Once again, if it wasn’t for Stranger Things, there’d be basically nothing to say about this week’s singles chart.

1. LF System – “Afraid To Feel”

That’s a second week at number one, and it’s still growing. It’s not exactly bedevilled with challengers, either. So for our highest new entry, we have to go all the way down to…

22. Metallica – “Master of Puppets”

This is here because it was used in Stranger Things, and while it doesn’t exactly have the commercial crossover appeal of Kate Bush, it’s still an unexpected presence in the top 40. As with “Running Up That Hill”, it’s being treated as equivalent to a new release for chart purposes. It’s the title track from their 1986 album, and while it was released as a single at the time, it didn’t chart in the UK. They didn’t have their first hit single until the following year, and the parent album only got to number 41. Its successor, 1988’s “And Justice For All”, got to 4.

Metallica’s biggest hit singles were “Enter Sandman”, which reached number 5 in 1991, and (perhaps less obviously) “Until It Sleeps”, which reached number 5 in 1996.

29. DJ Tiesto & Charli XCX – “Hot In It”

Well, at least it’s topical. It’s actually pretty good, too, one of those tracks where Charli XCX’s slightly weird position on the fringes of commercially successful pop crystallises into sounding like a proper hit.

30. Burna Boy & Ed Sheeran – “For My Hand”

From the album “Love, Damini”, which enters at number 2 – his previous two albums both made the top 20, so that’s not such a big surprise, but until now he’s only made the singles chart as a guest. Admittedly, here he’s got the ubiquitous Ed Sheeran with co-billing, but the lead single “Last Last” climbs to 7 this week, giving him his first top 10 his entirely under his own power. (Technically he has a number 1 single, “Own It”, but that was a Stormzy single also featuring Ed Sheeran.)

And… er, yes, that’s it for new entries. This week’s climbers:

• “Green Green Grass” by George Ezra climbs 5-3. This is his biggest hit since “Shotgun” became his sole number 1 back in 2018.
• “Last Last” by Burna Boy climbs 12-7.
• “Crazy What Love Can Do” by David Guetta featuring Becky Hill and Ella Henderson climbs 11-8. That’s Becky Hill’s fourth top ten hit (one of the others was also with David Guetta), Ella Henderson’s fifth, and David Guetta’s twenty-eighth.
• “I Ain’t Worried” by OneRepublic climbs 21-14. They haven’t been in the top 20 since 2014.
• “Stay The Night” by Sigala & Talia Mar climbs 25-17.
• “No Excuses” by Bru-C climbs 28-21.
• “Vegas” by Doja Cat climbs 27-25.

So that’s three new entries, plus a couple of re-entries down at the bottom of the chart (“Shivers” by Ed Sheeran at 39, and “Where Are You Now” by Lost Frequencies & Calum Scott at 40). The five records making room for them are:

• “Je M’appelle” by Benzz, which peaked at 17.
• “Space Man” by Sam Ryder, which got to number 2 and hung around for a very respectable time.
• “She’s All I Wanna Be” by Tate Mcrae, which peaked at 14.
• “Flowers” by Lauren Spencer-Smith, which peaked at 17.
• “Happier Than Ever” by Billie Eilish, which scraped the bottom of the top 40 last week after her Glastonbury performance.

On the album chart, “Harry’s House” by Harry Styles is back at number 1 (and the single is still at 2). Burna Boy is number 2.

4. James Bay – “Leap”

His third studio album, keeping a pattern of releasing them four years apart. Well, it’s your career. This is the lowest placing of the bunch, but number 4 is still more than respectable.

6. Brent Faiyaz – “Wasteland”

Hey, this is quite good. He’s from Maryland, and this is his second album, but the first one to chart in the UK. Admittedly, the fact that the album is 19 tracks long and includes skits puts me off listening to the rest of it.

23. Neil Young & Crazy Horse – “Toast”

The very definition of “one for the completists” – seven tracks recorded for an abortive album in 2001, most of which he reworked for an album he actually did release the following year. Still, this is part of the Neil Young Archive project, which is basically “if it’s of enough interest to the fans to be worth bootlegging, might as well stick it out myself and preserve the copyright into the bargain”.