Can’t Stop

The battery of Can’t Stop never stops, but it’s not just the rhythm that hooks you. The song moves forward with an energy that seems to slip through your fingers, as if each instrument is trying to keep up with an idea that refuses to stay still. The bass, guitar, and keyboards weave together in layers that overlap without losing clarity, while Ryan Tedder’s voice flows above with that mix of urgency and melody that’s already a trademark of OneRepublic. The song doesn’t settle in one place: it shifts in intensity, as if each section is a new attempt to capture something that always slips away.

Recorded in Los Angeles with a production team that included Jeff Bhasker and Emile Haynie, Can’t Stop was part of Native, the band’s third album, released in March 2013. The record first arrived in Ireland and Germany on March 22, then to the rest of the world (except North America) on the 25th, and finally to the United States and Canada a day later. The original plan was to move the release up to late 2012 with Feel Again as the lead single, but the band chose to wait until everything was ready. By the time Can’t Stop hit the airwaves, it had already been part of recording sessions for months, where Tedder, Tyler Johnson, and the others worked with the idea that the sound would never slow down. The mix was handled by Delbert Bowers, Chris Galland, and Manny Marroquin, who gave it that shine that makes the song sound as good live as it does on the radio.