Oh god, already? Really?

1. Taylor Swift – “The Fate of Ophelia” 

Five weeks total. Its streams are down, and it’s not that far ahead of “Golden” at number 2 (about 6%), but the bigger point is that it’s now number 1 with an asterisk – if we didn’t have the downweighting rule, this week’s number one would be “Man I Need” by Olivia Dean, and by a comfortable margin at that.

19. Wham! – “Last Christmas”

What the hell is wrong with you people? This is the chart measuring the period 14-20 November. That’s more than a month before Christmas. And yet even with permanent downweighting against it, “Last Christmas” is already at number 19. God help us.

Oh well… “Last Christmas” reached number 2 at Christmas 1984, behind Band Aid. In the digital era, it’s been a number one in 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2024.

22. Mariah Carey – “All I Want For Christmas Is You”

Originally a number 2 hit at Christmas 1994 (behind East 17’s “Stay Another Day”), this is another streaming perennial. It reached number 1 at Christmas 2020 and 2022, and it got to number 2 last year.

26. Charli XCX – “Chains of Love”

It’s not all Christmas, though. Not yet. This is the second single from Charli XCX’s upcoming soundtrack album for Wuthering Heights. It’s in epic ballad mode, which is a change for her. Curiously, the first single from the album, “House”, doesn’t seem to have done anything. Admittedly, it’s extremely uncommercial – about half of it is a spoken word performance by John Cale and the other half is full of distortion – but you’d have thought it would have registered on her name alone.

27. Lewis Capaldi – “The Day That I Die”

This is the final track on his EP “Survive”, which collects his previous three singles and comes out this week. “Something in the Heavens” is still hanging in there at number 37.

29. Keith David, Lilli Cooper, Kimiko Glenn, Krystina Alabado, Sam Haft & Andrew Underberg – “Love in a Bottle”

This is from the soundtrack album to season 2 of Amazon Prime’s Hazbin Hotel, which is out this week, but soundtrack albums go on the compilations chart, so we won’t be seeing it below. I don’t think the song really works independently of the show, but the show itself is a hit, so that doesn’t especially matter. It very nearly managed to get multiple tracks into the top 40, with “Losin’ Streak” at 41.

35. EsDeeKid – “4 Raws”

This has been climbing from the lower reaches for a little while, and now gives EsDeeKid a third concurrent hit. “Phantom” and “Century” climb to 15 and 16 respectively. They’ll all be swept away by Christmas songs soon, but he’s having a breakout period.

38. Brenda Lee – “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree”

Brenda Lee recorded this at the age of 13, but as you can see, it took a little time to get around to making the video. Originally recorded in 1958, this first charted in the UK in 1962, when it reached number 6. It started charting regularly in 2016 – helped by Christmas streaming playlists designed with an eye on the American market – and reached all-time peaks of 4 in 2022, and again last year. The highest-placing version of the song in the UK is still the comedy charity version by Mel Smith and Kim Wilde which reached number 3 in 1987. That version used to get hammered on UK music channels at this time of year because it actually had a video, but music channels are a dying format these days.

This week’s climbers:

• “So Easy (To Fall In Love)” by Olivia Dean climbs 5-4. She still has three tracks in the top 10, with “Man I Need” at 5 (even on downweighting) and “Rein Me In” with Sam Fender at 7. Since she’s only a guest on that track, she also gets to chart with…
• “A Couple Minutes” by Olivia Dean, which climbs 15-13.
• “Die On This Hill” by Sienna Spiro climbs 13-9 to become her first top 10 hit. This feels like a track that might manage to ride out Christmas, or at least capitalise in the post-festive lull.
• “Phantom” by EsDeeKid & Rico Ace climbs 17-15.
• “Century” by EsDeeKid climbs 21-16.
• “Talk of the Town” by Fred again.., Sammy Virji & Reggie climbs 22-18.
• “Think About Us” by Sonny Fodera, DOD & Poppy Baskcomb climbs 33-30.

The seven tracks leaving the top 40 are:

• “Pink Pony Club” by Chappell Roan, which re-entered at 35 last week.
• “Tears” by Sabrina Carpenter, after an 11-week run that peaked at number 3. “House Tour” and “Manchild” are still hanging in there.
• “Love Me Not” by Ravyn Lenae, which re-entered at 40 last week.
• “Iris” by the Goo Goo Dolls, which re-entered at 39 last week.
• “Family Matters” by Skye Newman, which re-entered at 25 three weeks ago and took a little time to fade. “FU & UF” is still in the top 30.
• “Berghain” by Rosalía featuring Björk & Yves Tumor had a single week at 36.
• “DPMO” by Digga had a single week at 31.

On the album chart:

1. 5 Seconds of Summer – “Everyone’s a Star”

Their fourth number 1 album, and the third in a row. 5 Seconds of Summer have been around since 2014 and have never placed an album outside the top 3. They’re a fanbase act, but it’s a very consistent fanbase.

4. D-Block Europe – “PTSD 2”

D-Block Europe seem to have passed their peak in singles terms – none of the singles from this album made the top 40. Their 2024 album reached number 1, this one is only at number 4. Still, they haven’t missed the album top 10 since 2019, and they’ve released a lot in that time.

11. Oasis – “Familiar to Millions”

25th anniversary reissue of their live album. It reached number 5 on release in 2000.

12. Celeste – “Woman of Faces”

Her second album, following 2021’s “Not Your Muse”, which reached number 1 and was nominated for the Mercury Prize.

13. Summer Walker – “Finally Over It”

Her third album, and the first to miss the top 10 in the UK.

14. NF – “Fear”

A 22 minute EP rather than a full album. His last album got to number 2, but this isn’t really comparable.

17. Doves – “So Here We Are – Best Of”

Vinyl compilation. Doves had nine top 40 hits between 2000 and 2009, the biggest being “There Goes The Fear” (number 3 in 2002). Technically it’s actually their joint-biggest hit, since they also reached number 3 in 1993 with “Ain’t No Luck (Ain’t No Use)” in their previous incarnation as Sub Sub – one of the most drastic direction changes any band has ever undergone.

20. Tears for Fears – “Songs from the Big Chair”

40th anniversary reissue. It was their second album, and reached number 2 on release in 1985.

40. The Rolling Stones – “Black and Blue”

Box set reissue of their 1976 album, which reached number 2 on release. “Fool to Cry” was the only single from the album, and it reached number 6.