Take My Breath Away (Emma Bunton song)

"Take My Breath Away"
Single by Emma Bunton
from the album A Girl Like Me
Released	27 August 2001 (2001-08-27)
Studio	Rokstone (London, England)
Length	3:35 (album version) 3:38 (single mix)
Label	Virgin
Songwriter(s)	Emma Bunton Steve Mac Wayne Hector
Producer(s)	Steve Mac
Emma Bunton singles chronology
"What Took You So Long?" (2001) "Take My Breath Away" (2001) "We're Not Gonna Sleep Tonight" (2001)
Music video
"Take My Breath Away" on YouTube

"Take My Breath Away" is a song by English singer Emma Bunton. It was written by Bunton, Steve Mac, and Wayne Hector for her debut solo album, A Girl Like Me (2001), while production was helmed by Max. The song was released by Virgin Records on 27 August 2001 as the album's second single. It debuted and peaked at number five on the UK Singles Chart and became a top twenty hit in Italy. The accompanying music video was shot in Sardinia, Italy, and was directed by Greg Masuak.

Critical reception

"Take My Breath Away" earned generally positive reviews from music critics. NME ranked the song among its parent album's "several lovely moments" and described it as "pure summer in a bottle."^[1] AllMusic editor Stewart Mason noted that "the assertive title track has the relaxed groove and organic feel of a classic early disco single.^[2]

Commercial performance

The song was issued as the album's second single on 27 August 2001. It debuted and peaked at number five on the UK Singles Chart in the week ending 8 September 2001,^[3] becoming Bunton's third consecutive solo top five hit after "What I Am" (1999) and "What Took You So Long?."^[3]

Music video

A music video for "Take My Breath Away" was directed by Greg Masuak.^[4] It was filmed in the summer of 2001 on the Italian island of Sardinia and features Bunton in a variety of beauty shots taken on the beach.^[5]

Track listings

UK CD and cassette single^[6]^[7]^[8]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Take My Breath Away" (single mix)	Emma Bunton Steve Mac Wayne Hector	Mac	3:38
2.	"Close Encounter"	Bunton Andrew Frampton Chris Braide	Frampton	3:32
3.	"Take My Breath Away" (Tin Tin Out mix)	Bunton Mac Hector	Mac Tin Tin Out^[a]	2:36

European CD single^[9]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Take My Breath Away" (single mix)	Bunton Mac Hector	Mac	3:38
2.	"Close Encounter"	Bunton Frampton Braide	Frampton	3:32

UK DVD single^[10]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Emma introduces her new video"			0:24
2.	"Take My Breath Away" (single mix – video)	Bunton Mac Hector	Mac	3:35
3.	"Emma introduces the song "Invincible"" (video)			0:19
4.	"Invincible" (audio with photo gallery)	Bryan Adams Phil Thornalley	Adams Thornalley	3:01
5.	"Emma introduces the Tin Tin Out mix" (video)			0:26
6.	"Take My Breath Away" (Tin Tin Out mix – audio with photo gallery)	Bunton Mac Hector	Mac Tin Tin Out^[a]	2:36
7.	"Message from Emma" (video)			0:25

Notes

• ^{^[a]} signifies an additional producer

Credits and personnel

Credits are taken from the UK CD single liner notes and A Girl Like Me booklet.^[7][11]

Studio

• Recorded and mixed at Rokstone Studios (London, England)

Personnel

• Emma Bunton – writing, vocals
• Steve Mac – writing, production, arrangement
• Wayne Hector – writing
• Mark "Spike" Stent – mixing
• Paul "P Dub" Walton – mixing engineer
• Chris Laws – engineering
• Ian Ross – artwork design
• Sam Harris – photography

Charts

Weekly charts Weekly chart performance for "Take My Breath Away" Chart (2001) Peak position Australia (ARIA)[6] 48 Belgium (Ultratip Bubbling Under Flanders)[12] 8 Belgium (Ultratip Bubbling Under Wallonia)[13] 7 Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[14] 28 Ireland (IRMA)[15] 26 Italy (FIMI)[16] 16 Scotland (OCC)[17] 6 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[18] 89 UK Singles (OCC)[3] 5

Year-end charts Year-end chart performance for "Take My Breath Away" Chart (2001) Position UK Singles (OCC)[19] 151

Release history

Release dates and formats for "Take My Breath Away"

Region	Date	Format(s)	Label(s)	Ref.
United Kingdom	27 August 2001	CD cassette DVD	Virgin	[20]
Australia	22 October 2001	CD		[21]

References

1. Mark, Timothy (18 April 2001). "Emma Bunton : A Girl Like Me". NME. Archived from the original on 22 October 2012. Retrieved 28 October 2024.
2. Mason, Stewart. "A Girl Like Me – Emma Bunton". AllMusic. Retrieved 28 October 2024.
3. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
4. "Emma Bunton – Take My Breath Away". imvdb.com. Retrieved 28 October 2024.
5. {@emmabunton (12 April 2020). "Oh my goodness, this video in Sardinia, the horse had a heart on her nose. Magical" (Tweet). Retrieved 28 October 2024 – via Twitter.
6. "Emma Bunton – Take My Breath Away". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
7. Take My Breath Away (UK CD single liner notes). Emma Bunton. Virgin Records. 2001. VSCDT1814, 7243 8 97905 2 8.
8. Take My Breath Away (UK cassette single sleeve). Emma Bunton. Virgin Records. 2001. VSC1814, 7 24389 79044 3.
9. Take My Breath Away (European CD single liner notes). Emma Bunton. Virgin Records. 2001. VSCDE1814, 7243 8 97904 2 9.
10. Take My Breath Away (UK DVD single liner notes). Emma Bunton. Virgin Records. 2001. VSDVD 1814, 7243 4 90506 9 3.
11. A Girl Like Me (European CD album booklet). Emma Bunton. Virgin Records. 2001. CDV2935, 7243 8 10334 0 1.
12. "Emma Bunton – Take My Breath Away" (in Dutch). Ultratip.
13. "Emma Bunton – Take My Breath Away" (in French). Ultratip.
14. "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 19, no. 38. 15 September 2001. p. 9. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
15. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Take My Breath Away". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
16. "Emma Bunton – Take My Breath Away". Top Digital Download.
17. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
18. "Emma Bunton – Take My Breath Away". Swiss Singles Chart.
19. "The Official UK Singles Chart 2001" (PDF). UKChartsPlus. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
20. "New Releases – For Week Starting August 27, 2001: Singles" (PDF). Music Week. 25 August 2001. p. 31. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
21. "The ARIA Report: New Releases Singles – Week Commencing 22nd October 2001" (PDF). ARIA. 22 October 2001. p. 24. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 February 2002. Retrieved 24 April 2021.