Video: Tom Brosseau, ‘You Can’t Stop’

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Tom Brosseau

When Crossbill Records releases “North Dakota Impressions” on Sept. 16, Tom Brosseau will complete an album trilogy, following 2014’s “Grass Punks” and 2015’s “Perfect Abandon.” Inspired by painter Emily Lunde’s “memory paintings” of Scandinavian-American settlements in early 20th century Minnesota and North Dakota, Brosseau set about documenting his own memories and observations of other people’s everyday moments with his poetic, intimate songs. “This trilogy is a memory painting,” he says. “Home, loss of love, wonderment about another world. These are threads that weave together ‘Grass Punks,’ ‘Perfect Abandon’ and ‘North Dakota Impressions.'” Whether reaching back for memories of his pastoral upbringing in North Dakota, or watching a neighbor sweep cobwebs out of his light fixtures in Venice Beach, Brosseau has a unique ability to communicate the beauty and sadness of the world with succinct poetic lines and his beautiful lullaby voice. The way Sean Watkins recorded his vocals, it feels like Brosseau is right here, sitting across the table, and you aren’t sure if you should cry or stuff your face with apple pie in order to contain the need to hug him.

With regard to “You Can’t Stop,” Brosseau says, “My favorite love story is one that ends tragically. Search yourself and maybe you’ll agree: It’s not the falling in love part of the story that hooks us in, it’s the part that comes afterward, the part where now that you’ve someone to love you must find the order to maintain it. That alone can be one tall order. Sometimes I think it’s just too powerful; we aren’t equipped to handle it. We burn in the rolling wall of flame.” To depict this, the video by Ben Guzman and Angela Wood finds Brosseau and a pretty woman looking tense in a trailer as beautiful scenery flashes in from screens surrounding them. With everything they need to be “in love,” they seem uncomfortable and scared to burst the bubble. The love bubble in this case is a 1950 Spartan Mansion Trailer.

||| Watch: “You Can’t Stop”

||| Live: Tom Brosseau performs at The Sanctuary in Santa Monica on Sept. 23.