Continuing our catch-up with the UK singles charts, we’re up to the charts for 22 August 2010, and another new number 1.  (As I say, there’s quite the turnover these days.)

“Green Light” by Roll Deep gives the grime collective their second number 1 of the year, following “Good Times” in May.  And it continues their new “utterly mainstream dance music” direction.  Throw in the blatantly cheap videos, it’s hard to avoid suspecting that this is somebody’s idea of a joke – irk the purists.  Actually, there’s some slightly odd rhythmic stuff going on in this single, but it’s still clearly intended as a big crowd pleaser.

Bear in mind, Roll Deep have been around a while, and they don’t normally sound like this.  They had two previous mid-table hits in 2005, when they were also in novelty mode, but not quite this explicitly.  Here’s their number 24 hit “Shake a Leg”, for example.

Or take some of the singles from their best known member Wiley, such as “Cash in My Pocket” (and yes, that really is the official video), or “Take That” (which perversely builds its radio edit around all the least commercial segments of the record).  Point is, Roll Deep have obviously made a deliberate choice to make an ultra-populist album, evidently secure in their status as grime legends – and perhaps wanting to cash in a bit of that accumulated goodwill.  And they can pull it off, let’s be honest.

The other new entries from a very quiet week:

• “Let You Go” by Chase and Status featuring Mali at number 11.  Second hit for the producer duo, following last year’s number 9 hit “End Credits”.  They’re rather fond of doing epic rock songs with big electronic production, and this is true to format.  For the benefit of Americans, the video is a blatant reference to ITV’s daytime atrocity The Jeremy Kyle Show.  But it doesn’t really head anywhere, and it’s a bit of an easy target – though no less deserving for that.  (Mind you, it’s unusually relaxed about the possibility of libelling Jeremy Kyle, so let me assure readers that, so far as I am aware, the video below is not intended to reflect any actual or even rumoured behaviour on the part of Jeremy Kyle.  Supposedly, however, it is true that he licks his telephone clean.  Something to do with OCD.)

• “Amazing” by Inna at number 14 is the Romanian singer’s second UK single, following “Hot”, which reached number 6 in March.  This one didn’t do as well, perhaps because it falls into the classic trap of being a follow-up which is very similar to the first hit, only not as good.  Still, not a bad chart place for a Romanian dance single.  The track was recorded for her debut album in 2008, but they’re only now promoting her to the British market.  It’s got the slightly melancholy quality that seems to crop up in a lot of eastern European synthpop.  As for the video… well, it’s got a jawdroppingly clumsy shower sequence in the middle, bookended by what looks to be an advert for the Romanian Tourist Board (though it was actually filmed in Portugal).

• “Say You Don’t Want It” by One Night Only at number 23.  This dropped straight out of the chart the next week.  The band are best known for their 2008 single “Just For Tonight”, which scraped the top 10, but the follow-up only made number 37, and this is only their third hit.  It’s alright, but it’s nothing particularly memorable..  Somewhat randomly, the video features Emma Watson, who is apparently a mate of the lead singer.