Since her 1987 debut, Ireland’s enigmatic new-age megastar Enya has shifted 80m albums of gently bubbling, multilayered ethereal pop. Needless to say, her ninth album, and first for seven years, doesn’t exactly mess with the tried and tested formula, offering up 11 variations on the sweepingly dramatic. There’s genuine beauty nestled among the perpetually unfashionable folky arrangements, not least on the delicately sighing So I Could Find My Way and the relatively robust Even In The Shadows. In fact, the first half is full of pockets of gently unfurling prettiness, which makes the meandering and repetitive second half all the more disappointing, the nadir being The Loxian Gate’s wordless nonsense. Overall though, this is a surprisingly enjoyable trip to another world.
