I've heard it all before...

Enya was one of my favorite New Age artists in the late 1990s, having at least 2 favorite albums in my collection: Shepherd Moons and The Celtics. It's been a while since I bought an Enya record and I was rather disappointed with A Day Without Rain.

Don't get me wrong, A Day Without Rain still features the best of what Enya can offer, since the reason for the artist's 5-year lull was that she herself was personally involved with the accompaniments and all the vocal work involved in its production. You can still plop it on your player and be swept away by her ethereal voice and gorgeous background music that aren't just produced by synthesizers this time. Tracks to look forward to are of course the carrier A Day Without Rain for the dreamy walk-in-a-beautiful-vineyard atmosphere; Tempus Vernum for its dark and Gothic feel that is similar to one of her old Watermark songs Cursum Perficio; Deora Ar Mo Chroí; and Lazy Days for making a listener want to sit back, relax, and dream about shifting careers. Isobella, the bonus track available only in the Japanese release of the album, is a nice addition that makes me think of a beautiful sunlight-clad woman traipsing down an isle of flowers and foliage.

What frustrates me is that A Day Without Rain is nowhere different from the rest of her albums. They now sound the same. They basically conjure the same imagery in my mind. Yes, there is a lot that can be said about consistency, but one must try to be a little more innovative lest one begins to sound boring and repetitive. It's either that, or I've been attending a little too many bridal fairs and fashion shows that insist on using Enya's work for their BGMs.