From Gardens Where We Feel Secure

From Gardens Where We Feel Secure is the debut album by English musician Virginia Astley, issued on 29 July 1983 on her own label Happy Valley Records and distributed by Rough Trade Records.^[2]

From Gardens Where We Feel Secure
Studio album by Virginia Astley
Released	29 July 1983 (1983-07-29)
Recorded	April–June 1982
Genre	Ambient[1]
Length	37:55
Label	Happy Valley Rough Trade
Producer	Virginia Astley Russell Webb
Virginia Astley chronology
From Gardens Where We Feel Secure (1983) Promise Nothing (1983)

The album is an instrumental collection of tone poems that describe the cycle and mirror the moods of an "indolent" summer day.^[3] It is notable for its structure, moving from dawn to dusk, and its use of natural sound effects, over which co-producer Russell Webb recorded Astley's improvised playing.

From Gardens Where We Feel Secure peaked at number four on the UK Independent Albums chart. Prior to the album's release, two of its tracks, "A Summer Long Since Past" and "It's Too Hot to Sleep", were issued on the 12" edition of Astley's single "Love's a Lonely Place to Be".^[4]

Astley later re-recorded "A Summer Long Since Past" for her 1986 album Hope in a Darkened Heart.^[5] From Gardens Where We Feel Secure was remastered and reissued by Happy Valley and Rough Trade as a CD in 2003.^[6]

An alternate cover shows a photograph of Cowleaze Wood covered in bluebells, a 70-acre woodland in the Chiltern Hills, England.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[3]
Pitchfork	8.4/10[7]
Uncut	[8]

Stewart Mason, writing for AllMusic, stated:

Almost entirely instrumental, save for a few wordless vocals on "A Summer Long Since Past," and featuring little instrumentation besides Astley's piano and some subtle woodwinds, the album is a lovely 35-minute meditation built around field recordings Astley made of the ambient sounds of the rural English countryside. This description makes the album sound much more twee and insubstantial than it actually is; however, Astley is no mere ambient noodler. These nine songs are melodically rich and varied; mood pieces in the truest sense of the term.^[3]

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

Charts

Chart (1983)	Peak position
UK Independent Albums (MRIB)[9]	4