Today’s Song: Love & Lust in Vivi Rincon’s “can’t breathe”

Vivi Rincon © Lucy Ketchum
Vivi Rincon © Lucy Ketchum
Houston-based singer/songwriter Vivi Rincon captures the yearning, confusion, love and heartbreak of young love with her new song, “can’t breathe.”
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Young love can be the most intense, fulfilling, heartbreaking and confusing love most ever experience. It’s the type of love that is so hard to shake because when it’s one of your firsts it feels like there will never be anything else like it. It’s the type of love you keep coming back to, time and time again, hoping maybe this time it will stick. Vivi Rincon captures this yearning, confusion, love, and heartbreak with her new single, “can’t breathe.”

can't breathe - vivi rincon
can’t breathe – vivi rincon

Independently out August 31, “can’t breathe” is 21-year-old Vivi Rincon’s second career single following this past June’s debut “if we lived on the moon,” which garnered an impressive million-plus TikTok views. Produced by Matt Martin (COIN, Faye Webster), this new track finds the Houston, Texas-based artist continuing to chart her course and establish herself as a talented storyteller and candid songwriter.

“’can’t breathe’ is about the intensity of relationships,” Rincon shares. “It’s about passion and love and losing yourself in someone else. Holding on so tightly out of fear that you might lose her, but willing to take the risk.”

“Working in Nashville with producer Matt Martin for the first time on ‘can’t breathe’ was an incredible experience,” she adds. “I feel like we just got each other artistically and I really trust his creative choices.”

A melodic plucky guitar paired with dreamy synth sounds opens “Can’t Breathe,” before Rincon’s crystal clear, velvety voice sings,

i wanna feel you on my skin
body to body is the cure for anything
waking up at 2pm
instant coffee, medicine
don’t know what direction this is heading in
covering the ugly truth
rosy cheeks and i love you’s
praying that you love me too

The lyrics in the chorus match the tone in Rincon’s voice, calm and centered yet yearning collectively:

don’t waste a minute i gotta have you
so used to quitting before the break through
i’ll trade my parts in for a better me
i wanna hold you until you can’t breathe
Vivi Rincon © Lucy Ketchum
Vivi Rincon © Lucy Ketchum



The guitar melody is joined by light and easy drumbeat guiding listeners into the second verse which highlights Rincon’s songwriting prowess with words and metaphors so relatable and true that they hurt,

you are a stain on my favorite shirt
hard to get rid of, too old to return
so i’ll wear you to bed, i guess that doesn’t hurt
we lay but nothing’s happening
stiff and lonely mannequins
tv show about to get good and then they cancel it
look at me right in my face
tell me, do you feel misplaced?
is it getting hard to escape?

There is an intensity and a brashness to Rincon’s vocals in the final chorus. She has built us up to this moment and viscerally lets it go, leading to an incredibly powerful and evocative finish:

don’t waste a minute i gotta have you
so used to quitting before the break through
i’ll trade my parts in for a better me
i wanna hold you until you can’t breathe
Vivi Rincon © Lucy Ketchum
Vivi Rincon © Lucy Ketchum



Vivi Rincon has had an impressive start to her career, with 70k+ monthly Spotify listeners and 490k+ Spotify streams on her debut single, “if we lived on the moon.” “can’t breathe” proves a fittingly impassioned follow-up; we will be tuning into whatever this young singer/songwriter does next, and we think you should, too.

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Stream: “can’t breathe” – vivi rincon



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can't breathe - vivi rincon

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