The album received mixed to positive reviews from music critics and became a worldwide success, reaching the top 10 in 21 countries in its first three weeks, including No.

"And Winter Came..." is an instrumental and a rearranged version of "Midnight Blue", the B-side to "Wild Child", the second single from A Day Without Rain (2000).

The majority of Enya's albums begin with a same-titled instrumental and she selected the title track as the opener because its themes "sets the mood of autumn going into winter".

[5] "Journey of the Angels" was written in the style of what Enya described as a "slow traditional carol", with Roma emphasising its religious aspect, and chose it as a personal highlight of the album.

[6] For "White Is in the Winter Night", Enya was inspired by the idea of writing a "21st century Christmas carol", and pointed out Roma's lyrics that describe the various colours associated with Christmas time: "Green is in the mistletoe and red is in the holly ... Gold is in the candlelight and crimson in the embers".

"[5] Roma compared "Dreams Are More Precious" to a "Christmas lullaby" and revealed its title was derived from the lyric that she wrote for the song.

[5][6] Its lyrics were based around a conversation that Enya and the Ryans had about Faulkner on a day surrounding his death and his favourite music.

[5] The track marks a departure from Enya's musical style in that it is her first song to use a steady drum track and her second song ever to include a prominent guitar solo, performed here by Pat Farrell (previously married to her sister, Moya Brennan),[5][6][7] the first being "I Want Tomorrow" on Enya's first studio album from 1987.

"Oíche Chiúin (Chorale)" is the album's second traditional song, and is Enya's first since A Day Without Rain that is sung in Irish, her first language.

It is the Irish version of the Christmas carol "Silent Night", a favourite of Enya's since she first learned it as a child and sang with her school choir.

Enya had previously recorded a version of the carol as a B-side to "Evening Falls...", the second single released from Watermark (1988).

On 28 November 2008, the album was certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for 100,000 copies sold.

[15] It continued to sell, and received a gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America on 12 December 2008 for sales in excess of 500,000 copies in the United States.