FUAIM

Nicky and Roma Ryan's managerial skills had helped Clannad build a solid foundation, and younger Brennan sister Enya had started becoming involved as of the preceding album; Fuaim is the sole album on which Enya was a full band member, and after its completion she and the Ryans would part ways from Clannad to pursue Enya's distinctive New Age musical vision. The creative tensions involved perhaps teased something a little special out of Clannad on Fuaim, with their well-established Irish folk stylings incorporating jazzy touches and tasty synthesisers like never before. The end result is an album which is often overshadowed by their later mega-successful 1980s output, but arguably was a necessary stepping stone along the way to that sound.