1996

December 22

• On December 13, 1996 Michael Cretu held an "online chat" - his supposed only interview for this year. "Shameful" has been the one and only response to that chat so far. Supplied here is a full transcript of the conversation, and my report on the chat.
• Various rumors are out about the next single, due for release in early February 1997. It appears that TNT for the Brain will come out next, followed by Morphing Thru Time.

December 10

• The new Enigma album, Le Roi Est Mort, Vive Le Roi!, was released world-wide on or about November 26, 1996. In its first week of release it reached Top 20 in Australia, and went to #25 in the US. James Gash has provided a detailed album description. The first single from the album, Beyond the Invisible, is still charting well in many countries, and I have made available a description of its music video. Also available is the Enigma: The Man Behind The Mystery article by David Knight which gives a good insight into the new album. The next single is rumored to be Morphing Thru Time.

September 18

• Many rumors have arisen about the latest Enigma release. While not confirmed from Enigma's manager as yet, it is likely that the new album will be called Le Roi Est Mort... Vive Le Roi! which translates to The King is Dead... Long Live the King. The new release is expected to occur world-wide on November 26 and Virgin Norway reports that Michael Cretu has been rushed slightly to get the CD out for peak Christmas sales. The first single from the album is likely to be called Beyond the Invisible, and will be released world-wide on October 24. It is due to be released in 3 formats - a sleeve, normal CD-single jewelbox, and a digipack. Track listings are not currently available.
  Some information courtesy of Joar Grimstvedt and Alex Siepman.

June 3

• An Enigma box set has been released in New Zealand. First seen in April, the box set holds the limited edition of MCMXC a.D. and the normal version of The CROSS of Changes. The box itself is made of black cardboard, and the image of a man in a circle from the 4th last page of The CROSS of Changes booklet is on the front in gold. The same image can be seen in the limited edition of The CROSS of Changes. Released on Virgin, it has a reference number of 8416942. Virgin Australia does not currently have it listed on its schedule to be released, but haven't ruled out that it may be released at some stage.
  Some information courtesy of Michael Moffat

April 27

• Delerium are currently working on a new album. Due to the success of Semantic Spaces it is likely to be their first world-wide release and, as with Semantic Spaces, will feature Kristy Thirsk from The Rose Chronicles doing vocals on some tracks. Extra vocalists on the new album may include Lise Gerrard from Dead Can Dance and Sarah MacLachlan. A release date for the album is currently expected to be November 1996.

March 14

Some Patrick O'Hearn information courtesy of Deep Cave Records:

• He has a new album called Metahpor being released on May 7. It is not known where this is a U.S. or world-wide release date. The album guests Warren Cuccurrulo (from Duran Duran) on textural guitars and David Torn on acoustic & textural guitars.
• Another new album is due out in September. This release is music he score for actor/playwright Sam Shepard's play Simpatico. Some guest musicians are Mark Isham (who traditionally helps in at least one track on every one of his albums!), Steve Tagivalioni, and Peter Maunu.

For further information on Patrick O'Hearns albums visit the Deep Cave Records web site (contains graphics) and keep your eyes out here for a review in the near future.

February 25

• On January 15 I had the pleasure of meeting the manager who looks after Enigma and Sandra in Germany. The meeting went for 45 minutes and many topics were raised and questions answered including sampling, Enigma III, Cretu's relationship with different people, and the history of the first two Enigma albums.
  Since there are too many things to summarise in one news topic I have stored a summary of the meeting on a separate page.