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.

Number 2 makes “Swim” their highest-placing single, though only marginally – “Dynamite”, “Butter” and “My Universe” all made number 3 in 2020 and 2021. As tends to be the case with Kpop, they benefit from a lot of first week fanbase sales – more than half of “Swim”‘s chart points come from download sales, thanks in part to a range . Mind you, it would have made the top 20 on streaming alone, although that too is boosted somewhat by the presence of nine remixes.

The two album tracks are rather less radio-friendly than the single. “Body to Body” is simply the first track on the album, which naturally carries an advantage, but “FYA” is track four.

18. Raye featuring Hans Zimmer – “Click Clack Symphony”

This is the third single from the upcoming album, and after “Where is my Husband” (still in the top 30 after 27 weeks), she seems to have tacked to single designed more to push the ambition of the album.While “Nightingale Lane” was a ballad, this is a sprawling song about the mental health benefits of a girls night out, given the full-on Hans Zimmer arrangement. They really are not kidding about “featuring Hans Zimmer”. Well worth a play if you haven’t heard it.

 

Improbably, this is his second top 40 hit – “Spider Pig” from The Simpsons Movie reached number 23 in 2007.

This week’s climbers:

• “Babydoll” by Dominic Fike climbs 13-11.
• “Dracula” by Tame Impala climbs 14-12.
• “White Keys” by Dominic Fike climbs 18-17.
• “Choosin’ Texas” by Ella Langley climbs 33-32.

The four tracks leaving the top 40 are:

• “The Sick” by Bella Kay, which entered at 33 two weeks ago. Her main hit “iloveitiloveitiloveit” is at number 3.
• “Back to Friends” by Sombr, which re-entered at 36 three weeks ago. He still has “Homewrecker” in the top 10.
• “Landslide” by Fleetwood Mac, which re-entered at 40 last week.
• “Chains of Love” by Charli XCX, which had a five week return run on the back of the Wuthering Heights film, peaking at 12.

On the album chart, number 1 is “Arirang” by BTS, and we’ve covered that. There are only two other new entries:

4. Luke Combs – “The Way I Am”

His sixth album, of which five charted in the UK. This is the highest placing, but only marginally – “Gettin’ Old” reached number 5 in 2023.

10. Jane McDonald – “Living the Dream”

Her 11th studio album, which is apparently the slight-country one.  For international viewers, she’s a cruise ship singer who managed to leverage an appearance in a reality show about cruise ships back in 1998 into a legitimate recording and TV presenting career. This is her highest position since 2018, when “Cruising With Jane McDonald” reached number 6.