviess County Public Library
Dark Sky Island is one of Enya’s best albums, certainly better than her previous two, and is a refreshing evolution of her style.
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Nickopolypse Blog
That near formlessness, with nothing on the horizon is both Dark Sky Island’s charm, and its troubles. On one hand, these forty-two minutes of ambient beauty of synth and outrageous amounts of reverberation are a non-stop trip during which the only rough are subtle waves throughout, but on the converse, so little happens that songs are difficult to differentiate.
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Music 2 Meditate
As such a talented composer, however, she’s failed to exhibit any real sense of variety or creativity in the last decade. Dark Sky Island perpetuates that cycle. That said, ‘Even In The Shadows,’ ‘I Could Never Say Goodbye,’ and ‘Sancta Maria’ are admirably good songs.
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Rolling Stone
All in all, there's enough warm reassurance to last for a while, though maybe not seven more years.
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Daily Vault
There are no great leaps of faith here, but the moods and textures are well thought out and constructed and should find a nice place in her ever increasing body of work.
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Tune Groover
Enya’s new album does not disappoint. ... There are new sounds if you listen keenly, a new journey and as always, a new story.
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