NEW YORK ( CNN ) -- Enya is an anomaly . Think about it : How many recording artists have enjoyed 20 years of success while never having toured ? Enya sets her own pace when making albums . `` And Winter Came '' is her first CD in three years . `` The fans are very , very loyal , '' says the Irish chanteuse . `` They 're always saying , 'When is the next album ? ' They know when I finish in the studio it 's got to be a few years before the next album . '' Perhaps it 's the vast gaps between releases that help make Enya , 47 , the Emerald Isle 's second-biggest-selling artist of all time ( after U2 ) . Thanks to a stipulation in her recording contract , the Grammy winner has the luxury of setting her own pace with each project , another rarity in the music business . She 'll devote two to three years to each album , flitting between her Dublin castle and the studio , where she works tirelessly to perfect every celestial chord and layer harmony upon harmony . `` I always felt that the music sells by itself , '' she says . `` The music has always been the successful aspect on my career and that means that , to me , I can always still stay very focused on music . '' Watch Enya revel in harmony » . Her latest album -- the seventh of her career -- celebrates both the drama and quiet contemplation that come with the winter season . Called `` And Winter Came , '' the release has reached the top 10 on album charts across Europe and in the U.S. since its November release . And while Enya wo n't commit to the idea of taking her tunes on the road , she does hint at the possibility . `` To actually tour with the songs would be wonderful . It would be very much on a large scale : the orchestra , the choir . There 'd be a lot of rehearsals , but it 'd be very exciting , '' she says . Enya spoke to CNN about how her music is like an onion ( think layers , not tears ) , keeping a low profile , and marking the 20-year anniversary of `` Watermark , '' her breakout album . CNN : What does wintertime mean to you ? Enya : Wintertime for me is a time when I do a lot of my writing in the studio . It 's a time I enjoy . And it 's very reflective and a very calming time of the year . Throughout the year I gather a lot of musical inspirations and this is where I bring them to the studio and see what will evolve musically . CNN : You set out to make a Christmas album . How did the project evolve ? Enya : I 've always wanted to put together a Christmas album . So I was writing some Christmas carols and what happened was some of the songs started to veer more into winter themes . And when I discussed it with [ producer and lyricist ] Nicky and Roma [ Ryan ] , they felt , well , within winter is the celebration of Christmas , so let 's infuse the two themes together . CNN : A lot of people think of Enya as a soloist , but really you 're kind of a trio , are n't you ? Enya : I work with two other people , the producer Nicky Ryan and Roma Ryan , the lyricist . The way I work with Nicky and Roma is firstly I do the writing of the melodies in the songs , and that 's kind of the solitude moment for me in the studio , which I enjoy very much . When I have the melody -- the idea of the melody -- I play that to Nicky and Roma . ... I get to see their reaction immediately . Is this a song for the album ? And I can see from their reaction -- `` Yes , this is going to work , '' or perhaps it 's not . There are a lot of ideas that Nicky had wanted to experiment with . When I met with him first he had this idea of using a voice -- one voice -- as an instrument to layer many times and he knew my love of harmonies . Some people who hear the songs think that we have a set routine , a set formula we work with . It is n't , ... because each song is very different , and it 's very spontaneous on my part . CNN : About the layering of your voice ... at any given time how many Enyas might we be listening to ? Enya : I do n't count ! It 's a very spontaneous moment on my behalf . I will listen back to the last harmony I 've sung , and then I 'll sort of try to enhance that harmony . Then Nicky will decide if he 'll record my voice 20 times or 30 times [ for ] that one part . CNN : I read that you might [ record ] as many as 80 vocal tracks . Is that a reasonable number ? And then I read 500 . That 's got to be ridiculous ! Enya : Yes , it can be , but you have to remember that [ if ] it 's 500 vocals I would n't have sung them at the same time . We 're talking about over two years that we keep going back to arrange vocal parts on these songs . It 's a very slow process . CNN : It 's hard to believe that it was about 20 years ago that you made `` Watermark . '' Do you ever go back and listen to that record ? Enya : Well , with the anniversary , yes , I 've been listening to `` Watermark . '' It 's kind of like a journal for me . It takes you back to that time in your life . Each song has its own little story and I can hear the life of that song . You know how it was written , what inspired me , what worked , what did n't work . But the nice thing about spending two to three years on an album is I can say there 's nothing I would change on any of the albums . CNN : You 've said that you change the formula a little with each album , but to an untrained ear your music has sort of stayed the same throughout your career . Are you a believer in the saying `` If it ai n't broke , do n't fix it '' ? Enya : Musically it has to be something that I 'm comfortable to perform . Would we ever hear Enya with a guitar solo ? I say , `` Never say never . '' And there 's a guitar solo on `` My ! My ! Time Flies . '' This happened because it suited the song . It 's always got to sound like me because it 's my voice and there 's always this little sense of melancholy that is inherent in my melodies . I think that 's because of my Irish culture . CNN : Your manager has suggested that one of the secrets to your success is that you keep a fairly low profile . Do you agree ? Enya : It 's very easy for me to keep a low profile because the focus I feel is always on the music . Success and fame are two different things . And so I feel the success is always towards the music , which means that I can have a very normal and private lifestyle .
Enya 's new single is ` ` And You . '' Irish pop star keeps a low profile , works on albums for years . Enya 's voice can be heard hundreds of times for each album .