the song as the album's best track by writing "Truth be told, this album lacks an absolute classic to match 'Confide in Me', but 'Breathe' – subtle but sneakily catchy with it – could be one of [Minogue]'s most underrated singles." While reviewing Minogue's 2004 compilation, Ultimate Kylie, Jaime Gill from Yahoo! Music gave it a mixed review by writing "Beginning in 1994 with the gorgeously glacial, slinkily synthetic 'Confide In Me', Kylie enjoyed brief success before fans fled in droves from awkward faux-rock like 'Some Kind of Bliss' (not included) and flimsy house like 'Breathe'." Reviewing her 2002 compilation, Hits+, Mackenzie Wilson from AllMusic commended Minogue's "seductive vocals" on "Breathe", "Automatic Love" and "Confide in Me". Chris True, also from AllMusic, selected the song as a standout track on her Greatest Hits 87-97 album. Jason Lipshutz from Billboard listed "Breathe" at four on their "Kylie Minogue Primer: The Top 10 Past Hits You Need to Know" stating "'Breathe' is the obvious stand out, sounding almost like a Nine Inch Nails throwaway in its opening seconds and morphing into a silky, sexy defence of Minogue's experimental side." Louis Virtel from The Backlot listed "Breathe" at number 14 on their "Kylie Minogue's 50 Best Songs, in Honor of Her Birthday" and said "'Breathe' would be a meditative masterpiece if it weren't so confrontational, deadpan, and sexually domineering. Impossible Princess unassuming heart stopper trips into unexpected carnality in its choruses, assuring you 'It won't be long now' as you try to time your hyperventilation." Promotion Music video An accompanying music video was directed by Welsh film director Kieran Evans. "Breathe" was Evan's directional debut and he went on to work for Heavenly Films, a sister project of British record label Heavenly Recordings. It opens with close-up shots of Minogue's body parts. Throughout the video, a giant glass orb is seen on the screen and a mysterious light is shown. From there onwards, it shows Minogue in an airspace of spiral effects, all produced by green screen and CGI effects. In the second verse, it has three shots of Minogue layering over top, with one of the scenes having her singing the track. The video then finishes with Minogue floating away, being an in-set of her own eye, which was seen at the start of the video. For the radio/video version, the song is sped up at a faster tempo. One of the