Hope in a Darkened Heart

Hope in a Darkened Heart
Studio album by Virginia Astley
Released	24 November 1986
Recorded	August–September 1986
Studio	The Wool Hall (Beckington, England)
Genre	Dream pop
Length	38:41
Label	WEA
Producer	Jon Astley Richard J. Burgess Phil Chapman Ryuichi Sakamoto
Virginia Astley chronology
Promise Nothing (1983) Hope in a Darkened Heart (1986) All Shall Be Well (1992)

Hope in a Darkened Heart is the second studio album by English singer Virginia Astley, released on 24 November 1986 by WEA. ^[1] It was produced primarily by Japanese musician and composer Ryuichi Sakamoto. The album is noted for featuring former Japan singer David Sylvian on the track "Some Small Hope" and for an alternate version of "A Summer Long Since Passed", which was originally included on Astley's From Gardens Where We Feel Secure album. An additional track, "Le Song (A Day, a Night)", along with lyrics and a biography, is available on the Japanese issue.

The tracks "Some Small Hope" and "Charm" were released as singles but were not commercially successful. Two further tracks, "Love's a Lonely Place to Be" and "Darkness Has Reached Its End", had been issued some years before the album's release but likewise had no impact on the singles chart.

On December 25, 2020, Caroline Polachek and Lauren Auder released a cover version of "Some Small Hope" with all benefits going to a homelessness charity in Los Angeles. ^[2] Polachek described Astley's music as "one of my deep favorites... such an inspiration to me." ^[3]

Track listing

1. "Some Small Hope"
2. "A Father"
3. "So Like Dorian"
4. "I'm Sorry"
5. "Tree Top Club"
6. "Charm"
7. "Love's a Lonely Place to Be"
8. "A Summer Long Since Passed"
9. "Darkness Has Reached Its End"

   Japanese edition bonus track

10. "Le Song (A Day, a Night)"

Personnel

Musicians

• Virginia Astley – vocals
• Masaki Sekijima – programming
• Ryuichi Sakamoto – all keyboards
• David Sylvian – vocals (track 1)
• Ted Astley – original arrangements (tracks 2, 6)

Technical

• Ryuichi Sakamoto – production, mixing (tracks 1–6); arrangement
• Tony Phillips – engineering (tracks 1–8); mixing (tracks 7–9)
• Jon Astley – production (track 7)
• Phil Chapman – production (track 7)
• Richard J. Burgess – production (track 9)
• Phill Brown – engineering (track 9)
• Virginia Astley – mixing (tracks 7–9)

Artwork

• Richard Israel – photography

References

1. "New Albums". Music Week . 22 November 1986. p. 44. ISSN   0265-1548.
2. "Some Small Hope, by Caroline Polachek & Lauren Auder".
3. Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine : Caroline Polachek – Full Performance (Live on KEXP) – via YouTube.

• Hope in a Darkened Heart at AllMusic . Retrieved 13 September 2016.