Enya never used to be considered the epitome of cool. Perhaps that was due to her image as a reclusive castle dweller. Maybe it’s because she’s never played a single live show in her four-decade career. Or it could be that her music has often been snootily dismissed as the aural equivalent of a bath bomb.
But over time, the four-time GRAMMY winner born Eithne Pádraigín Ní Bhraonáin has received a deserved critical reevaluation. The modern-day consensus is that her ethereal blend of Celtic folk, classical and pioneering use of lush, multi-layered synths — developed in conjunction with long-term creative team Nicky and Roma Ryan — spearheaded a new age for, well, New Age.
She’s now talked about in the same circles as Cocteau Twins’ Elizabeth Fraser and Dead Can Dance‘s Lisa Gerrard, singers that, unlike Enya, were immediately celebrated for pushing their remarkable voices to new otherworldly places. And she’s been sampled, namechecked or championed by artists as eclectic as industrial pioneers Throbbing Gristle, death metallers Blood Incantation and the many-monikered rapper, Diddy.
In fact, think of any Enya song, and it’s no doubt been borrowed by an unlikely suspect. “Boadicea” formed the basis of Fugees‘ career-best “Ready or Not,” and rather sneakily without the hip-hop trio asking first. “Wild Child” was given the hardcore techno treatment by Eurodance duo CJ Crew. And yes, that is her most recognizable hit you can hear in the chorus of hip-hop provocateurs Die Antwoord’s “Orinoco Ninja Flow (Wedding DJ’s Remix).”
Sample or not, some musicians have been more vocal about their love of Ireland’s second-biggest music export (only U2 have sold more records worldwide) than others. As her breakthrough album, Watermark, celebrates its 35th anniversary on Sept 19, here’s a look at five.
Brandy
Brandy certainly doesn’t see Enya as a guilty pleasure. The R&B star leapt to the defense of her unlikely musical hero during a 2020 interview with The Guardian when the journalist questioned the Irish icon’s musical credibility. “Enya’s a joke to you?” she asked incredulously. “That’s not even possible. I’m a little bit offended.”
The man who’d incurred her wrath should have known that Brandy takes Enya very seriously. You can hear the Irish’ songstress’ influence throughout her enduring career, from the gorgeous multi-layered harmonies of “Full Moon” to the hypnotic chant that weaves its way through the futuristic Timbaland production of “Afrodisiac.”
“She has the voice of an angel,” Brandy gushed in the introduction for an Apple playlist personally curated to reflect her life, with Enya’s post-9/11 anthem “Only Time” appearing alongside Coldplay‘s “Yellow,” three Whitney Houston cuts, and the best of her own material. “I first discovered Enya when I was 15. I love how she layered and stacked her voice.”
Weyes Blood
Weyes Blood, aka baroque pop singer/songwriter Natalie Mering, was also forced to stick up for Enya when she was asked by The Irish Times whether her love of the New Age veteran was shrouded in irony. Her reply couldn’t have made her sincerity any clearer.
“She is a completely uninhibited feminine force,” said Mering. “A matriarchal force in music. She had so much success because of that distinctive sound. But because music people are obsessed with rock ‘n’ roll and drums, she doesn’t get the attention she deserves. If you look at her record sales, she is, in my opinion, up there with the Beatles.”
A year later, Mering waxed lyrical about the former Clannad singer in a Pitchfork piece about Enya’s growing cultural cachet. She revealed that the Watermark and Shepherd Moons albums her parents played constantly back in the 1990s were a huge influence on her own LPs, 2016’s Front Row Seat to Earth and 2019’s Titanic Rising, particularly on the former’s ballad “Generation Why.” Mering then made a claim even bolder than her Fab Four comparison: “Enya’s a drone artist, she’s like the most mainstream noise artist there ever was.”
Nicki Minaj
You wouldn’t necessarily expect an album featuring a belated riposte to Sir Mix-A-Lot‘s “Baby Got Back” to also be partly influenced by the enigmatic darling of the New Age scene. But apparently, Nicki Minaj‘s The Pinkprint does nod to Enya on at least a couple of occasions.
Discussing her 2014 LP with V magazine, Minaj said, “One of my biggest [musical influences] is Enya. There are two records early in the album where the airiness and the whimsicalness remind me of Enya, and I sort of crafted it thinking about her and the way her music makes me feel.”
And the rapper also tried to convert her son (still only known by his nickname, Papa Bear) to Enya’s studio wizardry while he was still in the womb. The rapper explained on Twitter, “While pregnant I could only play him soothing music like Enya/classical, etc. He’d be more relaxed.”
Grimes
Grimes’ fondness for the Celtic goddess appears to have developed over time. When asked about her “Enya on steroids” label early on in her career, the Canadian seemed relatively non-committal. “I probably have the ‘Best Of Enya’ somewhere,” she told NME. “I guess it makes a change from all the Cocteau Twins comparisons.”
But over the following decade, Grimes showed more appreciation for Enya’s talents. In 2013, she told Rolling Stone that her then-upcoming Art Angels album was heavily influenced by the Irishwoman’s ethereal sound, particularly closer “Butterfly” in which she layered “so much Enya synth s—.”
Five years later, Grimes included the haunting “Boadicea” on Playing Bloodborne, one of five mood-specific playlists she curated for Spotify. And during her 2022 DJ set at the Electric Daisy Carnival, Grimes no doubt confounded all the ravers expecting wall-to-wall EDM when she dropped in the geography lesson that is “Orinoco Flow.”
Perfume Genius
“I also love Enya or Cocteau Twins, where I can’t understand a word they’re saying and they’re pulling a thread that does not exist in the real world but is still so satisfying.” Perfume Genius‘ 2020 interview with The New Yorker proves that the world music icon’s influence extends the female sphere.
The singer/songwriter born Michael Alden Hadreas has repeatedly professed his admiration for Enya in recent years. “My wig has belonged to Enya since 1988,” he tweeted in 2019. “Was Enya the first to ever pop off,” he posted without any context a year later. And then in 2023, the art pop troubadour named “Caribbean Blue” as one of his 40 all-time favorite songs while joining in with the latest Twitter trend.
Hadreas’ love of Enya has undoubtedly filtered down to his own sound, too. Hear the “Orinoco Flow”-esque intro of “Just Like Love,” for example, or the celestial “Gay Angels.” Speaking to Pitchfork in 2022, he explained that the Irishwoman’s general aura is the key to her appeal — and what has helped classify her as a different kind of cool.
“There’s something about Enya being so mainstream that is really soothing to me,” he said. “Everybody knows who Enya is, but there’s also this feeling that it’s something spiritual and strange.”
The star’s unique vibe also gave Hadreas a sense of belonging — something Enya likely did for many of his peers as well. “It felt like a deeper thing, this secret, like I know that I am connected to something, and I know the way I am is OK.”
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