Amarantine (album)
Amarantine | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by | ||||
Released | 21 November 2005 | |||
Recorded | September 2003 – September 2005 | |||
Studio | Aigle Studio, Killiney, County Dublin, Ireland | |||
Genre | New-age | |||
Length | 45:30 (standard edition) 60:29 (special christmas edition) | |||
Label |
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Producer | Nicky Ryan | |||
Enya chronology | ||||
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Singles from Amarantine | ||||
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Amarantine is the sixth studio album by Irish singer-songwriter and musician
Amarantine received mixed reviews from critics, but it was a commercial success and reached No. 6 on the
Recording and music
After the release of her box set
The album was Enya's first of her career not to include a song sung in Irish, her first language.[5] "Amarantine" is a love song, of which its title is a word that Enya said addresses the idea of everlasting and love.[6] Roma first used the word in "Flora's Secret" on A Day Without Rain, where it was spelt as "amaranthine".[7] In her notes about the song, Roma wrote the track is "a song of sadness", adding: "for how else can one describe such sorrow? Not knowing where a loved one is, not knowing how they are, not knowing how to find them".[7] The idea of returning home after a long journey is what "Long Long Journey" was written about, and is a theme Enya has covered across her career.[7] The lyrics to "Sumiregusa" are inspired by hokku, the opening stanza to the Japanese form of poetry renga and renku, written by the poet Matsuo Bashō who once felt his heart leap "at the sight of a wild violet".[7] The theme of sadness is revisited on "Someone Said Goodbye", a song about one reflecting on life, which at times may bring on sad feelings.[7] "A Moment Lost" addressed two ideas: the regretful feeling of words spoken at times of anger by a loved one that leave a mark on one's heart, and a song of love that in turn heals it and forgives.[7] "Drifting" is an instrumental that developed from a piano melody, typical of Enya's other instrumental tracks. According to Roma, "Amid Falling Snow" is inspired by a child or a person's amazement of seeing snowfall for the first time, and Christmas time in general.[7]
Amarantine features Enya singing in two languages for the first time. "Sumiregusa (Wild Violet)" is sung in Japanese, and its opening bars are taken from an arrangement of the hymn "Hark! The Vesper Hymn Is Stealing" by the Irish composer
Release and reception
Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 55/100[10] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [11] |
Billboard | mixed[10] |
E! Online | C[10] |
Entertainment.ie | [12] |
Entertainment Weekly | C[13] |
The New York Times | unfavorable[14] |
Uncut | [10] |
USA Today | [15] |
An album launch party was held on 27 October 2005 at
The album became a worldwide chart success, reaching its peak of number 8 on the UK Albums Chart during its first week on the chart out of a total 13-week run.[21] and number 6 on the Billboard 200 in the United States during a 33-week stay on the chart.[22] On the Billboard Top New-Age Albums chart, Amarantine spent 38 weeks at number one.[23][24] In November 2008, the album had sold 1,344,593 certified units in the United States.[25] In September 2004, "Sumiregusa (Wild Violet)" was released as a single in Japan as part of a television advertising campaign for Panasonic.
Amarantine received mixed reviews from music critics. At
"Drifting" received a
Track listing
All music by
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Less Than a Pearl" | 3:44 |
2. | "Amarantine" | 3:11 |
3. | "It's in the Rain" | 4:08 |
4. | "If I Could Be Where You Are" | 4:01 |
5. | "The River Sings" | 2:50 |
6. | "Long Long Journey" | 3:16 |
7. | "Sumiregusa (Wild Violet)" | 4:42 |
8. | "Someone Said Goodbye" | 4:00 |
9. | "A Moment Lost" | 3:09 |
10. | "Drifting" | 4:11 |
11. | "Amid the Falling Snow" | 3:38 |
12. | "Water Shows the Hidden Heart" | 4:40 |
Total length: | 45:30 |
3:58 | ||
2. | "The Magic of the Night" | 3:34 |
---|---|---|
3. | "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" | 3:40 |
4. | "Christmas Secret" | 3:47 |
Total length: | 60:29 |
Personnel
Credits are adapted from the album's 2006 liner notes.[32]
Musicians
- Enya – vocals, instruments
Production
- Enya – arrangement, mixing
- Nicky Ryan – production, arrangement, engineering, mixing, conceptual cover design, inner sleeve design and artwork, layout
- Roma Ryan – Loxian language and font, lyrics (except "Adeste, Fideles" and "We Wish You a Merry Christmas")
- Dick Beetham – mastering at 360 Mastering, London
- Daniel Polley – digital technical adviser, engineering
- Simon Fowler – photography
- Ebony Ryan – conceptual cover design, inner sleeve design, layout
- Persia Ryan – inner sleeve artwork
- Intro – cover and inner sleeve production
Charts
Weekly charts
|
Year-end charts
|
Certifications and sales
‹See Tfd›‹See Tfd›Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Argentina (CAPIF)[75] | Gold | 20,000^ |
Australia (ARIA)[76] | Platinum | 70,000^ |
Belgium (BEA)[77] | Platinum | 50,000* |
Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil)[78] | Gold | 50,000* |
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[79] | Gold | 20,000^ |
France ( SNEP)[80]
|
Platinum | 300,000* |
Germany (BVMI)[81] | 2× Platinum | 400,000^ |
Hungary (MAHASZ)[82] | Gold | 5,000^ |
Ireland (IRMA)[83] | Platinum | 15,000^ |
Italy 2006 sales |
— | 120,000[84] |
Japan (RIAJ)[85] | 2× Platinum | 500,000^ |
Mexico (AMPROFON)[86] | Gold | 50,000^ |
Netherlands (NVPI)[87] | Gold | 40,000^ |
New Zealand (RMNZ)[88] | Platinum | 15,000^ |
Poland (ZPAV)[90] | Gold | 14,000[89] |
Portugal (AFP)[91] | Platinum | 20,000^ |
South Korea | — | 6,810[92] |
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[93] | Gold | 40,000^ |
Sweden (GLF)[94] | Gold | 30,000^ |
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[95] | 2× Platinum | 80,000^ |
United Kingdom (BPI)[96] | Platinum | 300,000^ |
United States (RIAA)[97] | Platinum | 1,000,000^ |
Summaries | ||
Europe (IFPI)[98] | Platinum | 1,000,000* |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |
Release history
Country | Date | Edition | Format(s) | Label | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Various | 21 November 2005 | Standard | Warner Bros. | [99] | |
United States | 22 November 2005 | Reprise | [100] | ||
Various | 21 November 2006 | Special Christmas | Warner Bros. | [101] | |
United States | 14 July 2017 | Standard | LP | Reprise | [102] |
Europe | 12 October 2018 | Warner Bros. | [103] |
References
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- ^ Ryan 2005, p. Foreword.
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- ^ AllMusic review
- ^ Entertainment.ie review
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Sources
- Ryan, Roma (2005). Water Shows the Hidden Heart. Valley-Dwellers. ISBN 978-0-955-20110-3.
External links
- Enya's website
- Loxian on the BBC
- "Amarantine" press release
- Amarantine at Discogs (list of releases)