Reviews will be coming in due course, but in the meantime, the great thing about chart posts is that you can generally make a good start on them in advance…

40.  Amelia Lily – “Party Over”

“Tell me, is the party over?” asks Amelia.

Well, let’s see.  “You Bring Me Joy”, number 2.  “Shut Up (And Give Me Whatever You Got)”, number 11.  This track, number 40.  Position on iTunes as of right this moment now – 103.

So yeah, I’d say it’s not looking great for continued partying.  Not sure what’s gone wrong here, since it’s a perfectly good record.  The album’s due out in July, but this is the sort of chart place that tends to prompt rethinks.

39.  The Goo Goo Dolls – “Iris” 

Making another of its periodic returns to the chart, apparently because it was used on Britain’s Got Talent.

35.  Carly Rae Jepsen – “Tonight I’m Getting Over You”

Effectively the third Carly Rae Jepsen single after “Call Me Maybe” and “Good Time” (which the Official Chart Company credits to Owl City featuring Carly Rae Jepsen, but it’s on her album too).  The work of the usual suspects from Sweden, it’s another efficiently crafted piece of mainstream pop, and there’s not much more to be said about it.  Currently being downloaded as an album track, so it could go further.

33.  Nicky Romero – “Like Home”

Nicky Romero’s second hit, following “I Could Be The One”, the collaboration with Avicii that gave him his debut number one earlier in the year – still on the chart at 34.  This is, unsurprisingly, along broadly similar lines.

The singers are Miriam and Olivia Nervo, are Australian twins who’ve never made much impact as performers, but have had successful backroom careers as songwriters.  They co-wrote the David Guetta song “When Love Takes Over”.

21.  David Guetta (featuring Ne-Yo & Akon) – “Play Hard”

The latest single from “Nothing But The Beat” already made number 22 as an album track download last autumn, so this is technically a re-entry.  But now it has a video.  A pretty dreadful one, at that.

The hook is sampled from “Better Off Alone” which reached number 2 in 1999 for Alice Deejay, and which is also a rather better record.

19.  AlunaGeorge – “Attracting Flies” 

Suddenly climbing 11 places after two weeks stuck at number 30.  I was starting to wonder if it had stalled.

 

11.  Passenger – “Let Her Go”

Passenger is songwriter Mike Rosenberg.  There used to be an actual band, but they split in 2007 and he kept the name.  He’s been plugging away in folk circles for years with little in the way of broader impact.  This single was originally released last year to promote his album “All The Little Lights”.  It failed to chart.

Then, at the start of this year, “Let Her Go” suddenly took off abroad.  It’s been number one in Australia, Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, New Zealand…  and now, finally, his home country has started paying attention to him.  It’s another odd example of how, in the internet era, somebody who’s been plugging away diligently for years can suddenly strike a chord internationally and break through to claim their much-delayed reward.

The album enters this week at number 25, now that people are suddenly paying attention to it.

9.  The Loveable Rogues – “What A Night”

This bunch reached the final of Britain’s Got Talent last year, and now they’re signed to Simon Cowell.  The producers of the show headhunted them from YouTube.  I’m not at all convinced that this single shows them at their best, since it seems to be positioning them as a bit of a comedy act, and kind of buries their own (perfectly engaging) personalities under a deluge of rather tired house party gags.  There’s a lot that’s irritating about this record.  It’s quite catchy, though, and they showed more range than this on BGT.  Cowell might actually have something with these guys, if he understands how to promote it.

That said, this was at 5 in the midweeks, landed at 9 at the end of the week, and is currently at 23 on iTunes.  Tends to suggest the sales were very frontloaded.

5.  Macklemore & Ryan Lewis – “Can’t Hold Us” 

Up seven places this week, and still climbing on iTunes.  They’ve pretty clearly demonstrated that “Thrift Shop” was not a fluke.  Meanwhile, the parent album “The Heist” finally shows up on the album chart this week at 31.

1.  Daft Punk (featuring Pharrell Williams) – “Get Lucky”

Having made number 3 last week on the strength of two days’ sales, Daft Punk unsurprisingly climb to the top now that they have a full week’s sales behind them (particularly as there’s not much out this week to provide them with competition).  Their 2001 album “Discovery” also re-enters the album chart at 23.

It’s their first number one.  Despite what the huge interest in this single might lead you to believe, and despite a career that dates back to 1997, Daft Punk have only had three top ten hits in this country – “Da Funk”/”Musique” (number 7 in 1997), “Around the World” (number 5 in 1997), and “One More Time” (number 2 in 2000).  All of which, admittedly, are classics.

Daft Punk have made a lot of interesting videos on lesser-known tracks.  Here’s “Revolution 909”, which understandably missed the top 40 in 1998 what with not having much of a hook and all, but does have a great video by Roman Coppola.  (Misery fans might also want to check out “Prime Time Of Your Life”, which is one of the more disturbing videos I’ve ever seen from a mainstream act.  Decide for yourself whether that’s a recommendation.)

Oh yes – this is also the first solo number 1 for Pharrell Williams, if anyone’s paying attention to that.  He’s had ten solo hits if you count his guest appearances, the biggest being his own single “Can I Have It Like That”, which made number 3 in 2005.

On the album chart:

• “To Be Loved” by Michael Buble is still number 1.
  
• “Tape Deck Heart” by Frank Turner at 2.  Chart places of the five Frank Turner albums: n/a, 72, 36, 12, 2.  His exposure at the Olympics Opening Ceremony will have done no harm but his popularity’s been growing for years.
• “Willpower” by will.i.am at 3.  I would not have bet on that selling fewer copies than Frank Turner.
• “Bankrupt” by Phoenix at 14.  The first time the French indie band have made the album top 40.
• “Discovery” by Daft Punk at 23.
• “All the Little Lights” by Passenger at 25.
• “The Heist” by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis at 31.
• “Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor” by Rob Zombie at 33, which is self-explanatory, really.
• “Reincarnated” by Snoop Lion at 34.  Britain not all that interested in Snoop Dogg’s reinvention as a reggae singer.