This is a nice easy one! \u00a0One new entry. \u00a0And lots of climbers – because that’s what happens when a logjam of album tracks starts to clear.<\/p>\n
1. \u00a0Ed Sheeran – “Shape of You”<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Twelve weeks\u00a0now. \u00a0That passes\u00a0the eleven weeks of Slim Whitman’s “Rose Marie”, so it’s now the fourth longest\u00a0single reign at the top, behind “Everything I Do (I Do It For You)”, “Love is All Around” and “One Dance”. \u00a0(In terms of total weeks at number one, it’s also behind “I Believe” and “Bohemian Rhapsody”, both of\u00a0which had\u00a0multiple runs.)<\/p>\n But it was close this week – the notional\u00a0sales of “Shape of You”, including streaming, were only 5,000 ahead of the number two single. \u00a0It’s just that the number two single is\u00a0also<\/em> Ed Sheeran, in the form of “Galway Girl”, which\u00a0now has a lyric video and is obviously\u00a0being positioned as the\u00a0“next single”,\u00a0whatever meaning that still has. \u00a0So while there’s every prospect that “Shape of You” won’t manage thirteen weeks,\u00a0it’s still likely to be Ed Sheeran. \u00a0Other Sheeran tracks are still sitting at 5, 12, 19, 22, 23, 27, 28, 33 and 35. \u00a0Mind you, they\u00a0are<\/em> all going down, and “How Would You Feel (Paean)” drops out of the top 40 this week.<\/p>\n 3. \u00a0Drake – “Passionfruit”<\/strong>\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n Climbing one place. \u00a0And after this, things start to look a little bit more normal…<\/p>\n 4. \u00a0Clean Bandit featuring Zara Larsson – “Symphony”<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Up two, giving Larsson her fifth top 5 hit\u00a0in\u00a0two years.<\/p>\n 7. \u00a0Kygo & Selena Gomez – “It Ain’t Me”<\/strong>\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n Up twelve,\u00a0matching the peak it reached four weeks ago.<\/p>\n 9. \u00a0Anne-Marie – “Ciao Adios”<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Up one. \u00a0See, this is starting to look like a\u00a0more typical chart. \u00a0One factor is\u00a0that\u00a0the album\u00a0track flood is receding and the\u00a0other\u00a0tracks are moving\u00a0up to fill the void.<\/p>\n 10. \u00a0Drake – “Blem”<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Climbing four, but it’s one of only two\u00a0Drake tracks to climb. \u00a0The other ones still on the chart\u00a0are “KMT” at 21, “Get it Together” at 25, “Portland” at 32, “Madiba Riddim” at 34, “No Long Talk” at 37, and “Gyalchester” at 39 – so while he’s still got eight tracks on the chart, four of them are below 30. \u00a0“Teenage Fever”, “Skepta Interlude”, “4422” and “Free Smoke” all drop out of the top 40. \u00a0But Drake still becomes the second artist – after you-know-who – not only to flood the chart with tracks from his new album, but to see them stick around for a second week. \u00a0How common is this going to be from now on?<\/p>\n 11. \u00a0Zedd & Alessia Cara – “Stay”<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Up one.<\/p>\n