In a Foreign Town

In a Foreign Town is the 16th studio album by the English singer-songwriter Peter Hammill. It was originally released in 1988 on Enigma Records, and was subsequently reissued on Hammill's own Fie! label.

The album has not proved popular with some of Hammill's fans, due largely to the rather dated 1980s rhythm tracks and production. However, others value it highly because it is one of Hammill's most politically engaged albums, covering such topics as apartheid ("Sun City Nightlife"), big business ("Sci-Finance (Revisited)" – a reworking of "Sci-Finance", the Van der Graaf song from Vital) and global politics ("Hemlock"). "Time to Burn" was a goodbye to Tony Stratton Smith who had died just prior to this. The song "This book" is a cover of the song "Abrir y Cerrar" that appeared on the album "Bandido" by the Spanish artist Miguel Bosé, published by CBS in 1986. In this production Peter Hammil is credited as co-writer of other songs.

Track listing
All tracks written by Peter Hammill; except where indicated


 * 1) "Hemlock"
 * 2) "Invisible Ink"
 * 3) "Sci-Finance (Revisited)"
 * 4) "This Book" (Hammill, Gianpiero Ameli, Roberto Colombo)
 * 5) "Time to Burn"
 * 6) "Auto"
 * 7) "Vote Brand X"
 * 8) "Sun City Nightlife"
 * 9) "The Play's the Thing"
 * 10) "Under Cover Names"

The CD version contained two extra tracks:


 * 1) "Smile" (Herbert Grönemeyer (spelled "Grönemey" on CD label), Hammill)
 * 2) "Time to Burn (Instrumental)"

Personnel

 * Peter Hammill – vocals, guitar, keyboards, percussion
 * Stuart Gordon – violin on (1)

Technical

 * Peter Hammill - recording engineer (Sofa Sound, Avon)
 * Paul Ridout – engineer, artwork
 * David Lord – mixing (Crescent Studios, Bath)
 * Paul Ridout - cover design
 * Armando Gallo, Hilary Hammill – photography