Autumn – that very special time of the year when the leaves fall, the nights draw in, and anyone vaguely associated with The X Factor makes sure they have a new album out.  This week, it’s judge Cheryl Cole, and the first single from her second solo album is “Promise This”.

Cole started off in 2002 as a member of Girls Aloud, the girl group formed on reality TV show Popstars: The Rivals, and who turned out to surpass all predictions for their durability.  Wisely recognising that winning a talent show would only take them so far, their management more or less assigned them to become the front group for production studio Xenomania, leading to a string of generally well-received singles.  Theoretically they’ve never split up; they went on hiatus in 2009 for the members for pursue solo projects – or, in other words, for Cheryl Cole to make solo albums, Sarah Harding to have a go at acting, and the other three to kill time.  (Nadine Coyle’s first solo single will be on Sunday’s chart, and the midweeks have it at 26.)  There’s no obvious sign of the group reforming.

Through a combination of skilful hype, marrying (and later divorcing, not without reason) a famous footballer, positioning herself as a fashion icon, and getting huge exposure as a judge on X Factor, Cheryl Cole has managed to launch herself as a major solo star in the UK.  Records promoted by the Simon Cowell TV empire always have a leg up, but “Promise Me” has the biggest first week sales of the year – aside from the Helping Haiti charity single, which doesn’t really count.  The number two single by Rihanna would have topped the chart in almost any other week, but didn’t really stand a chance against the marketing might of Cheryl Cole.

This is her fifth solo hit, and her second solo number 1, following last year’s “Fight For This Love”.  You can add to that 21 hits with the group.  Personally, I thought the best single from the last album was “Parachute”, even if it does display some suspect ideas as to what might serve adequately as a parachute substitute.

The odd thing is that Cole, like Girls Aloud has managed to achieve huge success in Britain without really doing a great deal abroad.  She sells well in Ireland (unsurprisingly, as bandmate Nadine Coyle is Irish), and has the occasional middling success in Europe, but remains pretty much unheard of in America.  Strangely, there’s talk of her being used as a judge on the American version of X Factor, but it’s hard to see why the American networks would want her until she’s got a higher profile over there.  Mind you, we managed to export Piers Morgan, so it’s amazing what the Americans will fall for.  (And as for her Newcastle accent, they’ll either find it quaint or unintelligible, I suspect.)

As for “Promise This” itself, it’s another good choice of single.  The album’s had slightly more muted reviews, which doesn’t surprise me; her debut solo album was much the same, with some very good singles and a lot of filler.  So be it.  The single’s a straightforward love song with lyrics that are slightly darker than you might expect, a nicely hyperactive arrangement, and an appropriately stylish video by Sophie Muller.  If you’re wondering what the garbled French means, it’s a quote from “Alouette”, a children’s song about, well, mutilating a lark, basically.

The Cheryl Cole steamroller holds “The Only Girl In The World” by Rihanna to number 2, but the midweeks suggest she’ll get her moment next week, so I’ll leave that one aside for now.

Further down the charts…

• “Seek Bromance” by Tim Berg at number 13.  He’s a Swedish producer who also records as Avicii, and this is his first hit.  It’s a mash-up, though to be fair, you’d never guess.  Berg is actually responsible for the backing track, which is based on his single “Bromance”.  The uncredited vocal comes from a highly forgettable Italian single, “Love U Seek” by Samuele Sartini featuring Amanda Wilson, a singer who crops up on tons of dance records, most notably as the regular singer for the Freemasons.
• “Defender” by Peter Andre at number 14.  Yes, it’s time for Peter Andre’s annual attempt to convince us that he’s a recording artist and not just a guy who appears on reality TV shows on ITV2!  The video choreography is well up to the high levels of ridiculousness we’ve come to expect from Peter.  Who could forget the television adverts for his album Unconditional: Love Songs, in which Peter assured us that he had chosen the songs because he liked them?  (Good to know, because in most cases he’d also chosen them because they were on his earlier albums.)  To be fair to him, it’s his fifteenth hit in a career stretching back to 1996,
• “Runaway” by Devlin featuring Yasmin at number 15.  Second hit for the Dagenham rapper, and since the last one got to 31, he’s moving in the right direction.  He’s another underground act turning his back on grime in favour of something much more radio friendly, but not the usual formulaic electropop.  The video scores points for not pretending to be more inner city than he really is, too.
• “No Love” by Eminem featuring Lil Wayne at number 35.  Third single from Eminem’s current album.  It’s charting on the strength of album downloads following early promotion and it’ll probably go further once the single version is released. Odd choice of single, since Eminem himself doesn’t show up until 2 minutes in.  Eminem’s 24th UK hit, Wayne’s 11th (almost all as a guest artist, sometimes at the end of a long list).  The sample is from “Don’t Hurt Me” by Haddaway, a number 2 hit in 1993.  Eminem really will sample any old rubbish, won’t he?
• “Stay The Night” by James Blunt at number 36.  His seventh hit, and I suspect he’s more of an albums artist these days.  Mind you, the video suggests someone saw this as a summer single, so heaven only knows why they’re releasing it in early November.  He was good on Have I Got News For You, though, wasn’t he?
• “Falling in Love” by Ironik featuring Jessica Lowndes at number 40.  Another London rapper with newfound populist tendencies, though he was one of the earlier ones to take this tack.  With very intermittent results – this is his fourth hit, two making the top 5, and the other two missing the top 30.  It’s not very good.  Jessica Lowndes is from the cast of 90210, which really doesn’t mean a thing in Britain.