PREMIERE: MANE Finds Beauty in Ugliness on ‘Breathing Again’

March 2, 2023

MANE is the project of Adelaide singer and songwriter Paige Court. Under the MANE alias, Court represents her LGBTQI+ experience through songs founded in human connection. The project’s new single, ‘Breathing Again’, had its first spin on triple j’s Home and Hosed last evening (1st March). Music Feeds is premiering the offical music video ahead of the song’s wider release on Friday, 3rd March.

‘Breathing Again’ marks the beginning of a new phase in MANE’s career. Following a stint working with Dew Process/Universal Music Australia – who issued MANE’s 2020 debut EP, Coping Mechanisms, and 2021 single ‘Hi Lo’ – MANE is preparing for the release of her second EP.

MANE – ‘Breathing Again’

‘Breathing Again’ was written during a trip to Los Angeles 12 months ago. Court collaborated with UK songwriter Charlie McClean – co-founder of the creative nonprofit sheWrites, which seeks to challenge gender disparity in the music biz – at LA’s Kobalt Studios.

Court returned to Kaurna Land to record ‘Breathing Again’ at Adelaide’s Danger Deer Studios with producer Mario Späte, whose past credits include co-writing Tkay Maidza’s ‘Brontosaurus’ and working on multiple tracks from Megan Washington’s Batflowers.

“‘Breathing Again’ is about the realisation that you’re slowly healing,” Court told Music Feeds. “It’s about the moments you find yourself feeling lighter and growing around the grief.” Even though these moments might be fleeting, they still offer hope, said Court, thereby encouraging you to “keep going because you’re stronger than you realise.”

This theme of resilience is represented in the ‘Breathing Again’ music video, which centres on footage of a contemporary dancer performing in a number of less-than-glamorous settings. Court produced and edited the video with footage captured by Omri Ohana.

“Although the choreography was not intended for my song, it was really special editing it myself and seeing how well it came together,” Court said in a statement. “The dilapidated settings of the dancing scenes had a real sense of finding beauty in the ugliness and heaviness that some of us face daily – which is kinda what ‘Breathing Again’ is about.”