It’s a very quiet week on the singles chart.

1. Carolina Gaitan, Mauro Castillo, Adassa, Rhenzy Feliz, Diane Guerrero & Stephanie Beatriz – “We Don’t Talk About Bruno”

Two weeks, and currently on course for a third. We have one new entry in the … er, top 38.

9. Digga D & Still Brickin’ – “Pump 101”

The sort of drill record that would be very radio friendly if it weren’t for… well, pretty much all the lyrics. Which is partly because it’s not really drill; it’s close to being a cover of G-Unit’s “Stunt 101” (number 25 in 2003). It’s Digga D’s third top ten hit, and the debut hit for Still Brickin’, whose motivation for choosing that name eludes me. He’s a Liverpool rapper who seems to be pretty obscure – no bio on Genius, no other tracks on Spotify. Maybe he feels strongly about vaccine disinformation.

25. Meat Loaf – “Bat Out of Hell”
32. Meat Loaf – “I’d Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That)”

Meat Loaf died last week at the age of 74, and he’s a big enough name to get people reaching for the back catalogue. These things can be inconsistent, because the surge of interest doesn’t generally last all week, and if it winds up straddling two chart weeks then it can fall between the cracks. Meat Loaf’s death was announced right at the start of the chart week, giving it maximum opportunity to chart.

“Bat Out of Hell” was a number 15 hit in 1979, but reached number 8 on reissue in 1993. “I’d Do Anything for Love” was his only UK number 1, and a pretty big one – it spent seven weeks at the top in 1993. His third song, “Two out of Three Ain’t Bad”, is at number 46 – a slightly surprising choice, because it only got to number 32 when released as a single in 1978. Meat Loaf had four other top 10 hits, and I’m genuinely surprised that “Dead Ringer for Love” (number 5 in 1981) didn’t make the cut.

The album “Bat Out of Hell” re-enters at number 3; “Hits Out of Hell” is at 5; and “Bat Out of Hell 2 – Back Into Hell” is at 24.

39. Charlie Puth – “Light Switch”

It’s been a while since we’ve seen this guy. He had two number 1s in 2015 (one of them as a guest with Wiz Khalifa, admittedly), and another couple of top ten hits in 2017, but that’s the last we heard of him. He hasn’t released much since then – he claimed in 2020 to have junked a third album that wasn’t working, which might have something to do with that.

This week’s climbers:

• “Peru” by Fireboy DML & Ed Sheeran climbs 4-2.
• “Surface Pressure” by Jessica Darrow climbs 5-4.
• “Where Are You Now” by Lost Frequencies & Calum Scott climbs 11-7. It’s the second top ten hit for both of them, with the predecessors coming in 2015/6.
• “The Family Madrigal” by Stephanie Beatriz, Olga Merediz & The Cast of Encanto climbs 15-11.
• “Make Me Feel Good” by Belters Only featuring Jazzy climbs 17-13.
• “Down Under” by Luude featuring Colin Hay climbs 19-16.
• “Packs and Potions” by Hazey climbs 26-18
• “Sweet Talker” by Years & Years and Galantis re-enters at number 30, which is a new peak.
• “Pushin P” by Gunna, Future & Young Thug climbs 37-31.
• “The Motto” by Tiesto & Ava Max climbs 35-33

Five singles drop out of the top 40:

• “Stay” by Kid Laroi & Justin Bieber, after 24 weeks on the top 20, peaking at 2 in August.
• “Take My Breath” by the Weeknd, which got an extra two weeks in the top 40 after the release of its parent album.
• “All Too Well (Taylor’s Version)” by Taylor Swift, after a respectable eight weeks.
• “Meet Me At Our Spot” by the Anxiety, Willow & Tyler Cole, which re-entered during the dead period for an extra three weeks.
• “Eazy” by the Game featuring Kanye West, after a single week at number 32.

On the album chart:

1. Years & Years – “Night Call”

His/their second number 1 album – Years & Years went from being a band to just a name for Olly Alexander. The previous number 1 was the 2015 debut “Communion”; 2018’s “Palo Santo” got to 3. The current single, “Sweet Talker”, re-enters at 30.

2. Yard Act – “The Overload”

Indie post-punk from Leeds. It’s their debut album. The single’s good if you like that sort of thing.

8. Aurora – “The Gods We Can Touch”

Her third album and far and away the biggest – she’s never got above number 28 on the album chart before. This is rather good – I’ll have to listen to the album properly.

9. The Sherlocks – “World I Understand”

Indie. Their 2017 debut got to number 6, the 2019 follow-up managed 20. So this position should be a relief to them.

12. Miles Kane – “Change the Show”

The other one from the Last Shadow Puppets, or at least, that’s how I can’t help thinking of him. It’s his fourth solo album, all of which have landed between 8 and 12. That’s pretty solid.

16. Kiefer Sutherland – “Bloor Street”

Yes, I’d forgotten he made records too. But this is his third studio album and his second UK hit – and to be fair, the last one, 2019’s “Reckless & Me”, made the top 10. Dropped to number 72 the following week, admittedly, but it made the top 10.

19. Ludovico Einaudi – “Underwater”

More soundtrack-friendly chill piano. Einaudi’s albums have consistently placed in the mid-table for the last decade or so.

27. Jamiroquai – “Travelling Without Moving”

25th anniversary reissue, apparently, although the album came out in September 1996, which is closer to 25 and a half. It had two weeks at number 2, anyway.