A Day Without Rain Tracks
1. A Day Without Rain
2. Wild Child
3. Only Time
4. Tempus Vernum
5. Deora Ar Mo Chroi
6. Flora's Secret
7. Fallen Embers
8. Silver Inches
9. Pilgrim
10. One By One
11. Lazy Days
A Day Without Rain Review
As each new Enya release has washed over all who have ears to hear, as each heaven-touched work leaves admirers sitting speechless in slack-jawed wonder, questions eventually come to mind: Might her layered, choral-like approach gradually become predictable or stale? Will she ever exhaust her deep reservoir of soul-stirring ideas? Remarkably, A Day Without Rain, Enya's fourth release since her 1988 breakthrough, Watermark, establishes new artistic heights for the gifted Irish vocalist and keyboardist. The project, polished and refined over a five-year period in the company of longtime collaborators Nicky Ryan (producer) and Roma Ryan (lyricist), may qualify as her best yet--a radiant, beatific collection of works that command attention with their cathedral-like resonance as they soothe your spirit with some of Enya's loveliest, most graceful voicings ever. The disc's opening three tracks (including the spellbinding "Only Time") form a gorgeous trilogy that suggest Enya has deepened her focus on the nexus where sophisticated pop and regal mysticism, the twin rivers of her singular sound, form a seamless intersection. The disc's gentle timbre is disturbed only once, and in memorable fashion, with "Tempus Vernum," a marshalling of mythic sonic forces that brings to mind the theme from the De Beers diamond commercial, but with a Celtic/Goth edge. Additional highlights abound. The closing "Lazy Days" will leave your soul dancing in a shower of flower petals and sunshine. A wonderful recording. --Terry Wood
The title track, "A Day Without Rain" is basically a short intro with a lovely piano and string section accompanied by Enya's trademark humming. Beautiful melody line. "Wild Child" was another single to be released from this album, it went to #72 in the UK. The continuous plucking of the violins and sharp staccato bowing of the other stringed instruments give a nice syncopated feel to the song.
"Only Time" is the best known track from the album, it continues in a slower vein to "Wild Child". The vocal harmonies are expressive and nicely arranged. The lyrics are quite solid as well. "Tempus Vernum" comes across to me as a Celtic inspired war-chant, the chant certainly does work wonders giving the song a very dark atmosphere.
"Deora Ar Mo Choi" is a beautiful song, Enya's vocals may be soft but they are incredibly effective. It sort of sounds a little bit like her LOTR Soundtrack song, "May It Be". In the first couple of seconds of "Flora's Secret" I though I was listening to an alternate version of "Wild Child", while not an alternate version it does sound incredibly good and is surprisingly catchy.
"Fallen Embers" is a sombre track that displays amazing emotion, depth and longing. Enya proves on this track that her vocal capabilities go beyond backing hums to superb soprano tones. "Silver Inches" is a nice little instrumental track, that provides some sort of structure to the overall album.
"Pilgrim" starts off sounding like a hymn sung in any Irish church, it does continue the overall theme of the album well. I like how the lyrics fit perfectly with the music. "One By One" is a gem of a song, it has a catchiness and I love the "Adios" bits of this track. The simplicity of this song is amazing.
"The First Of Autumn" may have no lyrics but its bass line and humming work surprisingly well, the imagery created is fantastic. "Lazy Days" is a lovely way to end such ab great album, with it's catchy beat and hook-line "Da da da da" it has a little bit of commercial appeal which is always needed on even the most underground of albums.
Overall, "A Day Without Rain" is unlike anything I've heard before, it combines catchy rhythms with small doses of commerciality in an album which at times has no mainstream appeal. It's beautiful but accessible, enough to satisfy even grunge and heavy metal fans. I strongly recommend you to buy this album, tempt yourself, treat yourself to a piece of heaven.