Begin to Hope is the fourth album by Russian-born American singer-songwriter Regina Spektor.[12] It was released June 13, 2006. The album debuted at number 70 on the Billboard 200, but due to the popularity of the single "Fidelity", it peaked at number 20[13] and was labeled a "pace setter" by Billboard. Rolling Stone named it the 21st-best album of 2006.[14] The album was certified Platinum by the RIAA for shipments to U.S. retailers of 1,000,000 units.[15]
"Better" was released to US radio in late July 2007.
Even though it was not released as a single, "Hotel Song" has reached No. 11 in the Irish music download charts and No. 16 in the Irish Top 50 Singles Chart as of May 2007.
"Samson" is a new recording of a song originally released on 2002's Songs. Gwen Stefani used the song for her Season 9 battle between Korin Bukowski and Chase Kerby on The Voice.
The song "Better" appeared in the fourth season of the CBS TV show How I Met Your Mother in an episode titled "Happily Ever After" (2008). It was featured in the 2009 film My Sister's Keeper. A piano version of the song appeared prominently throughout the series finale of The Good Wife in 2016.
"Hotel Song" was featured in a TV commercial of mobile phone company Vodafone in Ireland, contributing to the song's popularity in the country. The song was also featured in the 2011 Jennifer Westfeldt film Friends with Kids.
"Music Box" was featured on a JCPenney commercial.
"Samson" was featured on CSI: NY in the second-season episode "All Access" (2006).
"Fidelity" is one of the songs featured in "Elephant Love Medley", a number in Moulin Rouge! The Musical.
Sales
In New Zealand, the album was certified Gold for sales of more than 7,500.
In Australia, the album was certified Gold for sales of more than 35,000.
In the United States, the album was certified Gold for shipments of over 500,000 copies.[37] Its sales have since surpassed 600,000 according to Nielsen/Soundscan.