Released July 29 1983 From Gardens Where We Feel Secure
(1983) Promise Nothing
(1983) Release date 29 July 1983 | Length 37:45 Artist Virginia Astley Label Happy Valley Records | |
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Recorded April 1982 - January 1983 Genres Ambient music, Instrumental Producers Virginia Astley, Russell Webb Similar Hope in a Darkened Heart, Promise Nothing, Colossal Youth, Metamatic, High Land - Hard Rain | ||
Virginia astley with my eyes wide open i m dreaming
From Gardens Where We Feel Secure is the title of the first Virginia Astley album issued on her own Happy Valley label and distributed by Rough Trade Records.
Contents
The album was released in July 1983 and peaked at number 4 in the UK Indie Chart. The album was trailed by a couple of its tracks A Summer Long Since Past and It's Too Hot to Sleep, which were included on the 12" of the earlier single Love's a lonely place to be.
The album is an instrumental collection of tone poems that describe the cycle and mirror the moods of an indolent summer day. The album began life as a series of demos produced by John Foxx at the Crépuscule studios, where he was working at the time. The album is notable for its structure, moving from dawn to dusk, and its use of natural, sound effects. In 1986, Astley and Ryuichi Sakamoto re-recorded "A Summer Long Since Passed" and including it in her 1986 album Hope in a Darkened Heart. "From Gardens..." was re-mastered and re-released by Rough Trade as a CD in 2003.
Critical reception
The album was praised by critics. Stewart Mason, writing for Allmusic, stated:
Track listing
- "Morning: With My Eyes Wide Open I'm Dreaming" - 5:43
- "Morning: A Summer Long Since Passed" - 4:36
- "Morning: From Gardens Where We Feel Secure" - 3:59
- "Morning: Hiding In The Ha-Ha" - 3:55
- "Afternoon: Out On The Lawn I Lie In Bed" - 5:09
- "Afternoon: Too Hot For Peacocks" - 2:29
- "Afternoon: Summer Of Their Dreams" - 3:21
- "Afternoon: When The Fields Were On Fire" - 3:25
- "Afternoon: It's Too Hot To Sleep" - 5:18
Songs
1With My Eyes Open I'm Dreaming5:43
2A Summer Long Since Passed4:37
3From Gardens Where We Feel Secure4:00