Enya’s music has always been slightly otherworldly, so it’s only fitting that she contribute tunes to the soundtrack for “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring,” the long-awaited first installment of live-action fantasy films based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic tale of hobbits and wizards in the fictitious Middle Earth.
The new Enya songs on the soundtrack, due November 20, are “May It Be” and “Airon (Theme From Aragorn and Arwen),” according to Enya’s label, Reprise. The Irish singer’s 2000 album, A Day Without Rain, is enjoying a fresh burst of popularity – it’s #3 on the Billboard 200 albums chart – due to the success of the single “Only Time,” a song that has offered comfort for many following September’s terrorist attacks.
“The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” soundtrack also features “Gandalf’s Lament,” a track by ex-Cocteau Twins singer Elizabeth Fraser. Composer Howard Shore (“The Silence of the Lambs,” “The Cell”) contributes the instrumental score to the film, which stars Elijah Wood, Liv Tyler and Cate Blanchett. The film will hit theaters December 19.