One of the biggest success stories in UK music this year has been the Manchester duo that calls themselves Hurts.

As one might imagine from a band that chooses such a sad-faced name, Theo Hutchcraft and Adam Anderson peddle in the sort of dramatic synthpop that was once all over the ’80s airwaves, but is all too rare these days. Life isn’t always sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows, you know, a thought that Hurts’ ironically titled debut, Happiness, bears out. Pause here and listen to “Wonderful Life” to get a sense of why folks across the pond (and those in-the-know here) can’t quite stifle their praise.

So with Christmas being the jolliest holiday and all, it makes perfect sense that Hurts would take the glass half-empty route and record a new song titled, “All I Want For Christmas Is New Year’s Day.” As the self-aware pair described the single in a recent interview, “It’s about the worst Christmas of our lives, which we’re releasing on the best Christmas of our lives. Also, we used previous cast members for the video, so it’s like a Hurts Christmas party… in a cemetery.”

Listen below, and you’ll discover that the duo’s brilliant new number isn’t really such a downer. Plus, Theo and Adam summoned enough holiday cheer to make “All I Want For Christmas Is New Year’s Day” available for free on iTunes UK, and in the U.S., via fellow music-blogger, Arjan Writes. Hear here:

Free download of Hurts – “All I Want For Christmas Is New Year’s Day” via Arjan Writes.