"Breathe" received mostly positive reviews from music critics, some of whom highlighted the track as an album stand-out and commended the lyrical and vocal delivery.

Kieran Evans directed the song's music video, which features Minogue floating in an open airspace with spiral effects that were generated by CGI.

"[1] Written by Minogue, Dave Ball and Ingo Vauk,[2] "Breathe" lasts a duration of four minutes and thirty-eight seconds in its original album version.

[3] According to Tom Parker, who provided the special edition album notes for Impossible Princess, "['Breathe'] is a seductive electronic groove, with a hypnotic subtlety and timelessness befitting the theme inward contemplating and resolve.

"[2] Larry Flick from Billboard said that "Breathe" is a "user-friendly jam" which is "largely due to its big-beat electronic groove and ear-tickling pop chorus.

Michael R. Smith from Daily Vault said "Breathe" and "Did It Again" are "most notable for the videos that went along with them and are fair representations of the album at large (which should be the purpose of singles), though there are many more undiscovered gems here.

"[3] A reviewer from Music Week gave it three out of five, vieweing it as a "soothing dance track which, despite gently working its magic, is too subtle to return her to the big league.

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'.

"[21] 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.

[34][35] "Breathe" was included on the Intimate and Live Tour, it was part of second segment for which Minogue wore a black, long-collared shirt and three-quarter pants.

[37] "Breathe" was performed by Minogue on Money Can't Buy, a one-off concert show held on 15 November 2003 at Hammersmith Apollo, London, to promote her ninth studio album Body Language.

[38] The "Bardello" act of the concert commenced with a mashup of "Breathe" and "Je t'aime... moi non plus", a 1969 French duet between Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin.

[39] Craig McLean from The Daily Telegraph described the backup dancers during this segment as "Tour de France cyclists moonlighting as Moulin Rouge hostesses.

[41] In 2012, the orchestral version of the song didn't make the track list of The Abbey Road Sessions but was uploaded on Minogue's official YouTube account.