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Aug 24

Charts – 20 August 2021

Posted on Tuesday, August 24, 2021 by Paul in Music

Gosh, this is late. Let’s hope it’s a quiet week.

1. Ed Sheeran – “Bad Habits”

Eight weeks. To give the sales a boost, this week adds a remix with Tion Wayne and Central Cee. The midweeks have it sticking around for week nine.

6. Digga D featuring ArrDee – “Wasted”

Not quite Digga D’s highest placing single – “Bringing it Back” got to number 5 earlier this year, but that was a collaboration with equal billing for AJ Tracey. ArrDee gets his second hit after “Oliver Twist” reached number 6 earlier this year; Radio 1 was still playing it to death the last I heard. The midweeks have this sticking around at 9.

18. Joel Corry x Jax Jones featuring Charli XCX & Saweetie – “Out Out”

Joel Corry isn’t the most groundbreaking producer but there’s no denying he’s consistent. The midweeks have this climbing into the top 10, which would give him a clean sheet of top ten hits. And, like it or not, it’s probably the time to start releasing songs about going out on the town again. Commercially, at any rate.

Charli XCX is a name we haven’t seen in a while. Heavily tipped in around 2013/14, her technical biggest hit is Icona Pop’s number one “I Love It” (which she wrote, and on which she got a featuring credit in the UK); her actual biggest hit of her own is “Boom Clap”, which made a very respectable number 6. But somehow she never really became the star people predicted and she hasn’t had a top ten hit since 2015. We haven’t seen her in the top 40 at all since 2018, when “1999” got to number 13. This could well be the record to get her back there.

20. Lizzo featuring Cardi B – “Rumors”

Lizzo’s best known in this country for tracks like “Juice” and “Good as Hell”, so this – which is leaning more in Cardi B’s direction – is a bit outside her established following. We’ll see how it does. It’s Lizzo’s first release since “Good as Hell”, which was in 2019. Nothing like striking while the iron’s hot…

26. Doja Cat – “Woman”

This is the opening track from her album “Planet Her”, picking up enough interest to chart in its own right. Meanwhile, “Need to Know” climbs 21-12.

33. Elton John & Dua Lipa – “Cold Heart (Pnau remix)”

From Pop Smoke to Elton John in a month, Dua Lipa certainly has range when it comes to collaborators. It’s a mash-up of various Elton John songs remixed by Pnau, with Dua Lipa chipping in on the vocals – basically the same sort of thing Pnau did with his back catalogue on their 2012 album “Good Morning to the Night.” This isn’t simply an exercise in recognisable hooks. The “Cold Heart” bit is immediately recognisable as the verse of “Sacrifice”, a number 1 hit in 1990, and everyone knows “Rocket Man” is in there too. But not many people will remember “Kiss the Bride” (a number 20 hit from 1983) let alone “Where’s the Shoorah?” (an album track from 1976).

36. Pinkpantheress – “Just for Me”

An immediate follow-up to “Pain”, which is still on the chart at 38. It’s another two-minute TikTok-friendly fragment.

40. Clean Bandit & Topic featuring Wes Nelson – “Drive”

Clean Bandit songs have sometimes entered low and climbed before – “Tick Tock” entered at 36 but made the top 10 and hung around forever. Still, “Drive” seems to be struggling. It’s been out for three weeks now, and it’s only just making the top 40. The midweeks have it climbing to 34, so you never know. It’s not the best thing they’ve ever released, but you’d think it’d have more traction than this.

This week’s (other) climbers, in quite a busy week.

  • “Remember” by Becky Hill & David Guetta climbs 5-3. This is Hill’s biggest hit since “Gecko (Overdrive)” reached number 1 in 2014.
  • “Industry Baby” by Lil Nas X & Jack Harlow climbs 11-7.
  • “Talk About” by Rain Radio & DJ Craig Gorman climbs 14-9.
  • “Fly Away” by Tones & I climbs 19-11, so it’s more than just a technical second hit at this point.
  • “Kiss My (Uh Oh)” by Anne-Marie & Little Mix climbs 20-14 despite having the worst title of the year.
  • “Essence” by Wizkid featuring Tems climbs 35-17.
  • “Let Them Know” by Mabel climbs 23-19.
  • “2055” by Sleepy Hallow climbs 30-21, though the midweeks suggest that’s as far as it’s getting.
  • “You for Me” by Sigala & Rita Ora climbs 28-23.

On the album chart…

1. The Killers – “Pressure Machine”

Their seventh studio album, all of which have gone to number 1. Frontman Brandon Flowers has also released a couple of solo albums, and both of them went to number 1 too. These aren’t just one-week wonders, either – last year’s “Imploding the Mirage” had by far their shortest run on the chart, and it still managed six weeks in the top 40.

3. Jungle – “Loving in Stereo”

Their third album, all top tens, and this is their highest position so far. Takes a while to get going, this single, but it picks up.

27. Jade Bird – “Different Kinds of Light”

And finally, the follow-up to Jade Bird’s self-titled 2019 debut, which reached number 10… so this is a big drop off. There aren’t any proper videos for this album, but there’s a live performance of a track above, and it’s pretty great.

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