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.

It’s a good song, which does a decent impression of an anthem while being a bit subtler than that in the lyrics. It did tail off over the week, though – it was at 5 in the midweeks – so we’ll have to see if it picks up momentum with a broader audience.

The video has really prominent Mastercard branding at the start and end, which wouldn’t be too much of a problem if they didn’t also have an advertisement talking over the end. Let’s hope that doesn’t become a thing.

32. Billie Eilish – “Wildflower” 

Re-entering because it won “Song of the Year” at the Grammys. It’s previously spent a total of 28 weeks on the top 40, peaking at number 7 in November 2024. Which may leave you thinking, hold on, Song of Which Year? Well, apparently the Grammys held on 1 February 2026 cover music released between 31 August 2024 and 30 August 2025. I don’t know why it takes them another five months to actually have the ceremony, but it does.

35. Milky – “Just the Way You Are” 

This is here partly due to TikTok, but mostly due to the release of a new remix by Mall Grab (which isn’t very good, if you ask me, and doesn’t have its own video, but here it is). Milky were an Italian dance act, and this track reached number 8 in 2002 as their only UK hit. It’s one of those “oh, that one” tracks.

In the grand tradition of Italian dance acts, the woman lip-synching in the video above is not Milky’s singer Giuditta, but a model called Sabrina Elahl. The real Giuditta did appear in the video for their follow-up single “In My Mind”, though.

38. Ella Langley – “Choosin’ Texas” 

Chart debut. It’s number 2 in the USA, and Very Country Indeed, at least by the standards of the UK chart. There’s more crossover for Americana than there used to be, but it tends to be more in the vein of Zach Bryan than this kind of “Texas over Tennessee” song. Nonetheless, it’s had some success in Australia and New Zealand too.

The video above is officially a “lyric video”, although it’s one of those cases where what they really mean is “if we stick the lyrics in subtitles at the bottom, we can get away with spending twenty dollars on the video”.

This week’s climbers:

• “Midnight Sun” by Zara Larsson climbs 26-20.
• “Boys Don’t Cry” by the Cure climbs 36-22 as the younger generation realise that it’s  good.

Yes, it’s that busy. There are two re-entries at 39-40 (for Tate McRae and Fred Again, which tracks that had were at 41 and 42 last week), which means there are six tracks leaving the top 40:

• “As It Was” by Harry Styles got a week at number 28.
• “Opening Night” by the Arctic Monkeys got a week at number 16.
• “Every Breath You Take” by the Police had a four week run, peaking at 17.
• “Chanel” by Tyla had five weeks, peaking at number 15 (it gets hit by downweighting this week because it took so long to climb into the top 40 in the first place).
• “Running Up That Hill” by Kate Bush had five weeks, peaking at 14.
• “How It’s Done” by HUNTR/X peaked at 9 back in October and got another five weeks post-Christmas.

Right, then. Albums.

1. Olivia Dean – “The Art of Loving”

Returning to number 1 for a sixth non-consecutive week. It’s been at number 1 or number 2 without interruption since November, and it’s never fallen below number 5 in its 19 weeks on release.

2. Lily Allen – “West End Girl” 

This is a re-entry following its physical release. It previous reached number 2 as a streaming album in November (and hung around the top 40 for eight weeks).

3. The Molotovs – “Wasted on Youth”

Debut album. They’re siblings aged 17 and 19. Endorsed by Paul Weller, apparently.

4. Don Toliver – “Octane”

His fifth album, placing much higher than any of the others – his previous peak was 16, and that was six years ago.

7. Michael Jackson – “Number Ones” 

Vinyl re-issue. It reached number 1 on first release in 2003, and again after his death in 2009.

8. Cast – “Yeah Yeah Yeah” 

That’s Cast’s highest position since the 90s, so touring as Oasis’s support act was a good move.

9. And Only The Poets – “And I’d Do It Again” 

Debut album, though an EP just missed the album top 40 two years ago. They’re from Reading, and single is rather more MOR pop-rock than I was expecting from the band name.

13. Kula Shaker – “Wormslayer” 

Their eighth album, and their highest placing since 1999. Pretty much a prog rock band at this point – the track above is seven and a half minutes long on the album, and the video thoughtfully extends it by another couple of minutes. It is absolutely ridiculous.

25. Francis Rossi – “The Accidental” 

Look, that’s what he has on his YouTube – a 23 second teaser. It’s the third solo album from the Status Quo frontman, and the first to chart.