Behold the changing of the guard.

1. Dave – “Starlight”

Surprise release of (presumably) the lead single from his new album. It’s his second number one, the first being 2018’s “Funky Driday”, but he’s had another nine top ten hits in the interim. So hardly a surprise that he gets there in the end.

Somehow or other, Dave has managed to get himself a sole writer credit on this, despite the entire backing track being based on the Macaron Project’s cover of “Fly Me To The Moon”.

The best known version of this song is by Frank Sinatra; the original is by Kay Ballard in 1954. It used to be titled “In Other Words”, but the current title became established in the 60s. It’s never been a UK hit – well, unless you count this.

11. A1 & J1 featuring Tion Wayne – “Night Away (Dance)”

A1 & J1’s third hit in just over a year. For Tion Wayne, it’s his biggest hit since “Body” reached number 1… well, less than a year ago, actually, but he’s had three other top 40 hits since then. He’s prolific.

Despite the title, this does not contain a Mavericks sample. I mean, that would have awful, but it would at least have been memorable. Instead, the chorus (presumably a re-recording rather than a sample) comes from – shudder – “On The Floor” by Jennifer Lopez featuring Pitbull, a number 1 hit in 2011. That track in turn lifts its melody from “The Lambada”, best known in the UK as a number 4 hit in 1989 for Kaoma. Kaoma in turn were covering the 1986 Brazilian single “Chornado se Foi” by Marcia Ferreira…

…which in turn was a Portuguese-language cover of the 1984 Peruvian single “Llorando se Fue” by Cuarteto Continental…

…who are basically responsible for the arrangement people recognise, but in turn were covering the original by Los Kjarkas, released in Bolivia in 1981…

…which, when you’re used to later versions, sounds weirdly mournful and off kilter. Kaoma didn’t credit Los Kjarkas as songwriters, and quite rightly got sued and lost.

16. ArrDee – “Come & Go”

All UK rap this week, then, is it? Okay. ArrDee’s previous three singles all made the top 10, but they also all entered in the top 10. His previous single “War”, with Aitch, is at 26 this week. If you thought the Lambada was a dodgy sample choice, this is sampling – brace yourself, now – “Written in the Stars”, which is an album track by Westlife.

22. Camila Cabello featuring Ed Sheeran – “Bam Bam”

These two have collaborated before, on “South of the Border”. Bit of a slow start for an Ed Sheeran track but he has been saturating the market of late. “Peru” is currently at number 2 (and is clearly the Ed Sheeran track of choice), and “The Joker & The Queen” is at 18. Because he’s only a guest on this track, it doesn’t count towards his three song cap, and so “Shivers” continues to chart at number 31.

29. Diane Guerrero & Stephanie Beatriz – “What Else Can I Do?”

The main Encanto tracks get hit by the downweighting rule this week, which penalises tracks that have been out for more than ten weeks and are several weeks past their peak. If you see a track suddenly plummet down the top 40 after several weeks near the top, that’s almost always the reason – especially when, as here, it happens in week 11. “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” drops straight from number 1 to 9 as a result. Dave would have beaten it anyway, but I still think it’s probably a bad idea to have number 1 singles getting so visibly affected by a rule that was designed to improve chart turnover. Then again, remember that tedious Drake single that was number one forever…?

“Surface Pressure” drops from number 5 to 33.

“What Else Can I Do?” would have been on the top 40 for weeks, had it not been disqualified under the three-song rule – for this purpose, “the cast of Encanto” counts as one artist. You might think that “The Family Madrigal” must have fallen below it but apparently, for reasons I don’t quite understand, Disney has elected to withdraw it from the chart. At any rate, it clears the way for “What Else” to claim a top 40 position.

This week’s climbers:

• “Down Under” by Luude featuring Colin Hay climbs 6-5.
• “Where Did You Go” by Jax Jones featuring MNEK climbs 11-10. It’s Jones’s eighth top ten hit, and MNEK’s fifth (all as guests – he’s still yet to get above number 38 as the lead artist).
• “Reggae & Calypso” by Russ Millions x Buni x YV re-enters at 12, which is odd, since there doesn’t seem to be an obvious remix or anything to explain it. Officially the track title is now “One of a Kind Music Presents Reggae & Calypso”. Dignity, always dignity. It previously spent a week at number 32 in February.
• “Anyone for You” by George Ezra climbs 16-13.
• “The Motto” by Tiesto & Ava Max climbs 19-17.
• “Go” by Cat Burns climbs 29-19, which I wasn’t expecting.
• “Numb Little Bug” by Em Beihold climbs 31-28 (and now has a video).
• “BMW” by the Bad Boy Chiller Crew climbs 38-32. That’s still one place behind their (only other) hit “Don’t You Worry About Me”.

That’s five new entries and one re-entry, and so we have six records leaving the top 40:

• “The Family Madrigal” from Encanto, as already mentioned; it was number 10 last week.
• “Used to This” by Wilkinson & Issey Cross, which spent two weeks in the top 40 and peaked at 37.
• “Straight Back To It” by Central Cee, after a single week at number 25.
• “Khabib” by Central Cee, which reached 22 in February and re-entered last week at 36 on the back of the album release.
• “Pushin P” by Gunna, Future & Young Thug, which somehow managed to spend eight weeks in the top 40 without ever getting about number 28.
• “Knock Knock” by Tion Wayne & M24, after a single week at number 39.

On the album chart:

1. The Stereophonics – “Oochya”

Yes, they are still going. This is their eighth number one album; they’re one of those bands who never really faded away on the album chart. They’ve been around since 1997 and they’ve only missed the top 10 twice (and one of those was a live album). The single above is… as exciting as I was expecting, let’s say.

2. Marillion – “An Hour Before It’s Dark”

That’s surprisingly high, even allowing for the way the declining album market favours older acts whose audiences still buy albums. Last year’s Marillion album, “Fugazi”, only got to number 25 – they did have a top 5 album in 2016, but that was an outlier. They haven’t been as high as number 2 since 1987.

7. The Coral – “The Coral”

20th anniversary reissue. The album reached number 5 the first time around, back in the days when the “director’s cut” of a video was still only two minutes twenty. This was the higher placing of the two singles from the album, reaching number 13.

11. Kojey Radical – “Reason to Smile”

His first album, though he’s had four previous EPs. This guy’s been around for ages – he was nominated for the MOBO Best Newcomer in 2018 and that was already four years into his discography. It’s amazing it’s taken him this long to release something that’s officially an album.

16. Sabaton – “The War to End All Wars”

Could have been better timed, but to be fair, it’s a concept album about the First World War. The sturdy Swedes have been going since 1999, but only their last three albums have charted in the UK – this position is fairly standard.

23. Dolly Parton – “Run Rose Run”

Her 48th studio album, apparently. It’s a soundtrack to a novel that she’s co-written. Dolly Parton’s UK chart positions are really erratic, but she’s had a few top ten albums over the last decade.

27. The Kris Barras Band – “Death Valley Paradise”

This is the fourth album by the Kris Barras Band, and the first to chart. Their Wikipedia entry is surprisingly keen to tell us about Barras’ pre-2014 MMA career, even though it doesn’t merit an entry of its own.

29. Kawala – “Better With You”

Debut album. A kawala is an arabic flute, apparently.