Of all the exotic places I’ve ever chosen to sit and write one of these, sat on a Bullet Train hurling through the Chinese countryside at over 300kph has to be one of the more extraordinary. So if any of the following appears disjointed, I’ve made my excuses in advance.
Now, because of the mobile nature of this, perhaps a temporary change of format is in order. So for the purposes of this week’s UK Singles and Albums charts, let’s deal with the things we have learned.
What We’ve Learned 1
We’ve learned that RAYE has an audience, and it is duly huge. Her second album This Music May Contain Hope is deservedly and justifiably huge. Home to the No.1 smash Where Is My Husband, along with its other teasers, the album storms its way to the very top of the charts as the biggest deal of the week. What is perhaps jarring is that it actually becomes her first ever No.1 album. It’s predecessor, My 21st Century Blues, never actually made it to the summit. No.2 was as far as it got upon release in February 2023, denied by Shania Twain of all people.
The stats breakdown is as you might expect, Just shy of 50,000 chart units is her total, the bulk of them physical. Absorbingly, the album sells more on vinyl that it does on CD, 16,000 for the former as opposed to 12,000 for the latter. One can only speculate how many are purchased by those who actually own a turntable and those who want it for the collectible value.
The streams of the album have a positive effect on its chart singles, notably the decidedly epic Click Clack Symphony which rises to a new peak of No.11. Co-credited collaborator Hans Zimmer has only his second ever UK chart single. The first being Spider Pig from the soundtrack of the Simpsons Movie which made an enjoyable No.23 in the summer of 2007.
Back to RAYE, though as she is also No.15 with Where Is My Husband with which we are all very familiar already, and has the highest new entry of the week with album cut I Know You’re Hurting - a track she debuted at Glastonbury last summer- which winks into life at No.23.
What We’ve Learned 2
We’ve learned that the appeal of Rein Me In is still undimmed, Sam Fender and Olivia Dean’s track sitting pretty for its sixth consecutive week at the top of the Official UK Singles chart. The only light(!) at the end of the tunnel may be that this time the track dips in chart sales very slightly, meaning for the first time in many weeks its ACR clock has ticked again. We all know it cannot avoid the axe forever, and as it stands right now this may be the only thing that will come close to ejecting it once and for all from the top of the charts.
What We’ve Learned 3
We’ve learned that for all the grumbles about the dysfunctioning of ACR (which the long-standing Olivia Dean-gate has only served to highlight) it can sometimes play its desired role in freshening things up a little. Two prominent singles - Stateside and So Easy (To Fall In Love) make Top 10 exits this week after fallling to the axe, leaving the way clear for a much needed freshening up of the top end of the chart.
Benefitting greatly is Tame Impala, the Australian now enjoying his first ever Top 10 single as Dracula charges to a new peak of No.3. It is another entertainingly slow-burner, now 23 weeks old and looking set to be hovering around the Top 5 at the very least for its sixth month anniversary. That only makes it all the more annoying that I didn’t pay it more attention when it first came to chart prominence back in October. Although back then it didn’t have the JENNIE-featuring remix to give it the sprinkle of fairy dust.
Also new to the Top 10 is the other “glass ceiling” track from last week. Dominic Fike’s Babydoll, after a slow burn of its own, finally cuts through to No.8 to hand the singer a second Top 10 hit, six and a half years after 3 Nights became his first. Amusingly both are tracks from the same EP - Don’t Forget About Me - which was released in 2018. His rather newer single is however also on the rise and seems set to join its predecessor in the upper reaches in short order, White Keys now up to a new peak of No.12.
What We’ve Learned 4
We’ve learned that BTS do have some degree of staying power after all. Debuting at No.2 last week, Swim takes but a small plunge down to No.5 to become only their second single to spend more than a solitary week in the Top 10. Helping not a little here however were another slew of remixes - seven in total.
What We’ve Learned 5
We’ve learned ACR makes funny things happen to artists with multiple hits on the listings. Take Olivia Dean for example. As mentioned So Easy (To Fall In Love) has tumbled to ACR this week, but so also has The Hardest Part - last week’s No.25 single. That means it is now her fourth-largest hit of the moment and so newly promoted once more to her third is Nice To Each Other which re-debuts at No.30 having last been seen on the listings back in November. Originally released as a single back in June, it peaked at No.4 in October, concurrent with the arrival of its parent album.
And just in case anyone is wondering, Man I Need is No.10 this week but de facto No.2. Its highest placing for a couple of weeks as it so happens.
What We’ve Learned 6
We’ve learned that you just can’t cancel Kanye West. Or Ye as he insist on being called. Announced as Wireless Festival headliner for later this summer (to the amusing dismay of the Prime Minister of all people), his new album Bully debuts at No.3 as his first to be released under his preferred new handle. The album also spawns a trio of new hit singles, the biggest of which is Father which with the help of Travis Scott (so he still does have some friends) debuts at No.27.
I’d go into more detail, but that’s enough for one train ride. Normal service resumes next week. For those bold enough to release new music over Easter weekend.
