October 25, 2021: Stuck inside with nothing to do, a bunch of stuffed animals & a silly dance idea… the “can’t stop” dance party began. Dreamt up by electro-pop artist burwell, the upbeat nature of “can’t stop” was a welcome escape from the events of March 2020. That month, her Mother passed away right before the first lockdown, which inspired burwell to find ways to cope by any means available… writing, dreaming and in this case, dancing with her stuffed animal friends since it wasn’t safe to leave home, yet. Set to release on Have a Party With Your Bear Day, November 16th, 2021, “can’t stop” is a call to find joy in any and all circumstances.
“Thinking about everything that was happening with the loss of my Mom & the loss of a lot of things, there was just a lot of loss,” burwell reflects. “This song is an invitation to do something joyful, even in the middle of a mess… even if it doesn’t make any sense… I had no idea how much a dancing stuffed animal could make my whole day.”
Written in Nashville, TN with Chad Carouthers (Anberlin, Kari Jobe, Elle Limebear), “can’t stop” is a dream-like and upbeat I-miss-you song. To get into the spirit of it, burwell wrote it as a love song for Music City, a place she visits to write music and thinks about, often. Produced, mixed and mastered by Chad Carouthers, he is the mastermind behind instrumentation on “can’t stop” which includes guitar, drums, synth & electronic sounds throughout. The music video, made by Endeavor, features students from Spotlight Studio of Dance under the direction of Gregg Whitlock Jr. a.k.a. Papii BDS (DJ BDS) and their stuffed animals; it also stars burwell’s faithful, fuzzy friend, Mr. Dot.
To date, burwell has shared music as half of a folk duo called The Tide Rose and one-third of a pop trio called The Cheap Royals; her songs have been licensed over 9K times, with stream counts amassing to over 500K. Since she began releasing music in 2016, her songs have been placed in feature films, showcased at the Richmond International Film Festival and celebrated through music publications which include BRIDE, American Songwriter and Rolling Stone. After dusting off old songs in a single release series entitled “new songs from the past,” she is preparing to launch her debut 5-song ep, “fragile,” in loving memory of her Mother in March 2022.
Undoubtedly, music has been a vital part of burwell’s journey to heal through the grieving process. With “can’t stop” to kick off a new season of music, she is “learning how to embrace complex emotions, from grief to joy and everything in-between.” With this release in particular, burwell hopes “listeners are inspired to find joy even in the most unexpected moments. If you have a stuffed animal & want to try the dance…” she adds, “…you’re both invited.”
Be sure to dance on over to burwell’s social media pages for a messy, beautiful journey to find life after loss, beginning with “can’t stop” and the music video on Have a Party With Your Bear Day on November 16th, 2021.