"Beyond the Invisible" is a 1996 song created by the musical project Enigma

Enigma (musical project)

Enigma is an electronic musical project founded in Germany by Michael Cretu, David Fairstein and Frank Peterson in 1990. The Romanian-born Cretu conceived the Enigma project while working in Germany, but has based his recording studio A.R.T. Studios in Ibiza, Spain, since the early 1990s until May...

. This is the first of only two single

Single (music)

In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...

s taken from the album Le Roi est mort, vive le Roi!

Le Roi Est Mort, Vive Le Roi!

-Singles:*1996 – "Beyond the Invisible"*1997 – "T.N.T. for the Brain"*1998 – "The Roundabout" -Personnel:*Peter Cornelius – guitar*Michael Cretu – record producer, sound engineer, instruments*Sandra Cretu – voices*Louisa Stanley – voices...

.

Production

In "Beyond the Invisible", Sandra Cretu

Sandra Cretu

Sandra Ann Lauer, stage name Sandra is a German pop singer, who dominated European charts with eighteen top 20 hits during the 1980s and early 1990s, with the help of her then-husband and musical partner, Michael Cretu. During a brief height of popularity, she even outsold Madonna in a number of...

 again provides the opening vocals, Michael Cretu

Michael Cretu

Michael Cretu is a Romanian musician. He is known also as Curly, MC or Curly M.C. because of his fair curled hair . His peak musical activity was with the Enigma project, which was mainly based in Germany....

 sings lead vocals while the chant in the song is a Latvia

Latvia

Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...

n one. It is a folk song (which was brought from Latvia

Latvia

Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...

, it is national style of Latvian ancient folk music) "Sajāja bramaņi" ("Noblemen Rode Together") performed by the folk ensemble Rasa. Most of the songs in Le Roi est mort, vive le Roi! include both Gregorian chant

Gregorian chant

Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainchant, a form of monophonic liturgical music within Western Christianity that accompanied the celebration of Mass and other ritual services...

s and tribal

Tribe

A tribe, viewed historically or developmentally, consists of a social group existing before the development of, or outside of, states.Many anthropologists use the term tribal society to refer to societies organized largely on the basis of kinship, especially corporate descent groups .Some theorists...

 chants, reminiscent of their first and second albums, MCMXC a.D.

MCMXC a.D.

MCMXC a.D. is a concept album created by the musical project Enigma, spearheaded by Michael Cretu. Released at the end of 1990, it was Enigma's debut album...

and The Cross of Changes

The Cross of Changes

The Cross of Changes is a 1993 album by the musical project Enigma. It is Enigma's second album, following MCMXC a.D., released three years earlier....

.
The Gregorian chant is sampled

Sampling (music)

In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...

 from "Gregoriani Cantus" by Pierre Kaelin while the Latvian chant is sampled from "Lettonie - Musiques Des Rites Solaires" by Rasa Ensemble Riga.

Release

The 5-track single is also the only Enigma single that includes a B-side song, "Light of Your Smile", which is not on the parent album. It is also the only Enigma single to not have a remixed song.

Music video

The video for the song was directed by Julien Temple

Julien Temple

Julien Temple is an English film, documentary and music video director. He began his career with short films featuring the Sex Pistols, and has continued with various off-beat projects, including The Great Rock And Roll Swindle, Absolute Beginners and a documentary film about Glastonbury.-Temple...

 and features two ice dancers (the Finnish ice dance couple Susanna Rahkamo

Susanna Rahkamo

Susanna Rahkamo is a former Finnish ice dancer. She competed with Petri Kokko, her future husband. With Kokko, she is the 1995 European champion, 1995 World silver medalist, and competed in the Winter Olympics twice....

 and Petri Kokko) skating in a forest. The video was shot in Savernake Forest

Savernake Forest

Savernake Forest is on a Cretaceous chalk plateau between Marlborough and Great Bedwyn in Wiltshire, England. Its area is approximately .It is privately owned by the Trustees of Savernake Estate, the Earl of Cardigan, and his family solicitor. Since 1939 the running of the forest has been...

, Marlborough, Wiltshire, UK. The ice rink was constructed especially for the video and took over a week to freeze. Simon Scotland, line producer on the video, subsequently used the title Beyond the Invisible as the name for his Home Cinema and Entertainment company.

Track listing

All lyrics written by Michael Cretu

Michael Cretu

Michael Cretu is a Romanian musician. He is known also as Curly, MC or Curly M.C. because of his fair curled hair . His peak musical activity was with the Enigma project, which was mainly based in Germany....

 and David Fairstein, music by Cretu.

• 2-track CD single:

1. "Beyond the Invisible (Radio Edit)" – 4:30
2. "Almost Full Moon" – 3:40
   • 3-track CD single:
3. "Short Radio Edit" – 3:42
4. "Radio Edit" – 4:30
5. "Album Version" – 5:05
   • 4-track CD single:
6. "Beyond The Invisible (Radio Edit)" – 4:30
7. "Almost Full Moon" – 3:42
8. "Beyond The Invisible (Album Version)" – 5:05
9. "Light of Your Smile" – 5:10
   • 5-track CD single:
10. "Beyond the Invisible (Radio Edit)" – 4:30
11. "Almost Full Moon" – 3:42
12. "Beyond the Invisible (Album Version)" – 5:05
13. "Light of Your Smile" – 5:10
14. "Beyond the Invisible (Short Radio Edit)" – 3:42

Charts

Record chart

A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....

{| width="0%"
|- valign="top"
| width="50%" |
{| class="wikitable"
|- bgcolor="#B0C4DE"
!align="center"|Chart (2006)
!align="center"|Peak
|-
|align="left"|Austria
|align="center"|20
|-
|align="left"|Eurochart
|align="center"|46
|-
|align="left"|Germany
|align="center"|40
|-
|align="left"|Greece
|align="center"|1
|-
|align="left"|Finland
|align="center"|6
|-
|align="left"|Netherlands
|align="center"|27
|-
|align="left"|Norway
|align="center"|13
|-
|align="left"|Sweden
|align="center"|29
|-
|align="left"|France
|align="center"|32
|-
|align="left"|Switzerland
|align="center"|36
|-
|align="left"|New Zealand
|align="center"|45
|-
|align="left"|UK
|align="center"|26
|-
|align="left"|U.S. Billboard Hot 100
|align="center"|81
|}