Don't Djo
The whole End Of Beginning phenomenon was fan led, or so we are led to believe. Convinced it was going to feature at the end of Stranger Things' final episode, people began streaming it worldwide in anticipation. Of course in the end it did not, but it appears that matters little. In the past week Djo's hit success in Britain has been replicated on charts worldwide, and a new cycle is kicked off with the four year old track once more at the top of the Official UK Singles chart for another commanding week. Joe Keery's performing alter-ego also has two other hits on the chart that are making their own gentle progress. Basic Being Basic is No.62 while Delete Ya is No.74. Both of those are charting for the first time having been initially released as singles early last year just ahead of his third album The Crux which was released last April. That collection (his only one to date to chart) made No.54 on first release but has now itself made a comeback and is No.57 for the second week running.
Feeling A Little Tems
It's most immediate competition however is from the track that was more than holding its own over Christmas and which now accelerates to the kind of peak that was denied it before. All the other streaming hits from Dave's The Boy Who Played The Harp album faded away in short order. But Raindance (with Nigerian singer Tems providing the haunting co-vocals) just keeps going from strength to strength. It is this week's No.2 hit, granted some 8,000 chart sales behind the No.1 single but still moving in enough numbers that would have helped it top the charts in many weeks last year. Still just 27 years old, the socially-aware rapper is one of the defining British stars of the decade so far, and remains easily at the peak of his game.
The Same Old Song?
To brand this week the "return" of Bruno Mars would be to misrepresent the position somewhat. I mean, it feels like he has been away for a long time, and yet in actual fact he has hardly left us. This is largely due to the Hawaiian superstar's presence as co-performer on two of the biggest hits of the decade to date. Die With A Smile (with Lady Gaga) and APT. (with Rose) were both No.2 hits in 2024 and both remain huge streaming hits to this day. And of course around 2011 he had many hit singles as a member of Silk Sonic, few of which you may actually remember. Nonetheless, when he announced a couple of weeks ago that his brand new album was set for release in the spring, it focused attention on the fact that The Romantic will actually be his first solo release in fully ten years.
And so it is that three weeks into the new year we finally have 2026's first smash hit. Not quite the instant No.1 you could have been forgiven for thinking was in his destiny, I Just Might blasts its way to No.6. Straight from the drawer marked "why mess with a winning formula" this is essentially an identikit Bruno Mars hit, a raucous earworm of revivalist soul and funk, sounding for all the world like Kool and The Gang crossed with er, Leo Sayer. Or if you prefer it is the latter's You Make Me Feel Like Dancing crossed with Joss Stone's Super Dupa Love. A combination of words I never truly expected to write. Yes. it is just like any other Bruno Mars single since the very early days of his career. For the moment I'd struggle to pick an argument as to why that is the bad thing.
Starting what you get the feeling is set to be an extended chart run, even if it wobbles a place or two next week, I Just Might is Bruno Mars' first Top 10 hit as a primary artist since 2018 (Cardi B duet Finesse), his first Top 20 single as sole billed performer since 2017 (That's What I Like), and his biggest chart single as a solo star since 2016 (24k Magic). So dammit, let's call it a comeback. And isn't it great to see him here?
Of course these days when you sample an artist via Spotify et al you are invited to check out some of their older works. And even if that is not the reason, the arrival of Mars back on the scene has suddenly sparked renewed interest in his catalogue. The aforementioned Die With A Smile is back out of nowhere at No.28, Locked Out Of Heaven (a No.2 hit from 2012) is back at No.36 - both of those joining the still merrily charting APT which slides to No.80 as if to buck a trend. Bruno Mars thus "does an Olivia Dean" by charting four singles at once as two of them are credited to a different primary artist.
Phantom Scouser
We should really thank Bruno because without him the Top 20 would have looked largely becalmed, most tracks there are either holding steady or amusingly shifting down precisely one place as if knocked out of their groove by I Just Might. However we do have the entertaining sight of EssDeeKid's three permitted chart hits all clustered together as Phantom dives a place to No.19, 4 Raws climbs to No.20 and Century dips to No.21. And unlike the No.1 performer he's still definitely not a famous actor in disguise.
Blonde Ambition
Another artist with three simultaneous hits right now is Zara Larsson, even if you have to look carefully to find them. And they are entertainingly all from different sources. The biggest is golden oldie Lush Life whose continuing viral success means it remains at Top 10 single, diving to No.9 to mark the tenth anniversary of its Top 75 debut (when it moved 88-72 on its way to a No.3 peak). The success of this older track has meant a belated spark of life for a newer release, Midnight Sun. The title track of her current album, it was first released as a single in June last year, three months ahead of the album but like all its cuts was largely ignored by the streaming public. Not so much any more, having charted for the very first time a fortnight ago it has now powered its way to No.39.
But the Swedish star's third hit of the moment is perhaps only for those of us in the know. She is the second voice on the remixed version of PinkPantheress' Stateside, a reworking that as of this week now has an official video featuring both women. In sympathy, the single continues its steady rise up the charts, accelerating this week to No.23 - one place behind the eventual peak of PinkPantheress' last Top 40 single Illegal. A further advance next week will take her into the Top 20 for the first time since Nice To Meet You reached No.20 in November 2023. However for now Zara Larsson's contribution to the track remains uncredited - this thanks to the informal rule that artist credits on a track are generally only possible prior to a track reaching the Top 40. Elsewhere (notably on the Hot 100) the track is listed as a duet.
Love You Livvy
It is events on the Official UK Albums chart that inform the rest of the week's notable activity. Notable in its own way is the fact that Olivia Dean's The Art Of Loving remains No.1 for the third week in a row and fifth in total. That's enough to make it the most successful album by a British female soloist since Adele spent five straight weeks at the top with 30 back in 2021. And it almost seems to go without saying that Man I Need, the No.8 single on the chart this week would once again be No.1 but for its continuing ACR status. A fact which remains enormously entertaining.
The fact the divine Ms Dean has the No.1 album at all is both little surprise and at the same time unexpected, given that for most of the week veteran boy band Blue were leading the chart race with their latest comeback album Reflections. In the end that has to settle for the No.2 slot, still their highest charting record since 2003 release Guilty hit the top when released in November that year.
The No.3 album this week With Heaven On Top is from American country star Zach Bryan. His third album to chart also gifts him his second ever Top 40 hit single as Plastic Cigarette debuts at No.29 - other cuts Say Why and Appetite also land on the chart at 43 and 48 respectively.
2026 is finally underway then and oh my, there's a new Harry Styles record on the horizon too. We appear mapped out until springtime.
