Chart-Topping Songwriter Stephen Dowd Ignites The New Year With Provocative Dance Anthem “Body”
Following a record-breaking year featuring three #1 hits on the World Indie Top 100 Chart, acclaimed Canadian songwriter Stephen Dowd has returned with his most magnetic single yet: “Body”. Shifting from his recent holiday success—where “Play Me A Christmas Song” reached #16 on the Mediabase Top 40 Holiday chart—Dowd embraces a high-octane dance energy that is unapologetically gritty and provocative. This release marks a hungry return to the high-stakes dance pulse that defined his fastest-rising work.
“Body” is a relentless high-energy pulse designed for the modern dance floor, drawing heavy inspiration from the 80s provocation of Olivia Newton-John’s “Physical” and the raw magnetism of early Madonna. The narrative serves as a direct nod to the iconic finale of Grease, specifically capturing the “hot-blooded” moment of being mesmerized when Sandy steps out in black leather.
“I didn’t just want to write a song; I wanted to write a pulse,” Dowd shares. “’Body’ is that fast heartbeat that takes over the room”.
The release is accompanied by Dowd’s first-ever AI-generated music video, created by the original creative team behind his hit “Summertime”. This leap into the future allows the song’s concept to exist in a seamless blend of art and technology, creating characters that step straight from the cover art into a digital dreamscape. Dowd views the use of AI as a way to mirror the “newness” of the song’s energy, providing a visual frontier as fast-paced as the music itself.
Based in Ottawa, Dowd has rapidly become a dominant force in the indie scene, amassing over 65,000 streams on “Anytime Anywhere With You” and over 57,000 on “Summertime”. His unprecedented 2025 run saw “(Ça S’en Vient) Can You Feel It,” “Freedom,” and “Summertime” all secure the #1 spot on the World Indie Top 100. With “Body”, Dowd bridges the gap between generations, delivering a high-stakes “Mutual Admiration Club” anthem built for late-night club sets and drive-time energy alike.
Hi, Stephen! Good to meet you! Care to introduce yourself to the readers for those not familiar with your music?
Good day and thank you for having me!
I am Stephen Dowd, a Canadian songwriter based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
I started recording a few of my songs in local studios in 2024 and released these in 2024:
The emotional ballad “You’re Beautiful To Me” was released in May 2024.
The hard-hitting rock anthem “Heaven Won’t Wait” was released in August 2024.
The dance-infused remix of “(Ça S’en Vient) It’s Coming Can You Feel It” was released in September 2024.
I released a more Pop/Dance mix of “(Ça S’en Vient) It’s Coming Can You Feel It” on December 6, 2024 to all music platforms.
The song was sent to radio stations worldwide on January 1, 2025.
It reached #1 on Indie charts in March 2025.
After a year of chart-toppers, why was now the moment to come back swinging with something as bold and physical as “Body”?
It has been a while since I’ve written and released an up-tempo song. The last ones were the soft rock “Heaven Won’t Wait” in 2024 and the dance/pop “(Ça S’en Vient) Can You Feel It” in early 2025.
I had just finished the Christmas ballad “Play Me A Christmas Song”. It’s been miserably cold throughout most of December. It’s winter and let’s start the new year with a higher energy song.
I actually had completed recording “Body” in March 2025. And at that time, Loud Luxury just released their new song with the same title “Body”! So of course, I scrapped any plans to release the song.
My song is totally different. It’s about the first time two people notice each other either in a bar, party, gym or any social gathering. But as it had the exact same title, it wasn’t a good idea to release it. I could simply not compete with Loud Luxury! Their song went on to become a big hit internationally.
I’ve been working on a few new songs. One is a power ballad Duet called “Heaven”. I actually wrote this to be a duet with Céline Dion in mind. I am hoping to finish it in the next few months. And would love to send it to Céline if anyone has ever email or cell phone number, let me know!
I have another up-tempo dance song in the works called “Party Anthem”. This would be a good follow-up to “Body” in keeping with high energy songs.
“Physical” and early Madonna loom large here. What is it about that fearless 80s pop energy that still feels dangerous today?
The 70s and 80s had very diverse music. The 70s decade starting off with folk music, country and then disco happened. The 80s saw the anti-disco sentiment. The decade started with the ‘new wave’ sound which Billy Joel categorized in his song as “It’s Still Rock ‘n Roll To Me” !
The 80s were dominated by female artists, solo and group. Laura Branigan, Diana Ross, Pat Benatar, The Pointer Sisters to name but a few. MTV was born and the music video created stars. It soon became a requirement for artists to have a music video of their latest single. And not just standing in front of the camera lip syncing to the lyrics. Michael Jackson had raised the bar and set a high standard for elaborate storylines, sets and choreography.
Madonna is still making waves past her 65 years young. Her long career spanning over 40 years now is a testament of her craft.
There will probably never be another decade like the 80s.
My song and video for “Body” are however well restrained! Leaving the end of the story to everyone’s own interpretation.
You have dominated the World Indie Top 100. Did success give you more confidence to take risks, or more pressure to deliver something bigger?
I don’t really feel any additional pressure. I always put pressure on myself. I want to write a song best I can. And hopefully some people will enjoy listening to it also. I mostly started this as a hobby to try to expand my creativity, see how far I could go.
I don’t yet have a national hit song or international hit song. That would of course be nice. But I am proud of what I have accomplished these past couple years.
I’m writing songs leaving my comfort zone. It’s all about a feeling, the vibe a song gives a person. In writing diverse songs from pop, country, dance, power ballads, I hope to bring people along this journey of mine.
Some artists see AI as a threat. You seem to see it as a creative partner. Where do you draw the line between tool and takeover?
I hear of ChatGPT all the time but I have never used it. It’s possibly a good tool for music as AI seems to cover any subject or topic.
I write my own lyrics and music. I do use Google’s Gemini to create artwork for the singles I release. I have entered in a long-term contract with a label for a couple of my songs “Anytime Anywhere With You” and “Someone Else’s Love”. The label looks after generating the cover art in those cases.
For the video of “Body”, I reached out to the same Fiverr freelancer that created my first two videos for “Summertime” and “Play Me A Christmas Song”. Because I wanted consistent characters throughout the video, they explained that stock footage wouldn’t suffice and that AI was the only viable solution.
Initially, I was hesitant; as a songwriter who prides myself on composing my own music and lyrics, I feared an AI-generated video might lead people to believe the music was also artificial.
Ultimately, I authorized the use of AI to achieve the specific creative vision that traditional footage couldn’t provide. And the result is something truly unique and beautiful.
We’ve all been using AI for a few years without knowing it. Google and other major technology companies began integrating AI into their products as early as the 2000s for foundational tasks like search and recommendations, followed by a surge in generative AI features starting in late 2022.
I guess like it or not, AI is here to stay and will only get bigger and better.