A decent range of new entries this week…

1. Alex Warren – “Ordinary”

Seven weeks. And its streams are up this week (a bit). This is the longest run at number 1 since “Stick Season” last year, though “Stick Season” is obviously the more interesting record. It still has a massive lead over the number 2 single “Pink Pony Club” – a margin of over 80%.

11. Lorde – “What Was That”

This is the lead single from her upcoming album, and she’s electropop now. It works, though. Lorde is not a consistent presence in the singles chart – she can usually get a lead single into the top 40 but the follow-ups tend not to. Number 11 is high for her, though – she hasn’t been this high since her debut, “Royals”, reached number 1 in 2013. The flashmob performance in Washington Square Park at the end of the video is apparently legit – those are actual fans turning up for the shoot.

17. Benson Boone – “Mystical Magical”

“Beautiful Things” continues to overshadow Benson Boone’s later singles – it’s currently at number 7, and celebrating a ludicrous 29 weeks in the top 10. Still, it’s not stopping the other singles from charting, and they do show that he’s got some range. “Sorry I’m Here for Someone Else” peaked at 21 and is still around at 22. “Mystical Magical” is… I don’t know, 70s Eurovision? It probably lands differently for listeners in North America.

25. Sleep Token – “Damocles”

A third hit for Sleep Token, who seem to be the only modern rock band in the UK with the ability to consistently place tracks in the top 10. They’re heavily reliant on the fanbase – their tracks all drop quickly after week one – but there’s some variation in the places too. The previous single, “Caramel”, reached number 10. While they’re often positioned as prog, this is a fairly straight rock ballad – basically a Snow Patrol song with a heavier arrangement.

34. Charli XCX – “Party 4U”

This is a back catalogue track from 2020, charting on the back of some tour dates.

39. Skye Newman – “Hairdresser”

Her debut hit. This has been climbing from the lower reaches for five weeks. Her agents describe her as a “raw and unapologetically authentic voice emerging from the UK music scene” – really, they do. She also offers “poetic lyricism, raw emotion, and a fearless approach to honesty”. And she “isn’t just making music, she’s creating a movement”. Someone got paid to ask ChatGPT to write that.

Nonetheless, the actual record is rather good. Her background is a bit tricky to pin down – she’s from London, she’s on Columbia, and if she has a discography before this record, it seems to have disappeared. It doesn’t help that her search results are overshadowed by a character called Skye Newman from The Young and the Restless…

This week’s climbers:

• “Show Me Love” by WizTheMC and bees & honey climbs 4-3.
• “Love Me Not” by Ravyn Lenae climbs 9-5.
• “Steve’s Lava Chicken” by Jack Black climbs 11-9, and thus sets a new record for the shortest top ten hit of all time. The previous record holder was “Ding-Dong The Witch Is Dead” from the Wizard of Oz soundtrack, which is also less than a minute long. It reached number 2 in 2013 after Margaret Thatcher died. That was a download campaign, though. Download campaigns don’t really work in the modern era. What “Steve’s Lava Chicken” has going for it is that it’s so short that anyone minded to listen to it is probably going to listen to it more than once.

The five records leaving the top 40:

• “The Door” by Teddy Swims re-entered at 37 last week. He still has “Bad Dreams” at number 12.
• “Taste” by Sabrina Carpenter had a 3-week re-entry run, peaking at 37.
• “Juno” by Sabrina Carpenter also had a 3-week re-entry run, peaking at 34. Her current single “Busy Woman” is at number 10.
• “Abracadabra” by Lady Gaga re-entered at 36 last week. “Die With A Smile” is still just inside the top 40.
• “Burning Down” by Alex Warren spent eight weeks in chart on its most second run, peaking at 23.

On the album chart:

1. The Stereophonics – “Make ‘Em Laugh, Make ‘Em Cry, Make ‘Em Wait”

A ninth number 1 for the Stereophonics. All of their studio albums have reached number 1 except their 1997 debut “Word Gets Around” (number 6), 2009’s “Keep Calm and Carry On” (number 11, and a bizarre outlier), its 2013 follow-up “Graffiti on the Train” (number 3), and 2017’s “Scream Above the Sounds” (number 2, because they released it in the same week as a Michael Ball & Alfie Boe album). It’s very much a week one fan base record – 92% of its chart points come from physical sales.

2. Ghost – “Skeletá”

Their sixth studio album, matching the position of its 2022 predecessor “Impera”. They’ve had two other album chart entries since then with lower positions, but “Phantomime” is an 24 minute EP, and “Rite Here Rite Now” is a live album. And both of them still made the top 10.

3. James Arthur – “Pisces”

His sixth studio album. The last one got to number 1, but this is a busier week. His last two albums both disappeared from the chart rather quickly.

5. Self Esteem – “A Complicated Woman”

Her third album, after a four year gap. Its predecessor, “Prioritise Pleasure”, was her chart debut and reached number 11, so she’s still climbing. Not sure about the single above, to be honest. Bit X Factor.

10. Jeff Goldblum and the Mildred Snitzer Orchestra – “Still Blooming”

His fourth album of jazz standards, the third to chart, and the highest position yet.

11. Tide Lines – “Glasgow Love Story”

Scottish folk music. They’re remarkably consistent in terms of chart positions – their previous two albums reached 12 and 13.

20. Simple Minds – “Live in the City of Diamonds”

Live album, obviously. It forms a triptych with 1987’s “Live in the City of Light” (Paris) and 2019’s “Live in the City of Angels” (Los Angeles). Simple Minds have released a ton of live albums over the years, but these three are apparently distinguished by being recordings of a single show rather than being tour highlights (and being full releases rather than completist-only releases of entire tours). The City of Diamonds is Amsterdam, if you were wondering.