Heartleap

Heartleap
Studio album by Vashti Bunyan
Released	6 October 2014
Recorded	2007–2014
Genre	Psychedelic folk, freak folk
Length	34:42
Label	FatCat
Producer	Vashti Bunyan
Vashti Bunyan chronology
Some Things Just Stick in Your Mind – Singles and Demos 1964 to 1967 (2007) Heartleap (2014)

Heartleap is the third studio album by English singer-songwriter Vashti Bunyan, released on October 6, 2014, in the UK on FatCat Records and October 7 in the U.S. via DiCristina. First announced in June, Heartleap was accompanied by a statement where Bunyan wrote, "The whole point of the album was finally to learn a way that would enable me to record the music that is in my head, by myself. I neither read nor write music, nor can I play piano with more than one hand at a time, but I have loved being able to work it all out for myself and make it sound the way I wanted. I've built these songs over years. The album wouldn't have happened any other way." ^[1]

Reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	7.8/10 [2]
Metacritic	82/100 [3]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[4]
Clash	7/10 [5]
The Guardian	[6]
The Line of Best Fit	8.5/10 [7]
Mojo	[8]
MusicOMH	[9]
Pitchfork	7.8/10 [10]
PopMatters	7/10 [11]
Q	[12]
Record Collector	[13]

According to the review aggregator Metacritic , Heartleap received "universal acclaim" based on a weighted average score of 82 out of 100 from 17 critic scores. ^[3]

Track listing

All songs written, arranged and produced by Vashti Bunyan, except arrangement of strings in "Across the Water", improvised by Fiona Brice and Ian Burdge.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Across the Water"	3:48
2.	"Holy Smoke"	4:48
3.	"Mother"	3:30
4.	"Jellyfish"	3:42
5.	"Shell"	4:08
6.	"The Boy"	1:40
7.	"Gunpowder"	3:04
8.	"Blue Shed"	2:11
9.	"Here"	3:18
10.	"Heartleap"	4:39

Personnel

• Vashti Bunyan - Guitars, synth, producer, vocals, arrangements, piano, dulcitone
• Martin Korth - Mixing
• Mandy Parnell - Mastering
• Whyn Lewis - Cover painting
• dlt - Design and layout
• Fiona Brice - Strings, violin
• Ian Burdge - Strings, cello
• Gillon Cameron - Strings, violin
• Jo Mango - Kalimba, flute
• Gareth Dickson - Guitars
• Andy Cabic - Guitars, vocals
• Devendra Banhart - Vocals
• Ian Wilson - Recorder, saxophone

References

1. Gordon, Jeremy (2 July 2014). "Vashti Bunyan Says New Album Will Be Her Last". Pitchfork Media. Pitchfork. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
2. "Heartleap by Vashti Bunyan Reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved 16 September 2025.
3. "Heartleap - Vashti Bunyan". Metacritic . Retrieved 30 October 2014.
4. Jurek, Thom. "Heartleap - Vashti Bunyan". AllMusic . Retrieved 13 October 2014.
5. Hampson, Gemma. "Vashti Bunyan - Heartleap". Clash . Retrieved 29 October 2014.
6. Denselow, Robin. "Heartleap - Vashti Bunyan". The Guardian . Retrieved 15 October 2014.
7. Godley, Simon. "Heartleap - Vashti Bunyan". The Line of Best Fit . Retrieved 15 October 2014.
8. "Vashti Bunyan: Heartleap". Mojo : 93. November 2014.
9. Paton, Daniel. "Vashti Bunyan – Heartleap". MusicOMH . Retrieved 29 October 2014.
10. Richardson, Mark. "Vashti Bunyan: Heartleap". Pitchfork . Retrieved 13 October 2014.
11. Risch, Eric. "Vashti Bunyan: Heartleap". PopMatters . Retrieved 29 October 2014.
12. "Vashti Bunyan: Heartleap". Q : 108. November 2014.
13. Atkins, Jamie. "Heartleap - Record Collector". Record Collector . Retrieved 29 October 2014.

External links

• http://www.fat-cat.co.uk/site/artists/vashti-bunyan Archived 2015-09-05 at the Wayback Machine