Thirty years after Breathe hit the charts, The Prodigy are giving the track a dedicated vinyl reissue through XL Recordings. The four-track 12-inch pressing arrives on Friday, November 13, landing just two days after the official November 11 milestone of its 1996 debut. It revisits an era when the group completed their shift from UK underground rave culture to genuine global prominence, trailing the momentum of Firestarter, which reached its own thirty-year mark earlier in the year.
The package splits four distinct versions across two sides of vinyl. Side A pairs the original album cut with a rework by The Glitch Mob. Over on Side B, listeners get a drum and bass overhaul courtesy of Camo and Krooked alongside Mefjus, rounded off by the original instrumental version. Putting that vocal-free instrumental onto vinyl places Liam Howlett's foundational production front and centre. Stripping out the vocal hooks exposes the bare architecture of the track, allowing the driving rhythm section and the sharp guitar hook to take full focus without distraction.
Upon its late 1996 release, Breathe delivered the band their second consecutive UK Number One single and cemented their crossover reach. The track arrived with a bleak, unsettling music video directed by Walter Stern, which went on to win the Viewer's Choice prize at the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards and picked up the International Viewer's Choice Award at MTV Europe. More than just a standalone single, it served as the second advance taster for The Fat Of The Land. When that third album appeared in 1997, it debuted at Number One around the world and eventually sold more than 10 million copies. With the album itself turning thirty next summer, following an earlier 25th anniversary release in 2022, this single reissue opens another round of retrospectives for the band's peak nineties work.
The announcement lands while the band maintain an intensive run on the road. The Prodigy spent the summer traversing European festivals and running their own massive 2026 Warrior's Dance outdoor gatherings, pulling huge crowds across Manchester, Edinburgh, Dublin, and Milton Keynes. Their upcoming itinerary continues to stretch out. The group are locked in as the opening headliner for next year's Creamfields, marking their first set at the festival in 14 years after last appearing in 2013. Further afield, they are also scheduled to play their first concert in New York in 17 years.
Staging performances on that scale requires deliberate calculation. Howlett has spoken before about the preparation behind their live appearances, explaining that the band spend serious time talking through what is possible and finding ways to elevate the production each time they tour, with the aim of delivering real physical impact on stage. That touring momentum currently takes precedence over new studio work. Late last year, Howlett revealed that fresh material was slated for 2026, describing the pending output as fuckin' evil rave in a tweak on his older evil rave description. Those cuts have yet to emerge. Beyond a spring remix of Sleaford Mods' track Elitest G.O.A.T, which received a dirty acid 303 treatment from Howlett, this reissue of Breathe remains the primary focus while fans wait for the next chapter.
