If you're feeling a bit overwhelmed with life this holiday season, Inuvik musician Abe Drennan wants you to remember you're never alone.

That's the gist of his new single, 'Nowhere to Turn,' which dropped in November across the internet.

"We, as men, grow up with some pretty harsh stereotypes around who we are supposed to be, with notions of masculinity and ideas around that," he said. "In a lot of ways, it's done us a lot of harm. We haven't been encouraged to ever be vulnerable or to understand where our emotions are and share our feelings.

"The idea is where do I go when I've exhausted every option and I don't know what else to do. The song carries on to talk about this idea of being vulnerable and being able to share a little bit of what's going on inside of me with a person I trust. There's always one person, at least one, who you can reach out to."

Drennan said he wanted to speak out about the importance of mental health among men after he learned the vast majority of suicide attempts in Canada are committed by men. Statistics Canada reports that suicide rates among men are three times higher than women and suicide is the second biggest killer of Canadians aged 15 to 34.

"Men feel like they've got nowhere to go," he said. "That idea there's nowhere to go is false.

"If I recognize I don't understand how to deal with a situation, I don't understand my feelings, then I'm stuck. So I have a couple of choices: I can dig in and just be stubborn and live with this unknown, or I can reach out to that person I trust."

Drennan said men need to have a sense of humility and talk about their feelings. He added he has sought counselling when things get overly daunting.

Other things that can help him through his mental health struggles are getting out on the land and being physically active.

"I think, as men, we're hunters innately and there's a desire to be strong and physical," he said. "I think that's really important, to go for a run and do something physical. That helps me move energy that is stuck inside me. That stuck feeling needs to get unstuck.

"So I think the notion of writing this was a reminder to me of this message."

Joining Drennan on the recording was Inuvik's Ryley Blake on bass guitar, Justin Maki on backup vocals, Joey Roy on drums and Tim Black on guitar. Drennan recorded the single remotely through Andrew Shedden's Bell Rock recordings in Fort Smith.

Still pumping out singles, Drennan said he's still musing about an EP under the tentative name 'Natural Tendencies,' but noted since streaming has altered the market considerably, the idea of a traditional album may not be practical anymore.

"They've already been released, so I really don't know yet how to do it," he said. "I'm going to release them all as singles and then I might just put them under the title of Natural Tendencies at the end.

"I have a whole box of CDs at home I really can't get rid of. I might as well give them away."