It is that crippling experience of being too scared of losing someone to see the thing you so desperately want to hold onto, that Hunter Sheridan remembers in Stuck in October. It is the painfully sensitive work of the Toronto artist, a questioning of the dissonance between emotional integrity and the horror of making a person vulnerable indeed.
The track was written and recorded in his home studio and it is based on a soulful piano melody that creates instant intimacy. There is a passionate intent in the sound of Sheridan, who does not stumble or stutter due to technical inability but because, just as with any emotion too great to be described, he is struggling to express it. This is what makes "Stuck in October" not just another romantic fare, but touching.
A flowing and warm melody allows the listener to reflect, but still gives the song a sense of movement, owing in large part to a moving drum groove that does not allow the song to succumb to hopelessness. Produced and mixed by Damian Birdsey, with mastering by him, the production is relaxed yet polished enough, and gives Sheridan the opportunity to be real in his writing, without losing the sound.
The peculiarity of this release is that it does not provide simple consoling. Sheridan realizes that the fact that there are ways to end is no worse than to love it- sometimes it only makes it even more cherished. His lyrics are tender and effective enough, full of the particular anxiety of whether or not the opportunity is the only opportunity, whether taking action is to run the risk of losing it all or acquiring it.
To a man who has not only earned the nomination of the Oshawa Music Award two years in a row, but also shows his ability to command the attention of serious streaming statistics since his debut in 2020, Sheridan still shows why his inward-looking style is effective. Listeners of Tom Odell and Lauv will be familiar with the emotional range, but the voice of Sheridan is quite unique to him, warm, vibrant and without fear of being vulnerable and making connection so frightening and so necessary. Stuck in October demonstrates that the most promising thing you can do at times is to acknowledge that you are scared.
