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Feb 18

Charts – 16 February 2018

Posted on Sunday, February 18, 2018 by Paul in Music

Well, this isn’t shifting…

1.  Drake – “God’s Plan”

Four weeks, and hey, Drake’s made a video!  It’s basically him giving away loads of money to people in Florida.  The video kind of frames it as spending the label’s money, but to be honest, the publicity is probably a better return on their money than a high-budget video.  And it’s not like the video they made looks especially shoestring – it comes across as optimistic rather than just sentimental.

For me, the video helps the song a lot – as I may have mentioned, I found the actual record drearily one-note.  But then I don’t really get Drake, so I’m probably not the person to ask.

On with this week’s new entries…

19.  Marshmello & Anne-Marie – “Friends”

Marshmello seems to be establishing himself as a regular chart presence – this is his third hit since September, and all pretence of being a dancefloor act seems to have vanished.  You almost have to admire his kayfabe-type commitment to pretending that his identity is still some sort of a mystery, when it’s hardly difficult to find out.  Then again, making a big deal of hiding your well-documented face worked well for Sia.

Anne-Marie was the guest singer on Clean Bandit’s “Rockabye”, which spent nine weeks at number one at the start of last year; she’s had a couple of hits in her own right too, but hasn’t really followed up in quite the way you’d hope.  The gimmick here is to release a “friend zone” song for Valentine’s Day.  It’s entirely fine.

23.  Blocboy JB featuring Drake – “Look Alive”

Blocboy JB is a rapper from Memphis, and this is his chart debut.  But this is basically a Drake single – he does two verses, and Blocboy shows up for forty seconds in the middle.  So his lead artist credit is, um, generous.  Mind you, if you want a relatively commercial single of Drake actually rapping, here you go – I could see this hanging around.

37.  Bazzi – “Mine”

Another chart debut.  Andrew Bazzi is from Detroit, and this has been out for a while, but apparently it’s had a bit of viral support on Snapchat of late.  At just over two minutes, it’s certainly concise, but it’s also quite decent; this deserves to go further.

40.  James Bay – “Wild Love”

James Bay hasn’t been in the chart since “Hold Back The River” reached number 2 in 2015.  The lead single from his new album is a muffled slow burner but worth the time.  I’m not sure I see it going much further in 2018, but it’d be nice to be wrong.

This week’s climbers:

  • “This Is Me” by Keala Settle & The Greatest Showman Ensemble climbs 6-3.
  • “Feel It Still” by Portugal. The Man climbs 9-6, having definitively crossed over to an audience that didn’t notice it during its previous six months on release.
  • “For You (Fifty Shades Freed)” by Liam Payne & Rita Ora rebounds 18-8 to enter the top 10 for the first time, tying in with release of the film.  It’s acquired a video since I last mentioned it, but Liam’s vocals remain thoroughly overshadowed.  The Official Charts Company is claiming that, as a result of this track entering the top 10, Rita Ora has equalled the record for most top ten hits by a British solo female artist – twelve, held jointly by Shirley Bassey and Petula Clark.  This is sort of true, but half of her top ten hits are as a guest on other people’s records.
  • “All The Stars” by Kendrick Lamar & SZA climbs 28-11 and “Pray For Me” by The Weeknd & Kendrick Lamar moves 15-13, as Black Panther‘s soundtrack album comes out this week.  (It isn’t on the album chart because it’s been classed as a compilation album.)  Lamar’s title track his just outside the top 40.
  • “Jumanji” by B Young moves 27-25.
  • “Let Me Go” by Hailee Steinfeld & Alesso featuring Florida Georgia Line & Watt moves 39-30.
  • “Check” by Kojo Funds featuring Raye edges 33-32.
  • “Sick Boy” by the Chainsmokers moves 40-36, having spent four weeks now hovering around the very bottom of the top 40.

On the album chart, the Greatest Showman OST gets a sixth week at number 1.  And for this week’s new entries…

3.  The Wombats – “Beautiful People Will Ruin Your Life”

Welcome to the album chart, where a new release by the Wombats is a big deal.  It’s been a decade now since they were having regular hit singles; the biggest was “Moving To New York”, which reached 13.  But their subsequent albums have consistently placed in the top 5.  The single above is… alright.

Number 3 is “Diamond in the Dirt” by Mist; I covered the single “Game Changer” a couple of weeks back.

4.  Fredo – “Tables Turn”

He’s a London rapper and this is his second album (or mixtape, if you prefer).  The first one only got to number 77, and that was less than a year ago, so he’s clearly had a good twelve months.

6.  Franz Ferdinand – “Always Ascending”

More indie veterans who long since transitioned into the career afterlife of the album chart – they’ve never had an album chart lower than 6.  The title track above starts off sounding like the Divine Comedy before going disco.  As ever with these guys, your mileage will vary, depending how mannered you find it all.  (And whether you think “mannered” is a good or a bad thing…)

15.  Brian Fallon – “Sleepwalkers”

Brian Fallon is the lead singer of the Gaslight Anthem, and this is his second solo album; the first one got to number 13, so not much difference.  (The band themselves tend to place their albums in the top 5.)  The single above is very retro pop-rock, though pleasant enough on that level.

27.  MGMT – “Little Dark Age”

MGMT’s first album in five years, and the last one missed the top 40.  Considering that their preceding albums both made the top 10, that was clearly disappointing.  MGMT are long past whatever the indie equivalent of an imperial phase is, but the title track has an excellent synthpop chorus to offer and deserved more notice.

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