It’s another week when a major album release dominates the singles chart. But first…

1. Taylor Swift – “Anti-Hero”

That’s three weeks, which is her longest run at number 1. Her only previous number 1 single is 2017’s “Look What You Made Me Do”, which lasted two weeks. (Yes, really. Forty-three top 40 hits, and that’s the only other one that made number one.)

3. Drake & 21 Savage – “Rich Flex”
5. Drake & 21 Savage – “Major Distribution”
7. Drake & 21 Savage – “Circo Loco”

That’s the maximum three tracks from their album “Her Loss”, which enters the album chart at 1. It’s Drake’s second album of the year, after “Honestly Nevermind”, which reached number 2 in June. That got three singles into the top 10 as well, but the highest got to number 7, and that one had… er, 21 Savage on it. Drake now has a total of 37 top 10 hits, thanks in part to album tracks, and this is his fifth number 1 album.

21 Savage is the less well known name here – he’s had five top ten hits, but four of them are with Drake and the other was with Post Malone. His singles chart peak for a track where he was the lead artist is number 28 (which was a track with Drake guesting, but he’s also got a completely solo track to number 29). That said, his previous album “Savage Mode II” reached the top 10, a big step up from his previous albums landing outside the top 30. So he was on the rise anyway.

“Her Loss” is… fairly predictable? The three tracks that make the top 40 are a slightly unusual bunch, because the one with an actual video is “Privileged Rappers”, which doesn’t make it. “Rich Flex” and “Major Distribution” are the opening two tracks, so it might just be a case of a lot of album plays. “Circo Loco” has a Daft Punk sample, which might get it a few more replays.

For what it’s worth, the midweeks have “Rich Flex” hanging in the top 10, and the other two dropping to 20 and 23.

Nobody is releasing new singles against a Drake album, so…

33. Fredo – “I’m Back”

This is his first single in over a year, since 2021’s “Independence Day” album. That got three tracks into the top 40, but none of them placed above 34; we’re in the same territory here. It’s a very good track, though. That doesn’t stop it dropping to 68 in the midweeks.

39. Joji – “Die For You”

A second single from his album “Smithereens”, which enters at number 13 – that’s actually down from its 2020 predecessor “Nectar”, which got to 6. You’d have thought that having an actual hit with “Glimpse of Us” would have improved the performance of the album. That track re-enters this week at number 31. I’m not sure this song is as strong, but it does have another very good montage video. At any rate, it won’t be sticking around.

This week’s climbers:

• “Miss You” by Oliver Tree & Robin Schulz climbs 5-4.
• “Made You Look” by Meghan Trainor climbs 14-8. Look, she tried doing other stuff. You wanted this. And now she’s back in the top 10 for the first time since 2015.
• “Messy in Heaven” by vebnee & goddard climbs 11-9, and quite right too.
• “Warm” by K-Trap re-enters at 18, which is because a remix with Skepta was released. It’s not officially the lead version, though, so the chart is still just crediting K-Trap as before. It matches his previous peak, as a guest on a Krept & Konan since in 2019.
• “Kiss Me” by Dermot Kennedy climbs 28-25.
• “Lionheart (Fearless)” by Joel Corry & Tom Grennan climbs 33-30.

There are five new entries plus the re-entries for K-Trap and Joji. The seven tracks making way for them are:

• “Afraid to Feel” by LF System, which had eight weeks at number 1. As of now, they remain a one-hit wonder.
• “Big City Life” by Luude & Mattafix, which had five weeks in the top 10, even though it never got above 8.
• “Super Freaky Girl” by Nicki Minaj, which peaked at 5 and had 13 weeks in the top 40 – her biggest hit in a while.
• “Hold Me Closer” by Elton John & Britney Spears, which entered at number 3 before dawdling around the top 20 for a while.
• “Ghostbusters” by Ray Parker Jr naturally vanishes after a week at number 32, as does “Monster Mash” by Bobby Boris Pickett after a week at 38.
• “In My Head” by Juice WRLD drops straight out of the top 100 after a single week at 40.

On the album chart, Drake and 21 Savage are at number  1 (with Taylor Swift’s “Midnights” dropping to 2).

3. First Aid Kit – “Palomino”

This is the Swedish folk duo’s fifth studio album; its predecessor, 2018’s “Ruins”, also made number 3. The core of the band is sister Klara and Johanna Söderberg; everyone else has been replaced since the last album. The title track is very pleasant.

4. Luke Evans – “A Song For You”

This is the second album by actor Luke Evans, who does have a background in the West End. Its predecessor, 2019’s “At Last”, reached number 11. This is obviously timed for the middle aged Christmas market, by which standards a guest appearance by Charlotte Church is positively edgy.

Number 13 is the Joji album, and we move on to…

16. Daniel O’Donnell – “I Wish You Well”

The 42nd top 40 album for the indestructible Irish MOR veteran. He’s been around since the mid 1980s. Number 16 is actually on the low side for Daniel O’Donnell – his last three albums all made the top 10. That’ll teach him to go up against Drake.

19. The Prodigy – “The Fat of the Land”

25th anniversary reissue. It spent six weeks at number one on release in 1997. Every Prodigy album has gone to number 1 except for their 1992 debut “Experience” (which only got to number 12) and a live album from 2011.  This is the only one to last longer than a week, though.

22. Crawlers – “Loud Without Noise”

Rock band from Liverpool, making their first appearance on the chart. Officially this is billed as their debut mixtape, which in this case appears to mean “basically an EP but scrapes onto the album chart” – it’s just under 20 minutes long.

24. Ezra Collective – “Where I’m Meant To Be”

Jazz quintet who do hip-hop, basically. It’s their third album, but the first to chart.

39. Cavetown – “Worm Food”

Finally, the first top 40 appearance for Robbie Skinner, who’s been on YouTube for a decade now. This is his fifth album, though the first three were self-released; he’s on Sire now.