Breathe (Midge Ure album)

The recording of the album was already finished in early 1995, but the release was postponed by the record company.[1] The recording took place in various studios in Dublin, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and in Ure's own studio in Bath. Ure first recorded four of the tracks with producer Julian Mendelsohn, but they were later re-recorded.[2]

In 1998 the single "Breathe" became a hit-single in several European countries, boosted by its use in a Swatch TV advert campaign, two years after its original release.[1] The single charted at No.1 both at the Italian and the Austrian charts, No.10 in Spain and No.12 in Germany.[3][4] "Guns And Arrows" and "Fields Of Fire" were also released as singles.

The album offer a rich mixture of musical influences inspired by Ure's own Scottish background. With The Chieftains Paddy Moloney on Uilleann pipes and Hothouse Flowers Liam Ó Maonlaí on Bodhrán, Didgeridoo and Gaelic vocals, tracks like "Fallen Angel", "Sinnerman" and "Live Forever" pulse with the organic vibrancy that Ure had long wanted to capture.

Ure called "Breathe":

"More of a Midge Ure album than any other album I´ve done." "In a way", he adds, "Breathe is a much more honest and open record".

Ure traces the origins of "Breathe" to a U.S. Tour he did with other songwriters in 1992. Once the other songwriters convinced him to try playing "Vienna" on acoustic guitar, Ure realized he could make music without the wealth of electronics or other musicians backing him up."That turned my whole perception of what I was doing musically",he said.[5] Ure said about the album in 2015:

"It was just another phase of discovery. To me, the important part of it was the quality of the songs, not just necessarily the instruments enhancing the songs." "You try to run a million miles from what you’re known for and it’s all part of the process of finding your own feet and trying to decide what you are and what you want to do. Part of that process would have been turning my back on the standard synthesis and rediscover my Scottish roots."[6]

1,5,10 & 11: written by Ure / 2 & 6: Ure, Feldman / 3: Ure, Feldman, Bazilian / 4: Ure, Feldman, Klein / 7 & 9: Ure, Mitchell / 8: Ure, Feldman, Shipley

• Midge Ure - Vocals, acoustic guitar
• Soundcape Guitar (on tracks 5 and 11) – Robert Fripp
• Double Violin, Vocals (on track 8) – L.Shankar
• Mandolin, Melodica – Eric Bazilian
• Vocals (on track 5) – Sally Dworsky
• Uilleann Bagpipes – Paddy Moloney
• Backing Vocals – Jackie Sheridan, Kate Stephenson, Monalisa Young, Matthew Hager, Maxaynne Lewis
• Gaelic Vocals, Backing Vocals – Eleanor McEvoy
• Fiddle – Frank Gallagher
• Hurdy Gurdy, Harmonium – Ethan James
• Accordion – Frank McNamara, Pat Crowley
• Bodhrán, Didgeridoo, Vocals [Celtic] – Liam O'Maonlai
• Guitar – Dean Parks
• Bass Guitar – Larry Klein, Jeremy Meehan
• Drums – David Palmer, Andy Kravitz
• Cello – Ofra Harnoy
• Celtic Harp – Noreen O'Donoghue
• Percussion - Mike Fisher, Iki Levy
• Programming, Keyboards, Percussion – Richard Feldman
• Keyboards - Charles Judge, Jamie Muhulrick

• Liner Notes

• AllMusic