Breathless, a British band unknown both in their homeland and in the USA, but with a loyal following in Italy, never managed to build a clear musical identity.

The band (Gary Mundy on guitar, Dominic Appleton on vocals and keyboards) first rose to prominence with a series of EPs, including Waterland (Tenor Vossa, 1984), Ageless, and Two Days From Eden, from which Pride is also taken. The style of the album The Glass Beads Game (Tener Vossa, 1986) and the mini-album Nailing Colours To The Wheel, particularly Waiting On The Wire, was a hybrid between the most enchanted psychedelia of early Pink Floyd (Barrett-style vocals, Gilmour-style guitar, Waters-style organ) and the more subdued gothic/existential balladry of Joy Division.

Three Times And Waving (1987) completed their programmatic fusion of Can, Pink Floyd, and Cocteau Twins into a melodic and driving sound that flows seamlessly. No song is particularly memorable, though the title track has a bit more verve and atmosphere. The melodic wonder of Sold Down The River still descends from Joy Division and Echo And The Bunnymen. The tracks are mostly "sculptures," absorbing with elegance decorative elements like the organ crescendo in Working For Space and the disjointed tribalism of Dizzy Life. Into The Fire is exemplary of how you can extract a catchy theme from a blend of Beach Boys-style vocal harmonies and a coagulation of slow bass drum pulses and intermittent cymbal explosions. These are the tricks of '60s psychedelia revisited through the masterful production art of the new British pop.

Chasing Promises exploits these ideas in a manner that�s almost too fussy, becoming (Compulsion, Better Late Than Never) a mere theoretical essay on atmospheric music, at times dangerously bordering on art-rock (Sometimes On Sunday). Only Moment By Moment, and the subsequent single I Never Know Where You Are, are true songs, living on their own terms.

After a long hiatus, Between Happiness And Heartache (Tenor Vossa, 1991) and the single Don't Just Disappear present a limp and repetitive sound.

After another long hiatus, the Breathless released Blue Moon (Tenor Vossa, 1999), possibly their most accessible album (Magic Lamp, Walk Down To The Water).