Right, this is late, and it’s a busy week, so we’re going to dash through it.

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

Eleven weeks at number 1. It still needs another two weeks to match Alex Warren’s “Ordinary”. Drake is currently ahead in the midweeks, but not by a wide enough margin that I’d be confident of him hanging on until Friday. By this point “Rein Me In” has clearly peaked, but it’s still an absolute mile ahead of the competition, with a ridiculous 46% lead over Tame Impala at number 2.

6. Michael Jackson – “Human Nature”

In most countries, this was released as the fifth single from “Thriller” in 1983. In the UK, it wasn’t, and so this qualifies as a new entry and Michael Jackson’s 45th top 10 hit. It might actually be more familiar to British audiences as the sample in SWV’s “Right Here”. It has, however, been given a music video to promote the movie, which seems to have pushed it into the top three tracks being streamed on the back of the movie. “Billie Jean” and “Beat It” continue to climb, while “Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough” gets disqualified under the three song rule. (It would have placed at number 9.) “I Want You Back”, technically a Jackson 5 track, is also climbing.

23. Sienna Spiro – “Material Lover”

This is from the soundtrack of The Devil Wears Prada 2. Upbeat retro jazz, basically. It’s perfectly fine, in a background kind of way.

30. Katy Perry – “The One That Got Away”

Courtesy of TikTok, an improbable revival for what was, on release, a minor Katy Perry single – it got to number 18 in 2011, as the sixth and final single from “Teenage Dream”. It’s decent enough, but still an odd track to be exhumed by the kids. Katy Perry hasn’t been on the top 40 since 2020, when “Daisies” got to number 37.

36. Charli XCX – “Rock Music” 

This is the lead single from the next Charli XCX album, and… well, whatever you think of the track, it’s hard to sugar coat a Charli XCX lead single entering at number 36, with the midweeks showing it set to drop straight out of the top 100.

This week’s climbers:

• “Billie Jean” by Michael Jackson climbs 4-3. It’s been a number 1 before.
• “Beat It” by Michael Jackson climbs 10-5. It only got to number 3 first time round.
• “Go” by the Chemical Brothers climbs 22-7, their highest position since “Galvanize” reached number 3 over 20 years ago.
• “Free Your Mind” by Prospa & Cloonee climbs 23-20.
• “Earrings” by Malcolm Todd climbs 26-21.
• “I Want You Back” by the Jackson 5 climbs 33-27.
• “Self Aware” by Temper City climbs 36-32.
• “Boston” by Stella Lefty climbs 38-35.

There are four new entries this week, plus re-entries for Sienna Spiro’s “The Visitor” at number 33 and Harry Styles’ “Sign of the Times” at number 40. (Interestingly, his new single “Dance No More” makes an underwhelming debut at number 58.) The six tracks leaving the top 40 are:

• “Don’t Stop ’til You Get Enough” by Michael Jackson, which reached number 15 but gets starred out due to the entry of “Human Nature”.
• “Golden” by HUNTR/X – aside from one week over Christmas, this has been on the chart since last July.
• “Babydoll” by Dominic Fike, which lasted 13 weeks and peaked at number 5.
• “Porch Light” by Noah Kahan, which was a re-entry at 20 two weeks ago.
• “Bring Your Love” by Madonna & Sabrina Carpenter, after a single week at number 29 – evidently the Sabrina Carpenter fans weren’t fooled for long.
• “House Tour” by Sabrina Carpenter, after a four week run peaking at number 20 – it had already spent eight weeks on the top 40 as an album track last autumn.

On the album chart:

1. Michael Jackson – “The Essential”

With an asterisk, because the streams from “Number Ones” and “Michael” are also being treated as streams for this compilation, rather than have multiple near-identical Michael Jackson compilations floating around the album chart. It probably does tip the balance to get it a second week at number one. Two weeks in this run, nine in total. It’s not likely to get a third, since Drake is comfortably ahead in the midweeks.

2. Westlife – “25 – The Ultimate Collection” 

25th anniversary compilation album, with a handful of new tracks thrown in.

7. Reverend & The Makers – “Is This How Happiness Feels”

Their eighth album, one place below the last.

13. Katy Perry – “The Ones That Got The Plays”

Rush-released Katy Perry compilation – very close to being a case of whacking an “album” label on a playlist of stuff that was already on Spotify, to be honest, but there you go.

16. Basement – “Wired”

English alt-rock band who released four non-charting albums between 2009 and 2018; they reformed in 2023 and this is the first time they’ve made the chart. Despite what the Official Chart website thinks, they have no connection to The Basement, an unrelated indie band who had a number 48 single in 2003.

17. Chris Brown – “BROWN”

His twelfth studio album; none of the singles made the top 40. Number 17 is his lowest position for a solo album since 2015.

34. The Covasettes – “Honeymoon Forever”

Manchester indie band; they seem to have been releasing EPs for a good few years, but this is their debut album.