Singled Out: Nicole Alexis' Don't Tell Me To Breathe

Nashville-based singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Nicole Alexis just released her brand new EP "Mirrors and Smoke" and to celebrate we asked her to tell us about the song "Don't Tell Me To Breathe." Here is the story:

"Don't Tell Me To Breathe" is about that moment when you're already overwhelmed, and the one thing people say to calm you down somehow makes it worse.

I wrote it from a place of frustration more than anything. Not at a specific person, but at the feeling of being misunderstood in real time. It's like when everything is building up in your head... anxiety, pressure, overthinking and someone tries to help, but they don't actually hear you. "Just breathe" is supposed to be grounding, but in that moment it feels dismissive, like everything you're experiencing is being reduced to something simple you should be able to control. And sometimes... you can't.

A big part of what I didn't fully understand at the time was how much ADHD was actually playing into that feeling. I've always had a million thoughts running at once, constantly jumping between things, overanalyzing even the smallest details until they feel way bigger than they actually are. I used to get overwhelmed by things that didn't seem like they should matter that much, and I never really understood why my brain worked like that. Writing this song ended up being more of an internal processing moment. Almost questioning myself in real time. It wasn't until more recently that I started to connect those patterns and realize how much ADHD has shaped the way I experience everything, especially those moments of being completely overloaded.

The song came together pretty quickly once I leaned into that tension instead of trying to smooth it out. I didn't want it to feel overly polished or perfect. I wanted it to feel like a real reaction. A lot of the vocal takes were more about capturing emotion than technical perfection, and the instrumentation follows that same idea. It builds, but it never fully resolves in a clean way, which felt important. Because that feeling doesn't resolve cleanly in real life either.

This track ended up setting the tone for a lot of Mirrors and Smoke. It lives in that space between clarity and chaos where you're aware of what's happening internally, but you're still stuck inside it. It's less about finding a solution and more about acknowledging that sometimes you just need to feel something fully without someone trying to fix it for you.

I think that's why it connected with people so quickly when I started sharing it. It's a small phrase that almost everyone has heard, but the meaning behind it isn't always as simple as it sounds. Sometimes "Don't Tell Me To Breathe" isn't about rejecting help but more about wanting to be understood first.

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen and watch for yourself below and learn more here

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