Breathless is a 4-piece band comprising Dominic Appleton (vocals. keyboards), Gary Mundy (guitar), Ari Neufeld (bass) and Tristram Latimer Sayer (drums), who this year celebrate four decades together.
Breathless' music is variously described as dream pop, shoegaze (latterly applied), ethereal rock, psychedelic (at times) and in many ways the perfect signing to the 4AD label in the 1980s. Except that Breathless never were.
From April 1984's debut single Waterland to their most recent album, 2022's See Those Colours Fly, Breathless' releases have been on their own Tenor Vossa label. To date, there have been eight albums, one compilation (1994) and fourteen singles/EPs. I don't (yet) own any of the albums but I have so far been able to source ten of the singles digitally.
Over And Over was a 4-track CD single in 1991, a double A-side with All That Matters Now, both songs taken from fourth album Between Happiness And Heartache. Over And Over was accompanied by an official video, directed by Damon Heath. Tristram Latimer Sayer took leave of Breathless in 1987, returning in 2011, with Martyn Watts on drums for the intervening period.
Truth be knownThe magic's back in my heart againIt's sad I knowYou leap up before meAre you back now to haunt me?Just one night when I pushed you asideI knew what was done was doneWell, if I knew thenJust what I know nowThat I'd lose youAs I couldn't tell youI need youI need you
Well, it's a funny old worldWhen you're too long on your own
When you fall in loveWell, in and out of love againWell, it's wrong, wrong, wrongI've been on my own for too longYes, it's wrong, wrong, wrongTo be on your own for so long
I think of you, think of you, everydayDo you think of me, think of me, ever?I count every day you're gone awayI count them all, I doOver and over, over and over
Over and over, over and over
I need you
I need you
Although Breathless have never been signed to 4AD, it was there that I first heard Dominic Appleton's distinctive voice. He was one of a very few non-4AD artists to record with This Mortal Coil, contributing vocals to three songs on second album Filigree & Shadow (and one on third and final album Blood), including this beautiful cover of Tarantula, originally by Colourbox. Here's a video created in 2019 by Virgil Pink.
Over And Over is a lovely track. Not sure I've ever come across these guys before (but then, I've reached the stage where I've forgotten more than I remember)
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean, Rol! Given how much I loved Dominic's contributions to This Mortal Coil, I'm surprised it took me so long to trace back to Breathless.
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