Shepherd Moons Tracklist
Shepherd Moons is the third studio album by Irish singer, songwriter and musician Enya. Released on 4 November 1991 by Warner Music internationally and 19 November 1991 by Reprise Records in the United States, it followed the promotional tour for the unexpected critically and commercially successful album Watermark.
After the hefty length of time for Watermark’s promotion, Enya felt the priority was to return to the studio and record a new album rather than spend further time planning and completing a concert tour, and thus tackling with the difficulties of recreating her sound on a stage. She went to work with her long time recording partners, manager, producer and arranger Nicky Ryan and his wife, lyricist Roma Ryan. When the process got underway, she was able to forget about her success and start again.
The album was recorded with new equipment purchased with the profits from the previous and much of the recording took place at Aigle Studios in the Ryan’s home in Artane, a northern suburb of Dublin. However, as with her two previous albums, the team had to relocate elsewhere as the Aigle facility lacked the correct equipment to complete the final mix and mastering. The album was finished at SARM West Studios in London.
Spawning singles “Caribbean Blue”, “How Can I Keep From Singing?”, “Book of Days” and “Marble Halls”, Shepherd Moons also received many positive reviews from critics and rose to sell around 2 million more than Watermark.
“Shepherd Moons” Q&A
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How did Enya feel when she had completed the album?
Several months after recording and mixing was complete, Enya had not yet listened to the album:
I will find any excuse not to. And honestly, I have never felt so miserable as finishing this album. It’s fear – fear that all your feelings and all your emotions have gone into the thing, and when you hear it, it won’t live up to your expectations for it.
Despite her fears, the album received generally positive reviews from critics and became a greater commercial success. It went to number one on the UK Albums Chart and peaked at number seventeen on the Billboard 200 in the United States.
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Did Enya do anything differently when recording the album?
She did, mainly taking a change to her own attitude when it came to recording. She took greater amounts of time away from the studio, particularly during “quite difficult” moments. The process, she felt, improved her sense of creativity in the long run.
Enya has even said in an interview:
[T]he difference between that album and Shepherd Moons is that I’ve mellowed.
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What are the album's certifications?
The album was certified multi-platinum by the British Phonographic Industry and Recording Industry Association of America for shipments of 1.2 million and five million copies, respectively.
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What have the artists said about the themes of the album?
According to Enya.sk, Enya explained in a 1991 interview for Hot Press:
That feeling of being taken away, it never leaves you. Once we get to working on a piece, it becomes very personal. I do agree that on this album and on Watermark as well, there was a feeling of a sense of loss. Even if the song is in Gaelic, people will know the feeling. I know
there is melancholy inherent in my music, maybe it’s because I’m Irish, and there is always been a lot of sadness in Irish poetry.She also declared on RTE:
It is new in that there are new inspirations in it from my travelling around the world. They are in a few songs. It’s hard maybe for you to understand the inspiration in them, but there are a few songs and… Spain is in a few songs and Japan is in a few others… Lines and small fragments that are there inside. We are happy that they are in there, but when I was composing the music I wasn’t trying to do this. It happened through the music.
