Well, some people have certainly got albums out.

1. Sam Fender & Olivia Dean – “Rein Me In”

Six weeks total, but it has finally peaked. BTS predictably drop off in the second week, though “Swim” holds up at a respectable number 5. Bella Kay returns to number 2, but she’s miles behind the number 1.

22. Raye – “I Know You’re Hurting”

This is the release week single from her second album “This Music May Contain Hope.”, which enters the album chart as her first number 1. Its predecessor got to number 2, and was held off the top by Shania Twain, of all people.

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This is one of those weeks when nobody is willing to go up against the big new release.

1. Sam Fender & Olivia Dean – “Rein Me In” 

That’s five weeks, albeit non-consecutive, and it’s still growing in its 40th week on the top 40. It’s number 1 by about a 10% margin, and seems set to stay there.

2. BTS – “Swim”
28. BTS – “Body to Body”
39. BTS – “FYA”

BTS return from their hiatus, though with the drip-feeding of solo projects, they were never entirely gone. The album “Arirang” enters at number 1 and gives them the  maximum three songs on the chart. It’s their third number one album – the others being “Map of the Soul: Persona” in 2019 and “Map of the Soul – 7” in 2020.

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The thing about Harry Styles is that he does have fanbase sales. So while he still has three tracks in the top 20 – at numbers 3, 5 and 15 – he doesn’t get a second week at number 1 with “American Girls”.

1. Sam Fender & Olivia Dean – “Rein Me In”

Yes, this again. It’s a fourth non-consecutive week at number 1, but for the first time there’s no asterisk attached – it would have beaten Olivia Dean’s “Man I Need” even if rthat track wasn’t subject to downweighting. This one isn’t because, inexplicably, it continues to grow (however slowly) after 40 weeks on sale.

We’re still in the unhappy position of having a top ten where five of the tracks feature either Olivia Dean or Harry Styles. However, “Rein Me In” has a very small lead over Bella Kay’s “iloveitiloveitiloveit” at number 2, so it probably won’t stay on top much longer.

11. Sienna Spiro – “The Visitor”

We really are in an era of minimalist music videos, aren’t we? But you have to wonder where the return on investment is, in doing anything more than this. This is the fourth single from her upcoming album, and she still has “Die on This Hill” on the chart at number 29. (more…)

Harry Styles has an album out, and nobody else is going to take that on.

1. Harry Styles – “American Girls”
5. Harry Styles – “Ready, Steady, Go!”

Together with former number 1 “Aperture” (which rebounds to number 4), these are the maximum three tracks from the album “Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally”, which enters as his third number one album. (His second album, “Fine Line”, only got to number 2, but still spent over a year in the top 10.) If it wasn’t for the three-song rule, the entire album would have charted.

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Okay, we’re into March and the singles chart is finally starting to pick up a bit.

1. Sam Fender & Olivia Dean – “Rein Me In”

Three weeks. “Rein Me In” has been on the top 40 for 37 consecutive weeks, and it’s not that unusual for big tracks to hang around that long. But it’s actually growing – this is as big a weekly score as it’s ever had. It’s still only number one because “Man I Need” is on ACR, but even that is now marginal.

3. Alex Warren – “Fever Dream”

The previous Alex Warren single, “Eternity”, also entered at number 3. This is certainly a change of tack from his previous singles, since at least it’s an upbeat track. The video is very much Trying Too Hard, but the single itself is acceptable in a Maroon 5 kind of way. “Ordinary” is still hanging around at number 16, which is insane.

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It’s a quiet week for new entries, but we do at least have some songs making a march towards the top of the chart.

1. Sam Fender & Oliva Dean – “Rein Me In” 

Second week and somehow, after all this time, it’s actually continuing to grow. Once again, if it wasn’t for the downweighting rule, the rightful number 1 would be Olivia Dean’s “Man I Need’ (by a wide margin). And once again, the official number 2 is another Olivia Dean single, “So Easy (To Fall In Love)”.

The top end of the chart actually has quite a bit of activity this week, but not in terms of new entries.

23. Twenty One Pilots – “Drag Path”

This is a new mix of a track that was previously released as an exclusive for purchasers of a digital album. It seems to be a different mix in an attempt to square the demand for wider release with a desire to honour the original promotion of the track as exclusive. Reportedly the original version is better.

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Alright, then – it’s Monday, I’m still running late, let’s run through this.

1. Sam Fender & Olivia Dean – “Rein Me In”

This has been on the chart since last June, and managed to cling on at the bottom end of the top 40 even during Christmas. The height of Christmas aside, it’s been in the top 10 since November. Despite all that, it’s not quite a default number 1 – somehow, it’s managed to avoid the downweighting rule even after all this time. This is actually the highest weekly consumption it’s ever recorded.

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Well, it took a month and a half but at last 2026 gives us a busy chart.

1. Taylor Swift – “Opalite”

“Opalite” already reached number 2 as an album track on release in October, and it was still inside the top 20, but it’s being promoted as a single now, complete with video. Supposedly she had the video idea while appearing on the Graham Norton Show, which is why everyone who was on that episode has cameos in it.

It’s an obvious choice of single and the only thing it really had going against it was the fact that it had been out for so long already. But although it’s way past its initial peak, its streams more than doubled over the last week, which means that it jumps from 15 to 1. Perhaps surprisingly, it’s only her sixth number 1 – the others are “The Fate of Ophelia” (2025), “Fortnight” (2024), “Is It Over Now? (Taylor’s Version)” (2023), “Anti-Hero” (2022) and the incongruous “Look What You made Me Do” (2017).

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Another singles chart that might politely be described as “sluggish”…

1. Dave & Tems – “Raindance” 

Returning to number 1 for a second week, in its fifteenth week on the chart. Harry Styles’ “Aperture”, which always struck me as the sort of track that only a top-tier star could get to number 1, takes a bit of a nosedive in its second week, dropping straight to number 4. “Raindance” is also losing streams, but it becomes number 1 pretty much by default – and by the fact that it’s made it to week 15 without getting hit by the downweighting rule. Once again, if we didn’t have that rule, the number one would be Olivia Dean’s “Man I Need” by a mile. But it’s been out for 25 weeks and got hit by the rule after its first peak ages ago.

10. Noah Kahan – “The Great Divide” 

This is the lead single from his upcoming fourth album, the follow-up to his breakthrough “Stick Season”. Obviously his biggest hit is “Stick Season” itself, number 1 for seven weeks in early 2024, but he has had other hits – “Dial Drunk”, “Northern Attitude” and “Forever” all made the top 40, and he appears on the single version of Sam Fender’s “Homesick”, which reached number 5.

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Well, there aren’t many new entries this week, but at least they’re notable.

1. Harry Styles – “Aperture” 

This is the lead single from his upcoming fourth album, “Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally”. The last album was 2022, and we haven’t heard from him in the top 40 since its final single “Satellite” in 2023. Now in his thirties, he’s the sort of star who can get away with releasing a track like “Aperture” – it’s the longest number 1 of the century at over five minutes, and takes its time on a slow build. On a first listen, I was wondering if he’d discovered the Postal Service. It’s a grower, though, for all its lyrical obscurity and liminal-spaces video.

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