Not so much a chart as a spasm, this week we see what happens when twenty-odd Christmas songs vanish from the top 40 at once, and there are virtually no new releases to fill the gap.  Basically, it means a bunch of re-entries which I’m not going to bother listing, plus a few records reaching new highs from which the festive brigade had previously been excluding them.  Plus, there’s a handful of genuinely new stuff down at the bottom.

1.  Ed Sheeran – “Perfect”

Predictably, “Perfect” spends a fifth week at number one, with the parent album “÷” also getting a twentieth week at the top.  Below it, the top 10 returns to normal, with new peaks for “Man’s Not Hot” by Big Shaq at 3, “I Miss You” by Clean Bandit featuring Julia Michales at 6, “17” by MK at 7, and “Barking” by Ramz at 8 (which climbs from 30).  Further down, “I Know You” by Craig David featuring Bastille re-enters at 15, and “No Words” by Dave featuring Mostack rebounds from 40 to a new peak of 17 (having entered at 18 back in November).  “Tip Toe” by Jason Derulo featuring French Montana, which dropped out of the top 40 last week and has never been above 30, re-enters at 19.  “Decline” by Raye featuring Mr Eazi similarly re-enters at 22, and “My Lover” by Not3s re-enters at 23, comfortably beating its previous peak of 38.

24.  Jax Jones featuring Ina Wroldsen – “Breathe”

This would have charted a few weeks ago, were it not for the Christmas records, so it’s not a surprise for it to show up as our first new entry of 2018.  Jax Jones has followed the now-established path from dancefloor to radio-friendly dance-pop, but with more range than most – this is rather more EDM than his previous single “Instruction”, as well as being a pretty decent song.  Guest singer Ina Wroldsen had a previous hit last spring when she guested on Martin Solveig’s “Places” (number 27).

Pink’s “Beautiful Trauma” re-enters at a new peak of 25, and…

28.  Keala Settle & The Greatest Showman Ensemble – “This Is Me”

With few regular singles being promoted, and the Christmas tracks all gone, there’s a vacancy for movie soundtrack material – and here’s a track from the PT Barnum musical that was released over Christmas.  “This Is Me” is the sort of generically inspiring proud-of-who-I-am number that will set Simon Cowell’s toes tapping, but it has a Golden Globes nomination for best song, so there you go.

Keala Settle’s career has mainly been on Broadway, and she isn’t a principal cast member – she plays the bearded lady Lettie Lutz – but this is the sort of song that needs to be belted out by a pro.

The soundtrack album climbs 39-4 this week, which is the only other thing of note happening on the album chart, hence no separate recap at the bottom of the post.

29. J Hus – “Bouff Daddy”

“Bouff” means money, so you know the territory.  Bouncy enough, mind you.  This is J Hus’s third top 40 hit as lead artist, with “Did You See” making the top 10 last spring but “Spirit” not making it past 36.  This particular track has been available on his album “Common Sense” since May, but it’s getting a singles push now.

30.  G-Eazy & Halsey – “Him & I”

It’s a love duet, with a slightly random VHS-themed video.  It’s alright.  Rapper G-Eazy has had a couple of hits before – he guested on Grace’s “You Don’t Own Me” (no 4 in 2015), and teamed with Bebe Rexha on “Me Myself & I” (no 13 in 2016).  Halsey has previously turned up twice as a guest singer – on Justin Bieber’s “The Feeling” (no 34 in 2015) and the Chainsmokers’ 2016 number 1 “Closer”.  The opening caption in the video is indeed giving their real names when it calls them “Gerald and Ashley”.  In fact, Halsey’s real name is apparently Ashley Frangipane.  They’re given co-billing on this single, but it actually comes from G-Eazy’s album.

“Feel It Still” by Portugal. The Man re-enters at 35, ten weeks after it spent a single week at 39.

37.  Camila Cabello – “Never Be The Same”

The follow-up to her number one “Havana” has been out for a few weeks, biding its time waiting for the post-festive lull.  It’s marginally less commercial, but I don’t think the production does her vocal any favours; the chorus feels a bit squeaky and choppy to me.  The video is apparently a mixture of genuine home video footage from her childhood and “what a great year I had in 2017” footage.  I guess, because she had a good 2017 career-wise, so she’ll “never be the same”.  It’s actually an addiction-metaphor love song, but hey, who listens to the verse lyrics?

40.  Hugh Jackman, Keala Settle, Zac Efron & Zendaya – “The Greatest Show”

If you don’t want the big showstopper, maybe you’d like the title track with the big name stars?  Jackman is playing Barnum himself, Zac Efron is his partner Phillip Carlyle, and Zendaya is acrobat Anne Wheeler.  You won’t be surprised to hear that this is the first hit single for Hugh Jackman or for Zendaya (she played MJ in Spider-Man: Homecoming, if that helps, but she also stars in the Disney Channel show KC Undercover).  Efron hasn’t previously had a hit under his own name, but he did appear on several singles in 2006-7 credited to “Cast of High School Musical” and “Cast of High School Musical 2“.  The biggest was “What Time Is It”, which got to 20.

It’s very soundtracky, but it’s not the sort of thing we’re used to seeing in the top 40, and a departure from the norm is always somewhat welcome.