Hello dear readers! After a somewhat long absence, here I am again updating the blog with some more good music.
To make it up with the absence, I've decided to make a special post today dedicated to a worldwide known musical project (that I love!) that has given us tunes that will forever be engraved in our collective memory. I'm talking about ENIGMA.
ENIGMA is a musical project (and not a band) started in Germany in 1990 by the Romanian producer and composer Michael Creţu, whose musical genre is new age. Producers David Fairstein and Frank Peterson have initially contributed to the project, as well as Sandra Lauer, German pop singer and Creţu's ex-wife. Shortly after the beginning of the musical project, Michael and Sandra, already married (they got married in 1988), moved to Spain, more specifically to the island of Ibiza. Every ENIGMA album was "born" at A.R.T. Studios, the recording studio located at Michael Creţu's mansion in the hills of Ibiza. In 1995 the couple's twin children, Nikita and Sebastian, were born. They both have vocal performances in ENIGMA project, as well as in Sandra's solo projects. Sandra Lauer herself (Sandra Creţu at the time) does the singing in several theme songs of ENIGMA.
Creţu's musical project was named ENIGMA (which is Greek for "mystery") because of the frequently mystical, meditative and philosophical nature of the songs, with their inspiration drawn from numerology, psychology, astronomy or metaphysics, for example. Also, there was a complete shade of mystery about who was behind the project upon the release in 1990 of the first ever ENIGMA single "Sadness part 1" (or "Sadeness", since it evokes Marquis de Sade), which I present next.
To make it up with the absence, I've decided to make a special post today dedicated to a worldwide known musical project (that I love!) that has given us tunes that will forever be engraved in our collective memory. I'm talking about ENIGMA.
ENIGMA is a musical project (and not a band) started in Germany in 1990 by the Romanian producer and composer Michael Creţu, whose musical genre is new age. Producers David Fairstein and Frank Peterson have initially contributed to the project, as well as Sandra Lauer, German pop singer and Creţu's ex-wife. Shortly after the beginning of the musical project, Michael and Sandra, already married (they got married in 1988), moved to Spain, more specifically to the island of Ibiza. Every ENIGMA album was "born" at A.R.T. Studios, the recording studio located at Michael Creţu's mansion in the hills of Ibiza. In 1995 the couple's twin children, Nikita and Sebastian, were born. They both have vocal performances in ENIGMA project, as well as in Sandra's solo projects. Sandra Lauer herself (Sandra Creţu at the time) does the singing in several theme songs of ENIGMA.
Creţu's musical project was named ENIGMA (which is Greek for "mystery") because of the frequently mystical, meditative and philosophical nature of the songs, with their inspiration drawn from numerology, psychology, astronomy or metaphysics, for example. Also, there was a complete shade of mystery about who was behind the project upon the release in 1990 of the first ever ENIGMA single "Sadness part 1" (or "Sadeness", since it evokes Marquis de Sade), which I present next.
Creţu wished to remain unknown, as well as his collaborators and artists, so that, in his own words, people could spontaneously enjoy the music. Meanwhile, a lawsuit for alleged plagiarism (which Creţu won) forced the mentor behind ENIGMA to be revealed. Even so, the first album of the project, entitled MCMXC a.D. from 1990 (which includes the first single "Sadness part 1") kept its mysterious veil of anonymity, despite the author of the project being known a bit throughout Europe. Although the name of the artists and some of the musical samples origins were revealed in the following albums, the mystery still remains today on the meaning of many of the songs and their videos.
The songs from ENIGMA have some peculiarities that are often found throughout the different albums, such as Gregorian chant, the Shakuhachi flute (a Japanese bamboo flute of approx. 50 cm or 20 in) or the sensuality of the ambient sound. Through the years, the songs and samples incorporated into the songs have led to several lawsuits being undertaken with accusations of plagiarism and, mainly, copyright violation, which have forced Creţu to pay compensations and to publicly acknowledge the origin of the samples and give its rightful credit.
Well, enough information for now about the ENIGMA project. It's time to listen to some of the best tunes (my personal opinion, of course!) made in all these years. Let's remember one of the worldwide most famous ENIGMA tune: "Return to Innocence", from the 2nd album entitled The Cross of Changes from 1993. I love the official video that illustrates the theme song, where one can watch from a close perspective the most memorable moments of a man's life from his death till his birth.
From the 3rd album Le Roi est mort, vive le Roi!, released in 1996, I present to you two singles. The first one is called "Beyond the Invisible", a fabulous song interpreted by Sandra Creţu during the first minute and by Michael Creţu himself in the chorus, where one can hear traditional chants from Latvia and Gregorian chant. In the following official video, two features are to mention: the ice skaters are a professional pair from Finland and the beings that appear for the first time at 1:11 are the ones who are depicted in the album cover.
The second theme song is called "Prism of Life". It's a meditative ode about life, extremely beautiful and poetic. It features Gregorian chant and the vocal performance of Michael Creţu (note: there isn't any official video for this song).
From the 4th album The Screen Behind the Mirror, released in the year 2000, I present to you "Endless Quest". It's a tune that oozes sensuality, assigned by its slow and intense beat and by the sound of the Shakuhachi flute which, in turn, gives place to two different guitar riffs, both performed at the hand of the Danish producer and guitar player Jens Gad who collaborated in the 2nd and 4th ENIGMA albums. At the end of it, you can hear Sandra Creţu's heavy breathing. The video I show you is not official (there isn't any), but for its quality it might very well be!
Finally, we arrived at the 7th and latest album of ENIGMA, entitled Seven Lives Many Faces from 2008. From this album I will present to you two theme songs (the hardest part was choosing them!). The first one is called "The Same Parents". This song is a desperate cry for help towards Humanity, that invokes a common ancestry, whom all of us descend from, in order to make us think how is it possible for a human being to be so cruel with his similar and nourish wars, famine and hate. This tune features an important milestone: it marks the ENIGMA vocal performance debut of Nikita and Sebastian Creţu, Michael's twin children. Nikita is the lead singer, while Sebastian presents the initial questions and remarks that keep on repeating themselves till the end. The simplicity of the official video (here presented with translation to Portuguese) is as stunning as it is unsettling. To me, the highlight of the song lies between minute 3:58 and 4:27. Beautiful!
The second and last theme song of this long post I bring you is from the same album and is called "Je T'aime Till My Dying Day". It's an intense declaration of love from beginning to end. This song, similar to many others, oozes sensuality due to the "warm" sounds, as well as the whispering and moaning of the female voice. It's brilliantly sung by Jamaican musician Andru Donalds, a usual collaboration with Michael Creţu since ENIGMA's 4th album. To me, the highlights of the song happen at minute 3:08 and 3:48 of the video presented next. Simply divine! It's not the official video (I'm not aware of the existence of an official video).
Just a final note. The first album of ENIGMA sold the most copies around the world (22 million copies!) and, on average, each and every new album sold half of its predecessor, which, in my mind, has to be seen as a worrying fact concerning the financial sustainability of the project. Nevertheless, in Michael Creţu's own words, the project will continue as long as he doesn't run out of ideas. I hope ENIGMA lives on for many, many years, because there's no music like this in any part of the world. Absolutely genius! Thank you so much Michael Creţu (several bows)!
No comments:
Post a Comment