TONI CHILDS : Her ‘House of Hope’ Casts Light on Dark, Bleak Images

Toni Childs titled her latest album “House of Hope,” but it’s a haunted house. Through its halls walk tormented ghosts, each one a victim--of incestuous fathers and alcoholic husbands, of circumstances and of themselves.

Yet Childs, who once led the Los Angeles new wave-era band Toni & the Movers, sees these characters as truly living up to the album’s title.

“They’re doing it, they’re taking control of their lives,” said, Childs, 33, sitting in the Hollywood headquarters of A&M; Records. “That is the ‘House of Hope.’ I was concerned that the record would be too dark. But I realized it’s a positive piece about people getting through.”

A scan of the songs supports this: The wife of the alcoholic in “I’ve Got to Go Now,” the album’s first single (with a stunning video directed by Childs), packs up her two kids and splits for good; the girl of the incestuous father in the harrowing “Daddy’s Song” retreats into dreams and musters the will to survive the abuse. Still, it’s an album full of bleak situations and dark images, made all the more powerful by Childs’ distinctive, Phoebe Snow-on-steroids voice.

“You can’t have hope without something to challenge you to reach for it,” she said of the scenes she portrays. “This album talks about lots of things we don’t like to acknowledge. It feels like there’s a stigma, like we’re not supposed to talk about them. We talk about a ‘dark album,’ but I’m shining light on these things to make it more light.”

In any case, the Childs of “House of Hope” is a stark contrast to the neo-hippie optimist of her debut album, 1988’s “Union,” though the albums share a rich, world-conscious musical quality resulting from a collaboration with Childs’ ex-beau David Ricketts, formerly of David + David.

What’s caused her change?

“Growth, reflection, acceptance,” she said, acknowledging that some of the songs on “Hope” are autobiographical, though declining to say which. “When you look back on your life and you’re going through your 20s and rebelling it’s one thing. Now I’m in my 30s and there’s acceptance of things like my family. And there’s acceptance of how difficult it is to change.”