From Gardens Where We Feel Secure is the debut album by English musician Virginia Astley, released on 29 July 1983 on Astley's own label Happy Valley Records and distributed by Rough Trade Records. It was recorded in 1982 and co-produced by Astley and Russell Webb.

The album is a predominantly instrumental collection of tone poems that describe the cycle and mirror the moods of a summer day. It is notable for its structure, moving from dawn to dusk, and its use of natural sound effects, over which Astley and co-producer Webb recorded their own improvised playing. Upon release, From Gardens Where We Feel Secure reached number four on the UK Independent Albums chart. It was subsequently reissued in 2003.

Background and recording

While concurrently working on a more song-oriented album, Virginia Astley conceived From Gardens Where We Feel Secure as a separate instrumental project which she intended to evoke the feeling of a summer day. Zoo Records co-founder Bill Drummond had previously suggested that Astley record an instrumental album for his label, but after Astley lost contact with Drummond, she undertook the project independently. Astley later stated that she had not originally pictured it as her debut album, and recorded it "as a side project" because she "decided it would be nice to do something about summer".

From April to June 1982, Astley and her co-producer Russell Webb made various trips to the Moulsford and South Stoke countrysides to make field recordings of assorted natural sounds. while "When the Fields Were on Fire" had appeared on Meridians 2, a compilation issued by the Touch label in May 1983.

In 1985, Astley released the single "Melt the Snow", which included two compositions she originally created for a potential winter-themed counterpart album to From Gardens Where We Feel Secure; a "more industrial and more city-like" companion album was also considered, but never materialised. She later re-recorded the track "A Summer Long Since Past" for her 1986 album Hope in a Darkened Heart. On 29 September 2003, a remastered CD reissue of From Gardens Where We Feel Secure was released by Happy Valley and Rough Trade. As Atkins could no longer be contacted, photographs by Astley were used to create new artwork for the reissue.

| rev2 = Number One

| rev2score = 4/5

| rev3 = Pitchfork

| rev3score = 8.4/10

| rev4 = Q

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| rev5 = Record Mirror

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| rev6 = Smash Hits

| rev6score = /10

| rev7 = Sounds

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| rev8 = Uncut

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In a glowing review for Smash Hits, critic Peter Martin called From Gardens Where We Feel Secure "a diary of sounds" that "evokes a perfect childhood well spent in the heart of a green and pleasant land", and "recaptures the purity of innocence and is sheer bliss."

Track listing

All tracks are written by Virginia Astley.

Side one ("Morning")

  1. "With My Eyes Wide Open I'm Dreaming" – 5:43
  2. "A Summer Long Since Past" – 4:36
  3. "From Gardens Where We Feel Secure" – 3:59
  4. "Hiding in the Ha-Ha" – 3:55

Side two ("Afternoon")

  1. "Out on the Lawn I Lie in Bed" – 5:09
  2. "Too Bright for Peacocks" – 2:29
  3. "Summer of Their Dreams" – 3:21
  4. "When the Fields Were on Fire" – 3:25
  5. "It's Too Hot to Sleep" – 5:18

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.

  • Virginia Astley – production, photography
  • Russell Webb – production, engineering
  • Martyn Atkins – design
  • David A. Jones – design

Charts

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

! scope="col"| Chart (1983)

! scope="col"| Peak<br />position

|-

! scope="row"| UK Independent Albums (MRIB)

| 4

|}

References