The Screen Behind the Mirror

The Screen Behind the Mirror, released in 1999, took its name from a question: what lies hidden behind appearances? Enigma’s fourth album moves between the hidden desires of human beings and an idealistic Don Quixote fight against convention, threaded through with a recurring sampled passage from Carl Orff’s O Fortuna. The album’s guiding leitmotif: “The path of excess leads to the tower of wisdom.”

The first single Gravity of Love featuring the unmistakable voice of Ruth-Ann Boyle became one of Enigma’s most enduring tracks. Push the Limits moves with a more insistent pace, embodying the album’s call to defy convention: “Don’t submit to stupid rules. Be yourself and not a fool. Don’t accept average habits. Open your heart and push the limits.” Together, the singles capture the dual character of the album: orchestral grandeur on one side, restless forward motion on the other.