A quiet but relatively normal week…

1. Lady Gaga & Ariana Grande – “Rain On Me”

That’s a… somewhat unpleasant video. Not keen on the knives, personally. Anyway, this is the second single from the next Lady Gaga album, so we’re back to more of a normal promotional cycle. Good song, though – fitting enough for the times. Lady Gaga gets her sixth number one, following 2018’s “Shallow”, and four tracks from her imperial period in 2009-10 (“Just Dance”, “Poker Face”, “Bad Romance” and “Telephone”). Since “Shallow” was very much outside her normal style, this is a definite comeback. It’s Ariana Grande’s sixth number one too, though all of hers have come in 2014 or later.

“Rover” by S1mba featuring DTG climbs 4-3, and there’s not much else of note going on in the top 20, really. “Breaking Me” by Topic featuring A7S climbs 15-11. “Flowers” by Nathan Daw featuring Jaykae climbs 13-12. “Don’t Need Love” by 220 Kid & Gracey climbs 20-17.

24. KSI featuring Offset – “Cap”
27. KSI featuring Aiyana-Lee – “Killa Killa”

Two tracks from his third album “Dissimulation”, which enters at number 2; KSI is now clearly established as someone with a successful musical career, rather than just a social media star who makes some records on the side. The previous KSI single, “Houdini”, rebounds from 23-15 (it peaked at 6 a month ago).

Offset has had hit singles before as a guest and as a member of Migos. Aiyana-Lee Anderson gets her first chart credit.

“Secrets” by Regard & Raye climbs 30-25, and “Party Girl” by Staysolidrocky climbs 34-28.

34. Dadi Freyr – “Think About Things”

So this is unusual – a Eurovision Song Contest entry actually climbing from the lower reaches. It’s very good, too. If you’re wondering what the stage performance would have been, here’s how they did it in Iceland (it’s basically the same as the video, though).

36. Surf Mesa featuring Emilee – “ily (I Love You Baby)”

More of a fragment than anything else, but it’s basically a Soundcloud dance record looping a cover of the chorus of “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” – originally by Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons. That wasn’t a hit in the UK, but four other versions of the song have charted before – Andy Williams in 1968 (number 5), the Boystown Gang in 1982 (number 6), the Pet Shop Boys as a medley with a cover of U2’s “Where The Streets Have No Name” in 1991 (number 4, and yes, that’s a real record, though most of it is U2), and Andy Williams again in a duet with Denise Van Outen in 2002 (number 23).

39. Niko B – “Who’s That What’s That”

Niko B is a teenager who had a minor viral hit with “Mary Berry” under the name “Niko Bellic” last year. The label’s not paying to licence that, so he’s Niko B now.

On the album chart: number 1 is “Notes on a Conditional Form” by the 1975. The single “If You’re Too Shy (Let Me Know)” reached number 14. It’s their fourth album, all of which have gone to number 1. KSI’s “Dissimulation” is number 2.

5. Gunna – “Wunna”

Gunna’s previous album “Drip or Drown 2” reached number 24 last year, so a big improvement here. He’s not making any impact on the singles chart, though – his only singles chart appearance remains “Drip Too Hard” with Lil Baby, which reached number 28 in autumn 2018.

7. Agust D – “D-2”

This is the rap side project of Suga from the South Korean boy band BTS. The video above is very Korean indeed (and quite good, as best as I can judge). I wonder if this plays to Korean audiences in the same way that a Morris dancing-themed video would in Britain. Probably not.

31. Tim Burgess – “I Love the New Sky”

The Charlatans’ lead singer has released five solo albums, only two of which have made the top 40 – the other one was 2003’s “I Believe”, and that only got to number 38.

34. Badly Drawn Boy – “Banana Skin Shoes”

You might think that eight years’ absence have led Badly Drawn Boy to drop off everyone’s radar, but his 2010 and 2012 albums didn’t chart either – in fact, he hasn’t made the top 40 with an album since 2006’s “Born in the UK”. In that context, this isn’t so bad.