Breathe “Landslide”

1999-breathe-landslidedslAfter labouring in the world of indie, Breathe attracted the attention of Sony and emerged with the ambitiously titled second album, “Don’t Stop the Revolution”.

“Landslide” was the first single from the album and it has an epic sound, with both hints of the Beatles and Oasis (it is the late ’90s, after all). The video is just as epic as the song, shot in artistic black and white with the band playing inside a photogenic old warehouse.

The video is a perfect introduction to the band, making it all about the band and the performance. This is a serious rock band writing serious songs. Lead singer Andrew Tilby is given plenty of screen time, but never in an over-the-top rock star way.

Occasionally we see a long shot of the room with a man sitting at a reel-to-reel tape recorder, no doubt recording the band because they are so epic that their performance needs to be captured for future generations.

But here’s the thing – Breathe didn’t set the charts on fire. This song only made it to #28. And when I look at this video, it seems lacking in charisma. They come across as a very serious band who take themselves and their music very seriously, but I don’t think that’s entirely who they were.

Best bit: the mystery tape-recorder man.

Director: David Stubbs
Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Next… the corridor of obsession.

2 thoughts on “Breathe “Landslide””

  1. Great to see this up!
    The mysterious tape dude was our Gaffer Ants Farrell. The idea was that he was playing back(rather than recording) the string section as we couldn’t afford the NZSO.

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