Breathe (Kylie Minogue song)

"Breathe"
Single by Kylie Minogue
from the album Impossible Princess
Released February 1998
Format
Recorded London, England
Genre
Length 3:39 (radio edit)
4:36 (album version)
Label Deconstruction
Writer(s)
Producer(s)
  • Kylie Minogue
  • Dave Ball
  • Ingo Vauk
Kylie Minogue singles chronology
"Did It Again"
(1997)		 "Breathe"
(1998)		 "Cowboy Style"
(1998)
Music video
"Breathe" on YouTube

"Breathe" is a song recorded by Australian recording artist Kylie Minogue taken from her sixth studio album Impossible Princess (1997). The song was written, produced and composed by Minogue, Dave Ball and Ingo Vuak. Minogue had co-written the track while she was on holiday with her boyfriend Stéphane Sednaoui, who had taken her on a series of trips around Southeast Asia and North America. Like the rest off the parent album, the trips encouraged Minogue to write songs based on her celebrity status and become more inspired by this. It was taken as the last commercial single by Deconstruction Records.

The lyrical content talks about Minogue's personal sense of expressions and quietness. The song came about after one of Minogue's commented on her quiet attitude; this led to further themes of contemplation and thinking to be inspired in the song. Musically, "Breathe" is an electronica song that utilizes softer synthesizer and keyboard instruments along with drums, bass guitars and other additional instruments. This song, along with album track "Too Far", became her first songs to fully co-produce and co-compose.

Critically, the song received favorable reviews from most music critics, who praised the production. Many critics commended the composition and experimental production and has been signified as one of Minogue's career, and album highlights. Commercially, the song achieved only moderate success by peaking only inside the top third in both Australia and the United Kingdom. It managed to chart in other countries including Spain and Greece in lower positions. The song proved to under-perform throughout the albums last segment of promotion by Deconstruction.

An accompanying music video was directed for by Welsh film director Kieran Evans, which featured Minogue inside an airspace with lighting and spiraling effects, provided by CGI and green screen. The video managed to achieve good reviews from critics and the public. In addition, Minogue had performed the song on only one tour, which was her Intimate and Live Tour, along with appearances on Top of the Pops, Live & Kicking and a TV appearance on the National Lottery show.

Background

Minogue began writing lyrics for her sixth studio album Impossible Princess in 1996 during trips with boyfriend Stéphane Sednaoui to the US and China. When she returned, Minogue was constantly writing down words, exploring the form and meaning of sentences.[1] She had written lyrics before, but called them "safe, just neatly rhymed words".[2] Minogue initially had a hard time embracing her past, looking back on it as a time of pain and confused embarrassment.[3] Confronting her past helped her improve her confidence; she said "it was like I'd climbed Mount Everest, or jumped out of a plane. So many things that I had avoided for so long were right there. That was what Nick (Cave) was saying to me. 'It'll be brilliant. It'll confront all of your past, all in one fell swoop'. And he was right."[4]

Minogue had greater freedom to make Impossible Princess sound as she wanted it to. Deconstruction Records' A&R representative, Pete Hadfield, fell terribly ill for a year, so all creative production was handled by Minogue and the producers Brothers in Rhythm.[5][6] According to music press, Minogue wanted to establish herself as an indie artist. However, she denied, telling Mixmag: "I have to keep telling people that this isn't an indie-guitar album. I'm not about to pick up a guitar and rock."[7] The song was originally titled "Clever Girl (Did It Again)".[8]

To promote the album, she released the lead single "Some Kind of Bliss", but was only chosen due to a bias decision by Deconstruction as she personally favored "Limbo".[9] Despite the decision and initial release, the song attracted negative commentary from most music critics in 1997 and under-performed severely in international countries, mainly in the UK, Australia and New Zealand, where it peaked inside the top twenty and top fifty respectively.[10][11][12] The following single "Did It Again" was positively received from most music critics and although it only charted in Australia and UK, it managed to be successful and was certified gold by Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) for exceeding sales off 35,000 units.[13]

Composition

"Breathe" was written by Minogue herself alongside British musician and producer Dave Ball and Ingo Vauk.[14] All three collaborators had also produced and composed the song, despite Minogue never being accredited this on the album notes.[14][15][upper-alpha 1] "Breathe" was one of the only songs on the album that Minogue had composed, participating with the synthesizer and keyboards, while Livingstone Brown had played the bass guitar, drums by Steve Sidelnyk and other additional instruments were handled by Ball and Vauk.[14] This also marks Minogue's first and final song along with "Too Far" that she had co-produced.[14] "Breathe" was recorded in London, England at Ball and Vauk's home studio's while additional recording was handled at Mayfair Studios.[14] For the Todd Terry remix, Minogue flew to Chicago, USA to re-record the track and overlap the track for the remix.[14]

"I wrote it in Japan; at the time, I felt very still and restrained. My girlfriend told me, "You don't realize how loud you are when you are quiet!". It is typical of me to be thinking, deciding what is wrong because I'm not clear in my head. That's why I say "Breathe" because I have to stay calm.[16]

—Minogue talking about "Breathe".

Musically, "Breathe" is an electronica-inspired song that was noted for its comparison with other electronic tracks, particularly with "Say Hey".[17] Structure-wise, the song is set in the key of B.[18] Minogue's vocals span from B note to A note while singing through the chorus and verses, while the bridge of the song is sung in a higher E note.[18] According to Tom Parker, who provided the special edition album notes for Impossible Princess, "["Breathe"] is a seductive electronic groove, with a hypnotic subtlety and timelessness befitting the theme inward contemplating and resolve."[14] Larry Flick from Billboard said that "Breathe" is a user-friendly jam and is largely due to its big-beat electronic groove and ear-tickling pop chorus.[19]

Lyrically, the song talks about withholding expression and emotions and expresses contemplation.[16] Written in Tokyo during her trips with her then-boyfriend Stephane Sednaoui, Minogue explained that the story was based on her friendships, with many of her friends commenting on her quietness; she commented "My girlfriend told me 'You don't realize how loud you are when you are quiet."[16] She felt that it was "typical" of her to be "think, deciding what is wrong" because she felt that things in her head "were not clear."[16]

Reception

Release

After disappointing sales from "Some Kind of Bliss" and "Did it Again", Minogue eventually decided to release "Breathe" as the third single.[20] However, when the song was decided for a February 1998 release, Impossible Princess was released four months prior and critical reception and commercial performance fell under expectations; the album peak inside the top ten in both Australia and the UK but suffered criticism in the latter country. Many critics and public criticized the phase of "Indie Kylie" and felt it "scared" the public.[21] Sales also suffered, entering at number ten and making it her lowest charting album in the UK.[22] Due to low sales, Deconstruction were afraid of bankruptcy and were prompt to terminate Minogue's contract if sales did not increase, but due to mutual agreements and near completion of her contract, they decided to allow her to leave in her own choice; she announced her leave shortly after.[23]

"Breathe" was released as the last commercial single worldwide by her record label Deconstruction Records. Like her previous single, Minogue released the single as two-set CD single's.[24] The song was released as a two-set CD single in the United Kingdom and Australia, both including remixes, the album version and the first set release featured an interactive music video of "Did It Again".[25] The artwork for the single was shot by Sednaoui, who had previously photographed the album sleeve and photoshoot of Impossible Princess. The cover sleeves feature a close-up picture of Minogue's face. The song was released as a promotional CD and cassette single in the UK and a vinyl in Spain, Australia and the UK.[26][27][28]

Critical reception

"Breathe" received positive commentary from most music critics. Michael R. Smith from Daily Vault said along with "Did It Again"; "[“Did It Again”] and [“Breathe”] are most notable for the videos that went along with them and are fair representations of the album at large (which should be the purpose of singles), though there are many more undiscovered gems here."[29] Nick Levine from Digital Spy had selected the song as the albums best track by writing "Truth be told, this album lacks an absolute classic to match ['Confide In Me'], but ['Breathe'] – subtle but sneakily catchy with it – could be one of Min's most underrated singles."[17] While reviewing the 2004 compilation Ultimate Kylie, Jaime Gill from Yahoo! Music praised the DeConstruction era by writing "If you doubt the fanbase observation, witness the famously fallow deConstruction years. Beginning in 1994 with the gorgeously glacial, slinkily synthetic ["Confide In Me"], Kylie enjoyed brief success before fans fled in droves from awkward faux-rock like "Some Kind Of Bliss" (not included) and flimsy house like "Breathe"."[30] While review the 2000 compilation Hits+, Mackenzie Wilson was positive towards Minogue's seductive vocals on "Breathe", "Automatic Love" and "Confide in Me".[31]

Chris True from Allmusic selected the song as an album standout on her Greatest Hits 87-97 compilation album. Jason Lipshutz from Billboard had listed 'Kylie Minogue Primer: The Top 10 Past Hits You Need To Know' and listed "Breathe" at number four, stating "Breathe" is the obvious standout, sounding almost like a Nine Inch Nails throwaway in its opening seconds and morphing into a silky, sexy defense of Minogue's experimental side.[32] A reviewer from the publication TheBacklot put "Breathe" at number 14 on their "Kylie Minogue’s 50 Best Songs, In Honor Of Her Birthday" and said "“Breathe” would be a meditative masterpiece if it weren’t so confrontational, deadpan, and sexually domineering. Impossible Princess’ unassuming heartstopper trips into unexpected carnality in its choruses, assuring you “It won’t be long now” as you try to time your hyperventilation."[33]

Commercial response

In February 1998, "Breathe" was released in the United Kingdom. The song became Minogue's twenty-eighth consecutive top forty single when it debuted at number fourteen on the singles chart, and spent a total of four weeks in the top seventy-five. The song was the fourth highest debuting single off that week, with the highest debut being Spice Girls's single "Stop".[34] In Australia, the song was released as the third out of four singles, the other being an Australian-only single "Cowboy Style". The song debuted at number twenty-three, the highest entry of the week end 26 April 1998.[35] The song stayed inside the top forty for ten weeks and survived a total of thirteen weeks, dropping at number forty-eight on its final weekend of 19 July 1998.[36] Despite a lower position, it became one of Minogue's longest charting singles in Australia. In other countries, the single performed mildly. It reached number one on the Israeli Singles Chart and number three on the Russian Airplay Singles Chart.[37]

Promotion

Music video

An accompanying music video was directed for by Welsh film director Kieran Evans and was his first collaboration with Minogue.[25] "Breathe" was the first professional work ever directed or produced by Evans and after the shooting of the music video, Evans continued to work within the music industry and became a regular collaborator for Heavenly Films, a sister project of British record label Heavenly Recordings; this led him to direct and produce more music videos for other music artists.[38] The music video starts with close up shots of Minogue's body parts including her face, hands, wrist, eyes and lips. Throughout the song, a giant glass orb is centered on the screen and is shun by a mysterious light.[39] From there onwards, it features Minogue in an airspace of spiraling effects, as she floats through the atmosphere, all produced by green screen and CGI effects.

Near the chorus, it features shots of Minogue's foot and hand touching against a smooth surface. In the second verse, it features three different video footage of Minogue layering over top, with one of the video footage having her singing the track and features an all body shot during the second chorus.[39] The video then finishes with Minogue floating away, being inset of her own eye that was shot at the start of the video.[39] For the radio/video version, the song was digitally sped up and ran at a much faster tempo.[39]

One of the shots of the video was used as the album cover for her 2002 greatest hits compilation Confide in Me. The music video was features on many of Minogue's video formats including The Kylie Tapes 94–98, Greatest Hits 1987–1999, Kylie Minogue: Artist Collection and the most recent release was on her 2004 DVD release Ultimate Kylie.[40]

Live performances and other uses

To promote the single, Minogue had performed the single on several television programs and channels. Minogue had debuted the single performance in 1998 on The Ben Elton Show, wearing a pink shirt, long skirt and singing while being backed by her live band.[41] While Minogue was a guest start for an exclusive interview, Minogue received the oppitunity to perform the single live on the Australian morning series Hey Hey It's Saturday.[42] She had later received the oppitunities to perform the single live on several other live shows including the Top of the Pops, The National Lottery show and Live & Kick music show.[43][44][45]

Minogue performed the song on the Intimate and Live Tour. The song was featured on the opening act for the tour and featured Minogue singing the track on stage, wearing a black long-collared shirt and three-quarter pants, similar to the costume off "Did It Again".[46] Like the rest off the costumes on the tour including the performance off "Some Kind of Bliss", it features Minogue with a lot of "princess"-inspired outfits.[46] The performance was part of the concert realized in the Capitol Theatre in Sydney, Australia, which was recorded and released in CD and DVD.[47][48] "Breathe" was later performed by Minogue on Money Can't Buy, a one-off concert show held on 15 November 2003 at Hammersmith Apollo, London, to promote her ninth studio album Body Language. The "Bardello" act of the concert commenced with a mashup of "Breathe" and "Je t'aime... moi non plus", a 1969 French duet between Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin.[49] Craig McLean from the Daily Telegraph described the backup dancers during this segment as "Tour de France cyclists moonlighting as Moulin Rouge hostesses."[50] The performance was later added to Minogue's Body Language Live DVD from the concert.[51]

In 2011, Minogue sang an acoustic version while on her 2011 Aphrodite World Tour.[52] In 2012, the orchestral version of the song didn't make the tracklist of The Abbey Road Sessions but the song was eventually uploaded on Minogue's official YouTube account.[53] In 2015, Minogue had used the single as an opening introduction for her Kiss Me Once Tour and sung limited of the song through the performance.[54]

Personnel

Credits adapted from the EP's liner notes.[14]

Song credits

Cover credits

Formats and track listings

These are the formats and track listings of major single releases of "Breathe".

  1. "Breathe" (Radio edit) — 3:39
  2. "Breathe" (Tee's Freeze mix) — 6:59
  3. "Breathe" (Nalin & Kane remix) — 10:11
  4. "Breathe" (Album mix) — 4:38
  1. "Breathe" (Radio edit) — 3:39
  2. "Breathe" (Sash! Club mix) — 5:20
  3. "Breathe" (Tee's Radio edit) — 3:29
  4. "Did It Again" music video — 4:15
  1. "Breathe" (Radio edit) — 3:39
  2. "Breathe" (Sash! Club mix edit) — 3:43

Charts, peaks and positions

Charts

Chart (1998) Peak
position
Australian ARIA Singles Chart[55] 23
Greek International Singles Chart[56] 9
Spanish Singles Chart[56] 13
UK Singles Chart[57] 14

Notes

  1. ↑ In an album interview (An Interview with Kylie Minogue, 1997. CAT: KM002), Minogue stated that she co-produced and co-composed "Breathe" and "Too Far", but omitted her name from the liner credits from the studio album.

References

  1. ↑ Baker & Minogue 2002, p. 111
  2. ↑ Walsh, John (November 1997). "Lucky in Luck". Vogue (Condé Nast Publications). Retrieved on 17 September 2013. ISSN 0042-8000.
  3. ↑ Baker & Minogue 2002, p. 112
  4. ↑ (September 1997) "Kylie Defeats Her Demons". The Australian (News Corp Australia). Retrieved 17 September 2013. ISSN 1038-8761
  5. ↑ Baker & Minogue 2002, pp. 113–114
  6. ↑ "That's Impossible, Princess!!". Rolling Stone (Wenner Media). January 1998. Retrieved 17 September 2013. ISSN 0035-791X.
  7. ↑ Petridis, Alex (October 1997). "Kylie Chameleon". Mixmag (Development Hell Ltd). Retrieved 4 October 2012. OCLC 780074556
  8. ↑ "Did It Again". Kylie.com. 2 July 2008. Retrieved 6 September 2013.
  9. ↑ "::: Sweet Music ::: Music for Music Lovers - Music news :". Freewebs.com. Retrieved 2011-07-28.
  10. ↑ Steffen Hung. "Kylie Minogue - Some Kind of Bliss". charts.org.nz. Retrieved 2011-07-28.
  11. ↑ Steffen Hung. "Kylie Minogue - Some Kind of Bliss". australian-charts.com. Retrieved 2011-07-28.
  12. ↑ Kylie by Sean Smith. Pg. 138-139.
  13. ↑ "1998 Accreditations". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 31 July 2010.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 14.5 14.6 14.7 Liner notes off Impossible Princess by Kylie Minogue, November 1997. Deconstruction Records.
  15. ↑ "Breathe". AllMusic. Retrieved 2012-02-08.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 Liner notes from An Interview with Kylie Minogue, provided by Deconstruction Records. November 1997.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Levine, Nick (20 March 2015). "Kylie Revisited: Album 6 - Impossible Princess". Digital Spy. Retrieved 6 June 2010.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 "Breathe by Kylie Minogue (Chords, vocal notes and key notes)". E-Chords. 20 March 2015. Retrieved 12 February 2006.
  19. ↑ Flick, Larry (4 April 1998). "Minogue Makes Mature Turn On deConstruction Set". Billboard 110 (14): 18. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved 2 March 2013.
  20. ↑ Kylie by Sean Smith. Pg. 141-142.
  21. ↑ Flick, Larry (17 June 2000). "Minogue travels in 'Light Years' with EMI". Billboard 110 (14): 17. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
  22. ↑ "Kylie Minogue – Impossible Princess". Chart Stats. Retrieved 20 February 2011.
  23. ↑ deConstruction Records Press Statement. June 1998. Retrieved on August 15, 2014.
  24. ↑ "Kylie Minogue - Breathe (CD) at Discogs.com". Discogs.com. 20 March 2015. Retrieved February 1999. Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 "Kylie Minogue - Breathe (CD, CD2 Set) at Discogs.com". Discogs.com. 20 March 2015. Retrieved January 1998. Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  26. ↑ "Kylie Minogue - Breathe (Promotional CD, Album) at Discogs.com, UK only". Discogs.com. 20 March 2015. Retrieved February 1998. Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  27. ↑ "Kylie Minogue - Breathe (Cassette, Cardsleeve cassette) at Discogs.com, AUS and UK only". Discogs.com. 20 March 2015. Retrieved February 1998. Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  28. ↑ "Kylie Minogue - Breathe (Vinyl) at Discogs.com, AUS, SPA and UK only". Discogs.com. 20 March 2015. Retrieved February 1998. Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  29. ↑ R. Smith, Michael (20 March 2015). "Impossible Princess (review)". Retrieved 24 May 2008.
  30. ↑ "Yahoo! Music Review - Ultimate Kylie by Kylie Minogue". Yahoo!. Bing.com (Bulletin). Yahoo! Music. 18 August 2004. Archived from the original on 16 January 2014. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
  31. ↑ Wilson, MacKenzie. "Hits+ - Kylie Minogue". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  32. ↑ Lipshutz, Jason (20 March 2015). "Kylie Minogue Primer: The Top 10 Past Hits You Need To Know". Billboard Magazine. Retrieved 17 March 2012.
  33. ↑ "The Top 50 Best Kyie Minogue Songs in Honor of her Birthday!". The Back Lot.com. 20 March 2015. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
  34. ↑ "Kylie Minogue - Breathe". Chart Stats. 21 March 1998. Archived from the original on 16 January 2014. Retrieved 2015-03-20.
  35. ↑ Steffen Hung. "Kylie Minogue - Breathe". australian-charts.com. Retrieved 2015-03-20.
  36. ↑ Steffen Hung (1998-07-19). "Kylie Minogue - Breathe". australian-charts.com. Retrieved 2015-03-20.
  37. ↑ "Impossible Princess - KylieUnlimited". KylieUnlimited.com. 20 March 2015. Retrieved 2015.
  38. ↑ "Abour Heavenly Films". heavenlyfilms.net. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
  39. ↑ 39.0 39.1 39.2 39.3 "Kylie Minogue - Breathe". Youtube. Parlophone. 21 March 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2009.
  40. ↑ Liner notes off Ultimate Kylie DVD by Kylie Minogue, 2004. Parlophone.
  41. ↑ "Kylie Minogue - Breathe (Live The Ben Elton Show 1998)". Youtube. 20 March 2015. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
  42. ↑ "Kylie Minogue - Breathe & Interview - Hey Hey It's Saturday 1998". Youtube. 20 March 2015. Retrieved 3 February 2014.
  43. ↑ "Kylie Minogue - Breathe (TOTP 1998) [Live]". Youtube. 20 March 2015. Retrieved 13 April 2014.
  44. ↑ "Kylie Minogue - Breathe (National Lottery Show 1998) [Live]". Youtube. 20 March 2015. Retrieved 9 April 2014.
  45. ↑ "Kylie Minogue - Breathe (Live & Kicking 1998) [Live]". Youtube. 20 March 2015. Retrieved 9 April 2014.
  46. ↑ 46.0 46.1 "Kylie Minogue - Some Kind Of Bliss [Intimate and Live Tour]". Youtube. 14 March 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2009.
  47. ↑ Intimate and Live (Live album liner notes). Kylie Minogue. Parlophone. 1998.
  48. ↑ Kylie Minogue (2002). Intimate and Live (DVD). Warner Vision.
  49. ↑ "Kylie – Money Can't Buy". Steve Anderson Productions. Archived from the original on 30 June 2014. Retrieved 30 June 2014.
  50. ↑ McLean, Craig (17 November 2003). "A real tour de force". The Daily Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group. Retrieved 3 July 2014.
  51. ↑ "Body Language Live". Kylie.com. Parlophone. Archived from the original on 27 February 2004. Retrieved 4 July 2014.
  52. ↑ "Kylie Minogue - Breathe (Acoustic Performance)". Facebook. Retrieved 2012-02-08.
  53. ↑ "Kylie Minogue - Breathe 2012 - Recording at Abbey Road". Retrieved 21 December 2012.
  54. ↑ O'Mance, Brad (24 December 2014). "Kylie Minogue’s Kiss Me Once tour will be out on DVD, don’t you worry". Popjustice. Retrieved 24 December 2014.
  55. ↑ Steffen Hung. "Kylie Minogue - Breathe". australian-charts.com. Retrieved 2012-02-08.
  56. ↑ 56.0 56.1 "Slovenian Kylie Site - Breathe". SloKylie.com. Retrieved 2012-02-08.
  57. ↑ "Kylie Minogue - Breathe". Chart Stats. 1998-03-21. Retrieved 2012-02-08.

External links