— Ch. 1 · The Weight Of A Dream —
Shepherd Moons.
~4 min read · Ch. 1 of 5
Enya sat in a studio on the 4th of November 1991, holding an album that would soon sell millions. The date marked the release of Shepherd Moons, her third studio record following the massive success of Watermark. That previous album had become an unexpected global hit with its international top-ten single Orinoco Flow. Enya spent much of the year after 1988 traveling to promote it through interviews and performances. She felt the priority was to return to the studio rather than plan another concert tour. Recreating her studio sound live proved difficult for her team. The success of Watermark complicated the writing process at first. Enya recalled putting a lot of pressure on herself during those early days. When composing new melodies she kept asking if they were as good as what came before. Eventually she had to forget about charts and how much she sold. It felt like Watermark was a dream that had not really happened.
Layers Of Sound And Silence
Aigle Studio stood in Artane, a northern suburb of Dublin, where much of the recording took place. Nicky Ryan and his wife Roma Ryan managed this facility from their home. The equipment there lacked the correct tools to complete final mixing and mastering. Production teams relocated to SARM West Studios in London to finish the work. Gregg Jackman handled additional engineering and mixing for tracks like How Can I Keep from Singing? and Book of Days. Andy Duncan played percussion on Book of Days while Roy Jewitt added clarinet parts to Angeles. Liam O'Flionn contributed uilleann pipes to Smaointe... Steve Sidwell performed cornet on Evacuee. Nicky himself played percussion on Ebudae. Enya recorded 500 layered voices without using sampling or replication techniques. She noticed her attitude changed when it came to recording Shepherd Moons because she mellowed out. This shift allowed greater time away from the studio during difficult moments. Several months after recording finished Enya had not yet listened to the album. She found any excuse not to hear it because finishing made her feel miserable with fear.