Dark Fields is the sixth studio album by English acoustic roots duo Show of Hands, released in 1997 on their own label Hands on Music. The album follows the duo's 1996 performance at the Royal Albert Hall in London, a performance which raised their profile. A live album of the performance was released as Live at the Royal Albert Hall in August, becoming the band's best selling album. The duo followed the success with Dark Fields.

Recorded in St Merryn, Dark Fields features Knightley's characteristic West Country-focused lyrics and a "live" sound carried over from their previous studio release Lie of the Land (1995). The album was released in May 1997, received positive reviews from critics. The band also released a single from the album, "Crazy Boy", which was the band's first single.

With their 1995 album Lie of the Land, Devon-based folk duo Show of Hands, consisting of Steve Knightley and Phil Beer, found the most success in their career so far. Whilst that album's predecessor, Beat about the Bush (1994), aimed for radio play by incorporating a full band set up, it did not receive the air play wanted. The duo then sought for a stripped down, more acoustic sound for Lie of the Land which felt more like the duo's live performances. The album was released in 1995 on Isis Records, and unlike their previous album, it found attention from major publications, such as Mojo and Q, with the latter subsequently naming it the "folk album of the year". The duo received more attention and, by early 1996, they had by now built up a considerable fanbase through their mailing list. Knightley, Beer and manager O’Farrell, who had produced Lie of the Land, took the gamble of hiring London's famous Royal Albert Hall for an performance on the evening of 24 March 1996, in attempt to gather all of the duo's fans, and to raise the duo's profile.

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