December 28, 1 9 9 5 - January 4, 1 9 9 6

*** Enya

THE MEMORY OF TREES

(Reprise)

. Sporadic though her releases may be -- her previous album, the multi-platinum Shepherd's Moon, came out in 1991 -- Enya is an enigma with a style hard to shake from memory. Her ethereal, Celtic-flavored orchestral new-age music hypnotizes without being boring. On The Memory of Trees, her fourth album, she keeps her familiar elements close at hand -- mellow, highly produced choral tunes perfectly suited to her high, light, angelic voice. The ethnic flavor (and words) she lends to songs like "Athair Ar Neamh" come naturally to a former member of Clannad, and the lack of electronic musical wizardry saves her pretty, airy tunes from the vapid. Much of Trees is the same stuff that sold millions before, from the moving, breathy instrumentals (title track and "Tea-House Moon") to the rousing, anthemic pounding of "Anywhere Is." If you can pick lyrics from her gauzy Cocteau Twins-like voice, they generally have to do with beauty, or love, or scenery, and they're not saccharine, but who's paying attention to the lyrics? Enya's transporting dream songs speak in all languages.

-- Randee Dawn Cohen