Allison Ponthier’s New EP “Breaking The Fourth Wall” Out Now
Marks the release of Breaking The Fourth Wall — the candid and captivating new EP from singer/songwriter Allison Ponthier, available now via Interscope Records. To celebrate the arrival of her highly anticipated third project, the Texas-born artist is sharing her new single “Crash Test Dummy” along with a stark but spellbinding video recently filmed for Vevo Live Performances. Stream/download Breaking The Fourth Wall now, and check out the Vevo Live Performances video of “Crash Test Dummy”.
Ponthier worked with producers such as Tommy English, Gian Stone, and Matthew Neighbour on Breaking The Fourth Wall which takes its title from the dramatic technique in which a performer directly addresses the audience with absolute honesty. As the final installment to the narrative trilogy introduced with Ponthier’s 2021 debut EP Faking My Own Death (a critically lauded project that documented her coming-out story), and 2022’sShaking Hands With Elvis — hailed by Consequence of Sound as “yet another example of why Ponthier is one of the most exciting singer-songwriters around” — Breaking The Fourth Wall explores such complicated subjects as imposter syndrome, obsession, self-denial, and the terrifying vulnerability of true connection. Rendered with her rare balance of raw sincerity and idiosyncratic humor, each moment of Breaking The Fourth Wall centers on Ponthier’s warm vocal work and lush yet understated convergence of indie-folk and alt-rock.
Produced by Neighbour and co-written by Ponthier, Ryan Marrone and David Hodges, “Crash Test Dummy” perfectly encapsulates the emotional complexity and effortless charm of Breaking The Fourth Wall. Equal parts tender and unsettling, the harmony-laced and guitar-heavy track takes on an unforgettable intensity at its gut-punching chorus: “I throw myself through the windshield/Just because you asked me to…I’ll let you practice on me/Before you have something to lose.”
“‘Crash Test Dummy’ is about the experience of putting other people first out of discomfort or admiration for them, which is something I’m constantly working on,” Ponthier reveals. “Historically, I have a huge phobia of cars and driving, so the idea of throwing myself through a windshield just because someone asked me to seemed like the best way to express that conflict. It was the scariest thing I could think of, and also the saddest.”
In her just-released Vevo Live Performances video, Ponthier delivers a stripped-back version of “Crash Test Dummy” that gently magnifies the song’s emotional power. The video follows her recent Vevo Live Performances rendition of “Lie Detector” — a dreamy and delicate track that Ponthier refers to as “my first real love song.” Released last month, “Lie Detector” is featured on Breaking The Fourth Wall alongside the previously shared singles “Character Development” and “Skin.”
Tracklist for Breaking The Fourth Wallby Allison Ponthier
1. Skin
2. Radio Silent
3. Lie Detector
4. Crash Test Dummy
5. Character Development
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