She's the woman with the celestial voice, a one-name wonder who's been giving us ambient anthems since 1988. Despite the mournful title of Enya's latest album, The Memory of Trees (Reprise), her new songs are as hypnotically uplifting as ever. Not exactly sing-alongs, her tunes combine Gaelic lyrics and chants with songs in English. Really, though, the words are the last thing you pay attention to. Her New Agey keyboards and impeccable studio polish create an inimitable sound. A native of Ireland, Enya was born into a musical family that spawned the band Clannad. She joined the group briefly, then left behind her smallish role as keyboardist to venture out on her own with producer Nicky Ryan. Watermark (Reprise), her second album, contained the deliciously haunting track "Orinoco Flow," which brought her into the spotlight and onto several countries' top-10 lists. Perpetually mysterious, Enya has never been one to launch a world tour or present herself to the public eye. Then again, given the extensive electronic studio tweaking of The Memory of Trees (which was two years in the making), Enya might find it difficult to slap together a live sound that meets her standards. In any case, she's an artist whose transcendental melodies cross the boundaries of New Age and Celtic folk, organic and electronic. She is reason enough for real Celtic pride.

-- Sara Stewart