Dominic Appleton and Gary Mundy knew each other from school and had played earlier in a group called A Cruel Memory.[1] Appleton met bassist Ari Neufeld while working at London's Virgin Megastore. Neufeld recruited Appleton as a keyboardist for a band she was currently in, but the two soon realized that while they were happy making music together, the band as a whole didn't please them.[1] They split away from the group and started working on songs, with Appleton taking over vocal duties and suggesting Mundy for the guitarist role. The name "Breathless" was taken from Jean-Luc Godard's French New Wave film of the same name.[1]
In April 1984, Breathless released their first single, "Waterland"/"Second Heaven". The band recorded "Waterland", "Second Heaven", and an unreleased song entitled "The First Issue" at Denmark Street Studios in London two weeks after drummer Tristram Latimer Sayer joined the band.[6] They recorded a follow-up to their debut single with "Ageless", a three-song 12" single released in November 1984. The sessions for the single actually yielded an entire album's worth of songs, but according to Neufeld, "We were young [and] inexperienced in recording", and the band ultimately was disappointed in all but three of the songs recorded.[7] The recording sessions at Alvic Studios in West London marked the first time the band would work with engineer/producer Drostan Madden, who had been recommended to Breathless by 4AD's boss Ivo Watts-Russell.[7] The EP Two Days from Eden followed in August 1985, prior to their debut album, The Glass Bead Game, which was issued in June 1986. The band recorded with John Fryer at Blackwing Studios in London. Another EP, Nailing Colours to the Wheel, was released in November 1986.
Three Times and Waving to Heartburst (1987–1994)
While recording their sophomore studio album, Three Times and Waving, drummer Latimer Sayer left the band. He was subsequently replaced by Martyn Watts, who played on four tracks on the album (the other five tracks feature drumming from Latimer Sayer).[8] Three Times and Waving was released in November 1987, and the album cover features a 1961 painting from Jean Dubuffet entitled "Spinning Round".[8] The year 1989 saw Breathless release their third album Chasing Promises and the follow-up single "I Never Know Where You Are". According to Neufeld, the band had originally intended to use a re-recorded version of Chasing Promises album track "Moment by Moment" for release as a single, but were "so pleased" with the recording of new track "I Never Know Where You Are" that they decided to make the song the A-side.[9] The song would also feature prominently on the band's next album as the opening track.
The double A-side single "Always"/"Flowers Die" was released in the summer of 1990; the former was a non-album track, while the latter—a cover version of a song originally by the Only Ones—would also feature on their fourth album. Neufeld said, "We felt that we wanted a slightly rawer, less produced sound for our next record and decided to have a change of scene and go back to recording with Drostan [Madden]",[9] so the band produced their fourth album, Between Happiness and Heartache, with Madden and Ken Gardener at Rooster and Blackwing Studios.[10] The album was released in October 1991, while the first proper single, "Over and Over"/"All That Matters Now", followed in November. A music video was also produced for "Over and Over", directed by Damon Heath.
A compilation of tracks recorded between 1983 and 1993 was issued as Heartburst in March 1994, preceded by the 1993 non-album single "Don't Just Disappear". The band took a recording hiatus after the release of "Don't Just Disappear" and did not release any new music until mid-1999.
Blue Moon, Behind the Light and Green to Blue (1999–2013)
Breathless re-emerged in 1999 with their fifth album Blue Moon, an album featuring a more prominent drone rock influence.[11] Two singles were released from the album: "Magic Lamp" in June 1999, and "Walk Down to the Water"/"Goodnight" in June 2000. The following album Behind the Light was released in June 2003 and continued the band's sonic foray into space and drone rock. In 2006, Martyn Watts announced his departure from the band, but in 2011 Breathless announced the return of original drummer Latimer Sayer. The seventh Breathless studio album, Green to Blue, was released in November 2012, issued as a double album. Green to Blue was the first new recording from the band following a nine-year hiatus, and features special guest and This Mortal Coil/4AD alumna Heidi Berry providing backing vocals on album track "Just for Today".[12]
Reissues, reemergence and See Those Colours Fly (2016–present)
Breathless reissued Blue Moon as an expanded double CD and a first-time pressing on double vinyl in February 2016,[13] followed by reissues of The Glass Bead Game in May 2020 and Between Happiness and Heartache in July 2021.
After nearly ten years of recording inactivity, the band announced their eighth studio album, entitled See Those Colours Fly, which was eventually released on 29 July 2022.[14] The album was mixed by Kramer, and was self-produced. Ari Neufeld provided drum programming in lieu of live drums on the album; in an interview with Silent Radio, she explained, "This certainly wasn't intentional. We had just come back from Italy where we had been playing some of the new songs and a couple of days before we were due to go into the studio to record the first one, we heard that our drummer Tristram [Latimer Sayer] had been in a really bad car accident and was in a coma. I think we thought if we go ahead and record, it will mean he will be OK and can add his drums later. This isn't as irrational as it sounds, as on our last album Green to Blue, we recorded everything to a click track and then added the real drums last. Thankfully Tristram is better, and I hope will be able to drum with us in the future. At the same time I was starting to learn how to use Logic and programme drums. At the beginning it was just so we had something comfortable to play along to at rehearsal, but eventually we really got into it and it really suited our way of working."[15] See Those Colours Fly was released to positive reviews, with The Big Takeover stating, "while progress on the group's eighth album was unavoidably delayed by a stroke of cruel misfortune – not to mention the realities of the global pandemic – the finished work is one of their finest, brimming with melody, transfigured by its long period of gestation and the changes fate imposed on their creative process."[16]
