"Echoes in Rain" is a single by Irish musician

Enya Enya Patricia Brennan (; ga, Eithne Pádraigín Ní Bhraonáin; born 17 May 1961), known professionally by the mononym Enya, is an Irish singer, songwriter, and musician known for modern Celtic music. She is the best-selling Irish solo arti ...

, the first to be taken from the album ''

Dark Sky Island ''Dark Sky Island'' is the eighth studio album by Irish singer, songwriter, and musician Enya, released on 20 November 2015 by Warner Bros. Records. After the release of her previous album, '' And Winter Came...'' (2008), Enya was unsure of her ...

''. It was released on 9 October 2015 by

Warner Music Warner Music Group Corp. ( d.b.a. Warner Music Group, commonly abbreviated as WMG) is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and t ...

Composition and lyrics

"Echoes in Rain" has a 'buoyant optimism' due to the 'marching' rhythmic

ostinato In music, an ostinato (; derived from Italian word for ''stubborn'', compare English ''obstinate'') is a motif or phrase that persistently repeats in the same musical voice, frequently in the same pitch. Well-known ostinato-based pieces include ...

s and

pizzicato Pizzicato (, ; translated as "pinched", and sometimes roughly as "plucked") is a playing technique that involves plucking the strings of a string instrument. The exact technique varies somewhat depending on the type of instrument : * On bowed ...

strings String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

. The a cappella multi-vocal ending was compared to Enya's breakthrough single "

Orinoco Flow "Orinoco Flow", also released as "Orinoco Flow (Sail Away)", is a song by Irish singer-songwriter Enya from her second studio album, ''Watermark'' (1988). It was released on 3 October 1988 by WEA Records in the United Kingdom and by Geffen Reco ...

". "Echoes in Rain" is played in a

minor scale In music theory, the minor scale is three scale patterns – the natural minor scale (or Aeolian mode), the harmonic minor scale, and the melodic minor scale (ascending or descending) – rather than just two as with the major scale, which also ...

(explicitly

F-sharp minor F-sharp minor is a minor scale based on F, consisting of the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature has three sharps. Its relative major is A major and its parallel major is F-sharp major (or enharmonically G-flat major). T ...

). Enya's vocals span 2

octave In music, an octave ( la, octavus: eighth) or perfect octave (sometimes called the diapason) is the interval between one musical pitch and another with double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been refer ...

s from the low note of B2 to the high note of E5. The song includes a piano-based

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

, similar to Enya's

piano solo The piano is often used to provide harmonic accompaniment to a voice or other instrument. However, solo parts for the piano are common in many musical styles. These can take the form of a section in which the piano is heard more prominently t ...

work, and it is the first of her

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release s ...

s to do so. The lyrics describe the feelings of a long journey home, travelling through night and through day, with the verses detailing how the surroundings and emotions change throughout the journey. The lyric 'everything flows' is repeated throughout, perhaps referring to "Orinoco Flow". Enya has a few other songs with similar references to the hit song. In ''

The Memory of Trees ''The Memory of Trees'' is the fourth studio album by Irish singer, songwriter, and musician Enya, released on 5 December 1995 by WEA. After travelling worldwide to promote her previous album ''Shepherd Moons'' (1991), and contributing to film s ...

'' the song "On My Way Home" repeats the 'turn it up, adieu' lyric; "Lazy Days" has the lyric 'and how it sails away' in ''

A Day Without Rain ''A Day Without Rain'' is the fifth studio album by the Irish singer, songwriter and musician Enya, released on 20 November 2000 by WEA. Following a promotional tour in support of her compilation album ''Paint the Sky with Stars'' (1997), Enya ...

'', and in '' And Winter Came...'' "Miraculum" has Latin lyrics, in which the refrain translates to 'to sail away, a wonderful thing'. 'Here comes another new day' precedes the chorus in "Echoes In Rain", which uses the phrase 'alleluia' to express the joyous feeling that each 'new day' brings and the happiness of returning back home.

Live performances

On 13 December 2015, Enya gave a surprise performance of the song at the

Universal Studios Japan is a theme park located in Osaka, Japan. Opened on March 31, 2001, it is one of six Universal Parks & Resorts, Universal Studios theme parks worldwide and was the first to open outside the United States. The park is owned and operated by a whol ...

Christmas Show. In March 2016, she performed the song on ''

Live! with Kelly and Michael ''Live with Kelly and Ryan'' (or simply ''Live'') is an American syndicated morning talk show hosted by Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest. Executive produced by Michael Gelman, the ''Live with...'' show formula has aired under various hosts since ...

'' and on April 7, 2016 at the 2016 ECHO Award.

Music video

The music video for "Echoes in Rain" was released on 20 November 2015, the same day as the accompanying album ''Dark Sky Island''. It showed Enya performing the song with the female

string ensemble A string orchestra is an orchestra consisting solely of a string section made up of the bowed strings used in Western Classical music. The instruments of such an orchestra are most often the following: the violin, which is divided into first a ...

- Wired Strings, and a female choir, in

Harrow School (The Faithful Dispensation of the Gifts of God) , established = (Royal Charter) , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent schoolBoarding school , religion = Church of E ...

in London. The set featured an antique rotating

globe A globe is a spherical model of Earth, of some other celestial body, or of the celestial sphere. Globes serve purposes similar to maps, but unlike maps, they do not distort the surface that they portray except to scale it down. A model globe ...

, turning as the 'long journey home' the lyrics describe progressed and changed from

night Night (also described as night time, unconventionally spelled as "nite") is the period of ambient darkness from sunset to sunrise during each 24-hour day, when the Sun is below the horizon. The exact time when night begins and ends depends o ...

day A day is the time period of a full rotation of the Earth with respect to the Sun. On average, this is 24 hours, 1440 minutes, or 86,400 seconds. In everyday life, the word "day" often refers to a solar day, which is the length between two so ...

and back; to emphasise, intense lighting lit the church to represent the day (white, bright lights), and the night (blue, dim lights) of the journey.

Track listing

Single # "Echoes in Rain" – 3:35 Promo # "Echoes in Rain" (Radio Edit) – 2:58

Charts

Release history

References

External links

"Echoes in Rain" on Amazon MP3"Echoes in Rain" on SpotifyEchoes in Rain on iTunes
{{authority control Enya songs 2015 singles 2015 songs Reprise Records singles Songs with music by Enya Songs with lyrics by Roma Ryan