It’s another absurdly quiet week for the singles chart, but at least we have the albums to keep us company.

1.  Shawn Mendes & Camila Cabello – “Senorita”

Five weeks now, but it peaked a while back, so it probably won’t be here too much longer.  This matches the run of Cabello’s other number 1, “Havana”.  (We long passed the two-week reign of Mendes’ “Stitches”.)  “3 Nights” by Dominic Fike climbs 6-3, and “Taste (Make it Shake)” by Aitch climbs 8-4.  “Higher Love” by Kygo & Whitney Houston climbs 9-5, to overtake “It Ain’t Me” as Kygo’s biggest hit; it now matches the peak of Houston’s last significant hit “Million Dollar Bill” from 2009.  The next target is to make number 2, which would make it her biggest hit since “My Love Is Your Love” in 1999.  “How Do You Sleep” by Sam Smith climbs 12-7 to become his 11th top ten hit.  “Ransom” by Lil Tecca climbs 24-13, which is a bit more notable than most of these climbs, and “Strike a Pose” by Young T & Bugsey featuring Aitch climbs 18-15.  “Sorry” by Joel Corry moves 19-16, “Castles” by Freya Ridings from 21-18, and “Ritual” by Tiesto, Jonas Blue & Rita Ora from 27-26.  “Harder” by Jax Jones & Bebe Rexha climbs 36-30, “Outnumbered” by Dermot Kennedy from 39-34… and yes, yes, that’s everything before we finally teach this week’s highest new entry.

40.  Megan Thee Stallion featuring Nicki Minaj & Ty Dolla $ign – “Hot Girl Summer”

Yes, one new entry, at number 40.  It’s only a couple of weeks since we had a chart with no new entries at all, too.  Those rule changes to speed up the chart have worked out well, haven’t they?

It’s the first hit for Megan Thee Stallion, who’s a rapper from Texas.  Technically, she’s the only Megan ever to have had a top 40 hit, though that does depend on claiming that the H disqualifies Meghan Trainor.  If you are spelling-agnostic, she is the second hit-making Meg(h)an.  Granted, Nicki Minaj is on this track, but she doesn’t consistently have significant hits – this is more likely here on its own strengths, since it’s a good summer hit.  Or at least, it could be – one week at number 40 is a hit in the most technical sense only.  Its international chart places are, for now, fairly modest.  Except in New Zealand, where it’s number 2.

On the album chart, we have a whole five new entries!

1.  Slipknot – “We Are Not Your Kind”

Slipknot’s second number 1 album comes 18 years after the first, “Iowa”.  But this isn’t entirely a case of the declining albums chart favouring legacy acts, since their subsequent studio albums all at least made the top 5.  The track above is also from the soundtrack of The Boys, and is as age-appropriate and violent as you might expect.  The Solway Firth is part of the Scottish/English border, so maybe they’re angling to be the official theme song of indyref 2 coverage.  As Slipknot singles go, it’s pretty good, though it does feature the lyric “Another needle in the back through purified scarification.”

4.  Feeder – “Tallulah”

This is a bit more of a legacy case – Feeder albums do okay, but they haven’t made the top 5 since 2006.  And nobody could claim that the single above is any sort of departure for the band.

11.  Bon Iver – “II”

Over to the world of indie folk.  Bon Iver’s fourth album just fails to become their third top ten hit, but it’s still a respectable (and title-appropriate) position.

18.  Rick Ross – “Port of Miami 2”

Rick Ross’s chart record is weirdly erratic.  This is his tenth studio album, all of which have performed solidly in the USA.  But it’s only the fourth to chart in the UK – the others being albums 5, 6 and 9.  The original “Port of Miami” was his 2006 debut.

19.  Trippie Redd – “!”

The chart actually has this listed as “Exclamation Mark”, which is indeed how you’re supposed to pronounce it, but the official title is “!”  It’s his second number 19 album, and boy he’s keen on waving guns around in his videos.  There are two videos for tracks on this album, and the other one is even more shooty.