Silence has a talent for passing itself off as peace. Two people can share a room, exchange the necessary pleasantries, and conduct an entire argument without troubling the air between them. Inside, every withheld accusation is already gathering speed. Given enough time, even “How was your day?” can begin to sound like a contact sport.
Milan quartet October take that condition onto the ice in their video for Universe. The fourth single from their debut album, Dancing Like an Idiot, out now through Waddafuzz! Records, follows the uncomfortable distance between what a relationship looks like from the outside and what its participants are putting themselves through within it. A frozen surface can conceal considerable commotion, and October have enlisted a hockey team to give those private collisions a public airing.
The song itself has a supple, sophisticated swing. A rhythmic bassline brings the new wave funk of Roxy Music and Japan to mind, its firm articulation keeping the groove grounded as sustained guitar tones stretch above it. The snare lands at deliberate intervals, leaving generous space around each strike. There is a progressive streak in the arrangement, a willingness to let the instrumental passages stretch and change shape without losing the underlying rhythm.
Gianluca Villa sings in a silky upper register reminiscent of Peter Gabriel, his measured delivery building to increasingly impassioned peaks on the line “A Message from the stars.” A gentle guitar jangle carries the song forward, lifting some of its emotional weight. A string interlude zigzags through the arrangement as the vocal rises into a high croon, and tension builds until the full force of the performance comes crashing back.
Directed and edited by Fabrizio Grasso, with concept and production by Davide Debenedetti for Filmico, the video makes that division visible. October perform on the rink beneath bright backlights, framed against rows of empty seats, while members of Sgularat Hockey Club Milano skate around them in yellow and black. The musicians hold their positions as the players accelerate, compete, and cut across the space between them. Pads, helmets, and sticks give anger and frustration a physical vocabulary; the ice supplies the emotional temperature.
There is something both funny and painfully apt about bringing protective equipment into a love song. Here, the action surrounding the band becomes the argument nobody is having aloud: misunderstandings, thwarted attempts at connection, and the helplessness of trying to reach someone who has become difficult to recognise. Grasso lets the rink carry the metaphor, its broad white expanse accommodating all that activity without offering much warmth.
Watch the video for Universe below:
October formed in Milan in 2024, bringing together musicians whose backgrounds include Grandi Animali Marini, Il Fieno, NOA, and Egokid, alongside collaborations with Veracrash and I Ministri. Villa handles guitar and vocals, joined by bassist Dario Giordano, drummer Paolo Soffientini, and synth player Davide “dEbE” Debenedetti. Their debut was recorded at Casamedusa with Francesco Campanozzi and Frigo Studio with Francesco Ferrari, then mixed and mastered by Paolo Mauri.
Released on March 30, 2026, Dancing Like an Idiot is available digitally and on vinyl. Listen to Universe below and order the album here.
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