{"id":404632,"date":"2026-01-10T18:20:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-10T18:20:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/404632\/"},"modified":"2026-01-10T18:20:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-10T18:20:12","slug":"january-3rd-to-january-9th","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/404632\/","title":{"rendered":"January 3rd to January 9th"},"content":{"rendered":"

Our recurring\u00a0Songs of the Week<\/a> column highlights the best new tracks from the last seven days. This week, we\u2019re listening to new tunes from August Ponthier, Lala Lala, and more.<\/p>\n

August Ponthier \u2014 \u201cI\u2019m Crying, Are You?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

August Ponthier won\u2019t be caught saying \u201cI\u2019m not crying,\u00a0you\u2019re crying.\u201d No, on their new single \u201cI\u2019m Crying, Are You?\u201d, Ponthier is pretty open about not being okay. The track finds them in the throes of some serious post-breakup sadness, and they\u2019re frequently breaking down in sobs whilst in public. If it\u2019s this bad for them, Ponthier wonders, how could the other walk away so easily? Though there\u2019s some harrowing angst at the center of the track, Ponthier keeps things light and dreamy, never losing the touch of majesty and rewarding honesty that brought them exposure in the first place. \u2014 Paolo Ragusa<\/p>\n

Related Video<\/p>\n

Crack Cloud \u2014 \u201cSafe Room\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Along with the announcement of their upcoming double album, Peace and Purpose, Canadian post-punkers Crack Cloud have shared the new song \u201cSafe Room.\u201d It\u2019s a softer, more melancholic side of the often raucous group, featuring sequenced drums, acoustic guitar chords, and compressed, emotive vocals. In a statement on the creation of Peace and Purpose, frontman Danny Choy highlighted the record\u2019s DIY construction and grief-stricken tone \u2014 two aspects that \u201cSafe Room\u201d more than effectively displays. \u2014\u00a0Jonah Krueger<\/p>\n

Haute & Freddy \u2014 \u201cDance the Pain Away\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Are you on the Haute & Freddy hype train yet? Don\u2019t worry, there\u2019s still time. See \u201cDance the Pain Away,\u201d the latest banger set to appear on their upcoming debut Big Disgrace\u00a0(out on March 13th). \u201cDance the Pain Away\u201d is an \u201980s-indebted dance pop cut that demonstrates exactly what Haute & Freddy are after: high drama, pulsing poise, and dance floor catharsis. Fans of Chappell Roan, Caroline Kingsbury, or The Knocks & Dragonette\u2019s recent collaborative album will be all over Haute & Freddy, who present an almost utopian vision of pop music in their era-blending approach. \u2014 P. Ragusa<\/p>\n

Lala Lala \u2014 \u201cEven Mountains Erode\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

One of two lead singles that Lala Lala \u2014 the indie rock\/pop project of songwriter Lillie West \u2014 dropped this week in anticipation of her Sub Pop debut Heaven 2, \u201cEven Mountains Erode\u201d cultivates an intoxicating sonic world via an infectious drum groove, piercing piano notes, and swirling, ethereal production. It\u2019s a compelling, restrained offering that pairs well with the auto-tuned \u201cHeaven2\u201d and the brighter previously-released track \u201cDoes This Go Faster?\u201d \u2014 J. Krueger<\/p>\n

Mandy, Indiana \u2014 \u201cCursive\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cCursive\u201d is a song that\u2019s impossible to listen to and remain sitting still. Between the barrage of drum tones, pulsing rhythms, wailing lines of feedback (?), deadpan French vocals, and wild synth arpeggios, the latest from Mandy, Indiana is an unhinged banger in the truest sense of both words: \u201cunhinged\u201d and \u201cbanger.\u201d Here\u2019s to hoping the rest of their upcoming LP, URGH, is as infectiously exhilarating. \u2014\u00a0J. Krueger<\/p>\n

Shaking Hand \u2014 \u201cCable Ties\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cCable Ties\u201d serves as the extended, epic conclusion for Shaking Hand\u2019s upcoming self-titled debut. Over the course of almost nine minutes, there are off-kilter guitar lines, building crescendos, multiple dynamic shifts, noisy breakdowns, and the type of punk-rooted post-rock goodness that\u2019ll tickle the fancy of fans of acts like Slint, Mogwai, early Black Country, New Road, or even last year\u2019s excellent release<\/a> from Hesse Kassel,\u00a0La Brea. \u2014\u00a0J. Krueger<\/p>\n

Storey Littleton \u2014 \u201cJanuary\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

New York singer-songwriter Storey Littleton has announced her debut album,\u00a0At a Diner, out on February 6th. She\u2019s also shared a gem of a new single, \u201cJanuary,\u201d which tracks a tenuous love triangle with patient, tender songwriting. Littleton\u2019s shimmering voice rises above reverb-drenched guitars, harp, and trotting harmonies for a gorgeous offering. When Littleton sighs, \u201cHe\u2019ll give you a baby\/ Then he\u2019ll want you to want me,\u201d the yearn is real. \u2014 P. Ragusa<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Our recurring\u00a0Songs of the Week column highlights the best new tracks from the last seven days. This week,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":404633,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[64,63,134,136],"class_list":{"0":"post-404632","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-music"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404632","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=404632"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404632\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/404633"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=404632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=404632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=404632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}