7th October 2009
Thank you for all the recent emails and interest in the reissue of Hope In A Darkened Heart.
The background details on this release are a little strange and we thought that it made more sense to offer complete transparency so that fans of Virginia’s music are not misled or confused.
We try our best to communicate any news or information possible to the fans, even when it appears to come from third party sources. Virginia herself was not contacted regarding this reissue and was only made aware of its release when details began to emerge online. We have made several attempts to contact the Japanese label responsible for this release (and also a US distributor). We have had no response to any of our messages and emails from any of the parties concerned.
These incidents are worrying as several years ago a third party re-issued several of Virginia’s albums without her permission or involvement (She also received no payments from the sales of those albums). Naturally there is concern when projects such as this recent reissue are produced with no input and no communication.
At this stage, Virginia is making her own enquiries regarding the background of this release.
The information that we can confirm is that the album has definitely been reissued. Despite rumours that it was being retitled as Some Small Hope, it has been released with a facsimile of the original sleeve artwork with the original title.
24th September 2009
The release date for the reissue of Hope In A Darkened Heart is scheduled for 30th September in Japan. A US distributor is planning to release the album on 6th October.
In other news, Virginia has been sampled on the track And So I Pray by Jem. The song samples A Summer Long Since Passed and it appears on Jem’s 2008 album Down To Earth. The biography on Jem’s website mentions how this came about:
“Co-writer Kevin Beber plucked the sample from a CD his mother listened to whilst gardening. Her response was immediate. “I had never heard of [Astley], but the song was so beautiful, it just hit my heart.”
21st September 2009
Virginia’s 1986 album Hope In A Darkened Heart is being reissued in Japan later this month. The reissue will take the form of a reproduction card sleeve of the original release and the track listing will reflect the original Japanese release (including bonus track Le Song).
Hope In A Darkened Heart was a significant album as it featured the song Some Small Hope – a duet between Virginia and David Sylvian also issued as a single.
The album also featured the 1985 single Darkness Has Reached Its End, a remix of 1983 single Love’s A Lonely Place To Be and a re-recorded version of A Summer Long Since Passed.
Virginia has been concentrating on poetry work in recent times, including
both written and recital work. She has issued a limited run mini-album
CD titled Maiden Newton
Ecliptic – a live performance from February 2007 featuring Virginia
reciting poetry, daughter Florence Astley
on harp, Su Morfee on flute and Catherine
Simmonds (tape effects).
The Virginia Astley website has also had some extensive work done to make it look a little better visually. We hope you like the revised look (and you may find some additions to the site if you look carefully!).