Who are your favourite Enya WANNABES?

[C’est la VoR]

For every Britney Spears there's a Mandy Moore, after all.

Personally I'm quite partial to a bit of LOREENA MCKENNITT and her scholarly celtic wailing.

 

[KC 🦋]

Does Dido count? If so, then Dido.

 

[Zu]

The incomparable Lisa Gerrard is far from an Enya wannabe but some people seem to think that her 'Now We Are Free' is Enya which is very obviously is not unless one has cloth ears. (It's also not my favourite by her by a VERY long shot)

 

[Zu]

I always thought that this had a distinct Enya vibe

 

[Zu]

Also this to an extent

 

[jivafox]

Can't believe the Enya Forum isn't even a DAY OLD and VoR is shoehorning in LOREENA MCKENNIT!

 

[KNT]

 

[Shoat]

If we count her sister as a "wannabe", then I declare Saltwater to be the best Enya hit that never was.

 

[RJN]

Can't believe the Enya Forum isn't even a DAY OLD and VoR is shoehorning in LOREENA MCKENNIT!

I've never heard of this woman, but her biggest album was called The Book of Secrets. That is SO Enya

 

[Hard Rock Ag-elujah]

If we count her sister as a "wannabe", then I declare Saltwater to be the best Enya hit that never was.

I never realised this!

 

[Ellie]

Not quite a wannabe, she’s just a bit Celtic. Love Lisa Lambe’s voice

 

[C’est la VoR]

I've never heard of this woman, but her biggest album was called The Book of Secrets. That is SO Enya

You've never heard Billboard Hot 100 top 18 SMASH The Mummer's Dance?

She's a BANGER

 

[Marilyn]

I was very briefly enamoured with this rip-off when it was released



But that is still a pale imitation of the queen. The Enya wannabes often use the same imagery/subject matter or do a bit of vocal layering etc. but they can very rarely actually replicate her sound

 

[Zu]

VERY pale and tbh a little bit rude. I’m not liking the look of Emily Possum

Also NOBODY IN THE WORLD can afford equipment as expensive as that used by Enya approximately every six years at AIGLE!

 

[disneyteletubby]

Are these 'wannabes' all singers? If not then Ghislaine Maxwell

 

[disneyteletubby]

There are a few similar artists; not sure if they all count as wannabes. The vocals and presentation are too different to compare to Enya

Nelly Furtado is okay (there was an interview from the World Music Awards in 2006 - same event where Enya adjusts the microphone height - where Nelly Furtado talked about Enya inspirations in the music, etc.) I like 'Broken Strings' with James Morrison too, as well as this song



Also Natalie Imbruglia

Imbruglia's best is Shiver

 

[Shoat]

My favourite Enya wannabe is Des'ree, they both have black hair

 

[Ig Komme]

Also Natalie Imbruglia

Some are nice on Firebird, and she is known for the cover Torn. I quite like this one, Shiver

Surpisingly bright and breezy and relistenable!

 

[jyxz]

No idea if Our Caz has ever been mentioned here before or not. I was introduced to her as 'the woman whose album William Orbit produced before he did Ray of Light'.... (the whole album is amazing if you haven't heard it)

Caroline Lavelle!

 

[Zu]

Oh my God yes. This is one of my all-time favourites

 

[disneyteletubby]

There are various male artists (or their producers) who seem like Enya wannabes too
I like James Blunt; You're Beautiful is one of my favourite songs


Also this one sung by Mike Posner 'Speed of Sound' (Enya's 'turn it up' from Orinoco Flow is sampled)


Another Orinoco sample/interpolation - sung by Iyaz 'Get Away'


And another 'Sail Away' by David Gray



(There are more Enya links with their music which I may elaborate on another time...)

 

[Shoat]

Absolutely loving that a thread designed to talk about Loreena McKennitt has ended up with Nelly "Promiscuous" Furtado and Iyaz ("shorty got a melody in my head").

Enya hasn't heard of any of them.

 

[disneyteletubby]

I bet Enya has
Sometime last year I found that Echoes In Rain (2015) mashes up very well with Replay by Iyaz (2009) (same key signature, chord progression, similar phrasing)
This was the first variation I made of it

 

[ButterTart]

The incomparable Lisa Gerrard is far from an Enya wannabe but some people seem to think that her 'Now We Are Free' is Enya which is very obviously is not unless one has cloth ears. (It's also not my favourite by her by a VERY long shot)

The trance version of this is such a banger.

 

[disneyteletubby]

Something more Celtic - I quite like Maggie Reilly, and her re-recording of Moonlight Shadow is rather good

Enya was actually asked to collaborate with Mike Oldfield c. 1983 (likely to sing Moonlight Shadow) but contracts prevented her somehow. Imagine if Enya did a cover

I also like Maggie's cover of These Dreams by Heart, and some other bits and bobs she recorded. Her early songs with Cado Belle were also quite cool and soulful

 

[RJN]

To clarify, to qualify as an Enya wannabe, you just have to have slow songs? Or sample enya or even just a song she sampled?

 

[Zu]

To clarify, to qualify as an Enya wannabe, you just have to have slow songs? Or sample enya or even just a song she sampled?

BUGGER ONLY KNOWS LUV

 

[Zu]

Wasn’t the recent Kelly Lee Owens album supposed to be like a combination of Enya and Throbbing Gristle, which I was certainly here for? Admittedly I’ve hardly listened to it but I’m fairly sure it WASN’T!

 

[disneyteletubby]

To clarify, to qualify as an Enya wannabe, you just have to have slow songs? Or sample enya or even just a song she sampled?

No idea - maybe not even a singer, if Ghislaine Maxwell counts - a handful more of those

Spoiler: here

 

[Pipo]

this banger has always reminded me of ENYA

 

[Pipo]

also, Sarah's debut single had some ENYA influence somewhat

 

[disneyteletubby]

I was yet to mention another actual favourite, Tasmin Archer!
If only she had more recognition for her other fascinating songs since her 'Great Expectations' album, featuring the brilliant Sleeping Satellite

Rather like Enya's Book of Days music video the same year (1992) and Anywhere Is (different director, 1995) is similarly awesome:

I think it was more the aesthetic, or that the media teams copied, as Tasmin's songs are generally quite different to what Enya sings.

Also part of a trio with 2 Johns, one of whom she is married to. Following EMI disputes they made their own record label, Quiverdisc
A song and fun music video from 2007, quite like Only If by Enya in 1997, just as catchy - Sedan
Tasmin seems great on her own Twitter account (perhaps even slower than Enya at writing/releasing new music, but definitely was working on something new in 2020 according to this Tweet )

Lawrence Dunmore designed both their album covers (and the Enya logo) - these cover designs seemed similarly starry

 

[straightorbroken]

Oh my God yes. This is one of my all-time favourites

This song is incredible! I need to seek out this album soon.

 

[OutSynk]

May as well post my fave then.

 

[disneyteletubby]

I hadn't heard of Caroline Lavelle before this thread; her music does sound rather nice and she plays the cello
(I play violin but not really at professional level, haha)

I don't think she was really a 'wannabe' of her sisters but Brídín Brennan (Enya's youngest sister by 7 years or so) released one solo album in 2005 - she wrote some good songs, like this:

She directs a choir group nowadays 🗣
Her 2005 interview and 2001 article are nice reads [1] [2]

 

[Haiku Rewrites]

Well since everyone and everything has featured in this thread



A VOICE FROM THE PAST
JOINING YOURS AND MINE

 

[disneyteletubby]

Gala Rizzatto - best known for the 90s song that is now a football chant, Freed From Desire



The song 'Come Into My Life' which shares its name with the album is another one I quite like:



I was listening to Enya and got recommended Freed From Desire last year I'd roughly heard of the song from the football, but not of Gala herself before seeing this. As a performer she is rather active; in interviews etc. she seems more Enya-ish, quite calm and thoughtful.

 

[OutSynk]

How could I forget Estonia's Evelin Samuel.

Came 6th in Eurovision 1999.



The Estonian version of this came 2nd in the national final in 1998.

 

[Marina Salty]

When this came out, I thought it was Enyesque in a Loreena McKennitt manner.

It's Bregovic with the vocals of Lena Jinnegren, a Swedish singer.

 

[disneyteletubby]

These three artists are ambiguously similar to Enya, I think...

The song by The Beautiful South - Rotterdam (Or Anywhere) has been in my head today


Maybe it's the quirky lyrics (much more subtle in some of Enya's songs, like My My Time Flies or Anywhere Is) ?
It sounds okay to be mixed with Enya's Someone Said Goodbye/the remix (this)
This 2022 performance by Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbot; singing still sounds great
A 1996 song almost predicting the 2020s Eurovision host cities "Rotterdam or anywhere, Liverpool or Rome", haha

---

I thought this was a song written by Rod Stewart, but that's a cover too (this was the original)

Amy Belle was busking in Glasgow in 2004 when Rod Stewart found her, and she got to sing 'I Don't Want To Talk About It' with him that evening:

Her voice is different to Enya, but Amy Belle's music video for 'Didn't I Say' is vaguely similar to 'It's In The Rain' - see this
I saw some rather good buskers in Glasgow, 2014 (as well as some athletes for the Commonwealth Games that year) I quite like Scottish singing voices

With all due respect, why is Tracey Thorn on the cover?

Haha, I see the similarities (it was this AI-generated image of Enya that I used for the 'Moonbow' concept ) more so when she had dark hair.

I don't think I'd heard of Tracey Thorn before the mention, but glad I know of her now
Here is her cover of 'I Don't Want To Talk About It':


(Similar suit style in the late 80s see this mashup 'I Tomorrow Want To Talk About It' )
Yet to listen to more music from Everything But The Girl and other Tracey Thorn songs, but they are really interesting from what I have heard so far, and she has a nice voice, even with age. I saw the music video for 'Sister' from 2018, and also just saw that EBTG is returning (rather soon, with a new album on 21st April!)

Random extra thing, I liked seeing the 1983 archive footage on the main EBTG YouTube channel
(It would be interesting to see something like that on the enyatv channel, such as early footage from Enya's career beginnings)