BREATHLESS
BLUE MOON
ALBUM TENOR VOSSA RELEASE: LATE JULY, 1999 REVIEW: JULY 30, 1999

Breathless has always existed in hiding, it seems. Being most active in the eighties, when they released several albums, their new record "Blue Moon" is their first new material in about seven years. And even before the period of silence I can't remember anyone mentioning the band. Probably Breathless lived quietly in the shadow of the semi-legendary 4AD project This Mortal Coil, where Breathless singer Dominic Appleton also sang.
When you release new music after seven years of silence, it helps if your music is as timeless as this. Absolutely impossible to date, Breathless' droning waves of guitars and synthesizers paced by slow drumming could have been created anytime between now and the early eighties. The sound is distinctly British, and the melancholic feeling projected by the sombre soundscapes bring bands like Flying Saucer Attack and Laika to mind. The difference is that Breathless uses mostly the classical rock outfit - guitars, bass and drums - to evoke these moods.
Occasionally Appleton sings of relationships turned sour, of wishful thinking and ultimately of hopelessness. So, while the lyrics are kind of goth in its best sense, the music is fleeting and a little dreamy. "Blue Moon" provides very pleasant listening, but you're not going to find anything like choruses or swift changes in it. It's more like an ocean of sound, to quote musical critic David Toop. The temperature is just right, too, so a short swim is recommended. But staying too long in the water, I tend to catch a cold. Breathless works best in shorter doses, with long pauses in between.

MATTIAS HUSS