Her most notable appearances include her televised performances on The Rosie O'Donnell Show, Sessions at West 54th and Penn & Teller's Sin City Spectacular.

[2] In 1996, Anggun was introduced to French musician Erick Benzi, who previously had produced albums of well-known artists such as Celine Dion, Jean-Jacques Goldman and Johnny Hallyday.

Later that year, Anggun was signed to Columbia France and Sony Music Entertainment, making her the first Indonesian citizen in history to join an international major label.

Other songwriters working for the album include Jacques Veneruso, Herve Teboul, and Nicolas Mingot, as well as Nikki Matheson who was responsible in translating all the original French songs from Au nom de la lune into English for Snow on the Sahara.

Anggun herself co-wrote three tracks—the half-Indonesian "On the Breath of an Angel" ("À la plume de tes doigts"), and the full-Indonesian "Gita" and "Selamanya".

The English version was released afterward in 33 countries worldwide under two titles, Snow on the Sahara and Anggun, with various artworks and track listings.

The album also spawned three promotional single for certain territories—"Dream of Me" in Japan, "Life on Mars" in the United States and "Memory of Your Shores" in Europe.

Music critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine from Allmusic, who gave the album four out of five stars, called Snow on the Sahara "a promising debut effort" because "she illustrates enough full-formed talent on the disc".

"[13] Michael Freedberg from Boston Phoenix believed that the album "is how romanticism sounds when it rides the waves of limitless ambition and a virtuoso conceit as big as any rapper's brag or loverboy's smooch.

The heavily layered harmonies and overwhelming array of techno bells and whistles—literally—work, but the idea of culling Southeast Asian flavors with twangy guitars come off like the calling of a cobra.

"[15] Chuck Taylor from Billboard described the album as "soul-searching, wildly atmospheric, and as elegant as velvet" and dubbed Anggun as "the year's best undiscovered treasure.

"[18] Mykella Van Cooten from Vibe magazine hailed Snow on the Sahara as an "outstanding" debut album and complimented Anggun's "aching, Annie Lennox-flavored vocals."

She also credited Erick Benzi who "enriched the album with deep, passionate verses ('Snow on the Sahara') and shoothing, synthesized instrumentation (including chimes, symbols, rain sticks, and flutes).

[22] Au nom de la lune entered the French Albums Chart at number 50 on the issue date of 12 July 1997.

[23] The album was certified gold by the Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique for accumulating sales of over 100,000 copies in France, with 82,000 of which being sold in just four weeks.