And there was me thinking that Mariah Carey was guaranteed to sit at number 1 through to Christmas. But no! We have a surprise!

1. Wham! – “Last Christmas”

I mean, kind of. After all, this was number 3 last week, and it also sneaked a week at number 1 over Christmas 2020. But still, it’s some sort of turnover at the top, which is nice.

The march of Christmas singles slows down this week, simply because there are so many in the top 40 already that there’s no room for any more. The result is a very quiet singles chart with one notable exception…

15. SZA – “Kill Bill”
27. SZA – “Nobody Gets Me”
39. SZA – “Shirt”

These are the maximum three singles from her album “SOS”, which enters at 2. Her 2017 debut, “Ctrl”, just missed the album top 40 in the UK, but her stock has risen considerably since then. “Shirt” has charted before, peaking at number 17 when it was released as a single in advance of the album. “Nobody Gets Me” is the release week single, and while a lot of her singles tend to meander somewhat around a mood theme, this one is quite a direct ballad. But album track “Kill Bill” outperforms it, probably because it’s just fun.

37. Sia – “Snowman”

The one Christmas track to push its way into the top 40 is this ballad from Sia’s Christmas album, which previously got a week at number 35 last year. It’s actually a climber from 41. I’m not quite sure why streaming has fixed on this track rather than the catchier “Santa’s Coming For Us” (maybe it’s the vaguely threatening title), but at least it’s different from the rest of the festive swarm.

The top ten tracks with no Christmas element are:

1 (1)  Raye featuring 070 Shake – “Escapism” (no 3)
2 (2) Taylor Swift – “Anti-Hero” (no 6)
3 (5) Stormzy – “Firebabe” (no 8)
4 (4) venbee & goddard – “Messy in Heaven” (no 10)
5 (3) Meghan Trainor – “Made You Look” (no 12)
6 (-)  SZA – “Kill Bill” (no 15)
7 (6) Oliver Tree & Robin Schulz – “Miss You” (no 18)
8 (7) Metro Boomin, the Weeknd & 21 Savage – “Creepin'” (no 25)
9 (-) Bugzy Malone & Teedee – “Out of Nowhere” (no 26)
10 (-) SZA – “Nobody Gets Me” (no 27)

This week’s climbers are mostly Christmas tracks edging up a place or two.

• “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree” by Brenda Lee climbs 6-5, matching last year’s peak.
• “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” by Michael Bublé climbs 10-7, matching its peak from Christmas 2018… and 2020… and 2021.
• “Firebabe” by Stormzy climbs 9-8 – a lone non-Christmas record swimming against the tide.
• “Fairytale of New York” by the Pogues featuring Kirsty MacColl climbs 14-9.
• “Jingle Bell Rock” by Bobby Helms climbs 19-11, which is a new peak – it only got to 16 last year. Helms did have other hits in his heyday, but this was already his biggest UK hit.
• “Santa Tell Me” by Ariana Grande climbs 16-14.
• “Do They Know It’s Christmas” by Band Aid climbs 18-16.
• “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” by Andy Williams climbs 22-19.
• “Driving Home for Christmas” by Chris Rea climbs 21-20.
• “Step Into Christmas” by Elton John climbs 24-21.
• “Someday at Christmas” by Lizzo climbs 31-22.
• “I Wish it Could be Christmas Everyday” by Wizzard climbs 28-23.
• “Wonderful Christmastime” by Paul McCartney climbs 30-24.
• “Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!” by Dean Martin climbs 33-29.
• “One More Sleep” by Leona Lewis climbs 34-31.
• “Sleigh Ride” by the Ronettes climbs 35-32.
• “Feliz Navidad” by José Feliciano climbs 40-34.
• “Happy Xmas (War is Over)” by John & Yoko and the Plastic Ono Band climbs 38-35.

The four tracks leaving the top 40 are:

• “Hide & Seek” by Stormzy, which reached number 7.
• “Pointless” by Lewis Capaldi, after a single week at number 20 – even in the Christmas context, that’s going to be a disappointment, and they’ll be hoping to claw it back in the post-Christmas void.
• “Unholy” by Sam Smith & Kim Petras, the former number 1
• “Superhero (Heroes & Villains)” by Metro Boomin, Future & Chris Brown after a single week at 39.

On the album chart…

1. Sam Ryder – “There’s Nothing But Space, Man!”

Debut album from the UK’s Eurovision entry. It includes that song, “Space Man”, which reached number 2; none of the follow-up singles have charted, but things bode well for an album chart career.

2. SZA – “SOS”

We’ve covered this already.

17. Sam Fender – “Live From Finsbury Park”

Exactly what it sounds like. Also this week, there’s a deluxe reissue of his 2021 number 1 album “Seventeen Going Under”, which re-enters at number 13. It’s one of those albums that never actually left the lower reaches of the top 100.

22. A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie – “Me Vs Myself”

Well, somebody else had to fancy their chances at releasing an album this week. His previous album reached number 11 in 2020, so this is a definite step down. But maybe it just means everyone else was right to avoid releasing albums in December.