Released on 22 May 1995, Afraid of Sunlight is Marillion’s eighth studio album. Produced by Dave Meegan in association with the band, and released through EMI, the record reached number 16 on the UK Albums Chart and represents a thematic companion piece to Brave — though considerably less linear in its storytelling.

Where Brave explored a single fictional consciousness, Afraid of Sunlight casts a wider net — examining the mechanics and cost of fame through a series of loosely connected vignettes. The album draws on real figures (Kurt Cobain, O.J. Simpson, Princess Diana, John F. Kennedy) as symbolic anchors, using them to explore how public life consumes and distorts private identity. It is a concept album that operates more like an essay — a collection of perspectives that cohere around a central argument rather than a single narrative.

The album contains some of Hogarth’s finest vocal performances and some of Rothery’s most distinctive guitar textures, particularly on “Gazpacho” and the sprawling closer “Out of This World”. It is a record that benefits from repeated, attentive listening — revealing additional layers with each pass.

In 2020, Marillion released a new remix by Michael Hunter of the album, introducing it to a new generation and prompting widespread critical reappraisal. Afraid of Sunlight is now more widely recognised as one of the most intelligent and emotionally complex records in the band’s catalogue.