Power Pick 31/08/26: Newport - 'Fickle'

The Music chooses one song every week as its Power Pick, shining a light on ONE Aussie song that we think has the potential to be the next big Australian chart hit.

Our Power Pick committee consists of Richard Kingsmill (consultant and former triple j Group Music Director), Maddy Rowe (Nova nights announcer), Nic Kelly (Hit Network nights announcer), Ash McGregor (host of Listen Up with Ash McGregor), Kent “Smallzy” Small (Host of ‘The Smallzy Show’ on the Kiis Network), Irene Hulme (radio consultant and host of Game Changers Radio podcast), Matty Morris (Super Radio Network nights announcer), and Matt O’Gorman (Triple M Homegrown host).

Rising Perth musician Newport has just hit upon one of his biggest successes to date, with the singer, songwriter, and producer unleashing his new single, Fickle, just a few days ago.

A bittersweet anthem dripping in nostalgia and raw emotion, it resonated with audiences earlier this month when Newport shared a demo of the track on social media. Increasing fan demand necessitated the release of the track last week, and with it has arrived a national tour and a wave of fresh streams.

Crafted in Newport’s bedroom following some time spent in creative stagnation, the track soon emerged, ruminating on memories of a turbulent relationship and how – even though it may have been imperfect – it’s one you wouldn’t change.

Join 'Backstage Pass', our FREE members program for music fans

“Fickle felt like a reward from the universe,” Newport says of the song. “I'd been stuck, unable to write anything that truly inspired me or resonated with me. So I took time oﬀ being creative and did a lot of inner healing, eventually coming to a sense of acceptance about a lot of things in terms of past turbulent relationships, missing my childhood, identity crises.

“Then one day I stumbled into making this song. I was watching YouTube with my guitar plugged into the amp, just playing around with chords, until I landed on something that felt really good. After that I was in a complete flow state and made most of what you hear today in one sitting.”

Tickets to Newport’s upcoming Australian tour are on sale now.

CHART UPDATE

It’s another similar week on Radio Monitor Hot 100 chart, with a few big moves for local acts thrown into the mix.

At the top end of things, Taylor Swift and Alex Warren have once more swapped positions with I Knew It, I Knew You and Fever Dream at No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, while Olivia Rodrigo’s Stupid Song holds steady above the highest-charting Aussie again, leaving G Flip to take out the No. 4 position with Bed On Fire for another week.

Josh Fawaz’s controversial rework of Madonna’s Like A Prayer, which attracted attention thanks to the artist’s recent admission of AI usage, jumps one spot up to No. 7, while Sonny Fodera’s Let Me Be In Your Arms falls down four spots to No. 15.

Fodera also drops once more with previous chart-topper Think About Us, which lands at No. 25 – two spots higher than Tame Impala’s Loser, which jumps an impressive 31 positions to No. 27.

There’s a few more moves in the right direction for locals to come, with previous Power Pick – Ninajirachi & Porter Robinson's WannaCry – jumping three spots to No. 29, and Troye Sivan’s She’s The Best hopping ten positions to No. 31.

Tame Impala’s Dracula drops down to No. 33, while Jem Cassar-Daley’s All I'm Thinking About rises six spots to No. 37. Meanwhile, Nerve’s You jumps four spots to No. 42, while Genesis Owusu and New Zealand’s Ladyhawke debut at No. 49 with Falling Both Ways, closing out the locals in the top 50.

Over on the ARIA charts, all the local movement belongs to Tame Impala, where Loser drops one spot to No. 8, and Dracula does the same, landing at No. 18.