This week's Official UK Singles Chart
This week's Official UK Albums Chart
Granted, it did spend almost a month available for pre-order and thus can be considered to be rather front-loaded in terms of sales, but when the single at the top of the Official UK Singles charts marks the debut of a completely unknown artist and sells over 136,000 copies in a single week (the joint-second highest one week sale of 2014 to date) it is hard not to sit up and take notice.
The track in question is Hideaway by Canadian-born Kiesa Ray Ellestad, better known as Kiesza which lives up to its billing as the most anticipated single release of the spring so far. Although classically trained and having started her life in music as a folk singer, Kiesza's debut single is a barnstorming house track with the most infectious bassline you've heard since Christmas and which actually sees the singer reduce herself to a serious of guttural yelps in place of a chorus despite powerfully singing all the voices. It is an intriguing production in which she essentially becomes the guest singer on her own house track and oh yes, whilst the concept of a one-take music video is hardly a brand new innovation these days the accompanying video clip has only added to the talkability of the track. It is hard not to hear Hideaway and be rather excited about what she might put her name to next. Move over Gaga, there is a new artistic diva in town. [Yeah, she kind of peaked too soon here].
The blow away performance of the Number One single has rather left last week's incumbent floundering in its wake, but Sigma's Nobody To Love does at the very least make a good account of itself by slipping just one place to Number 2. Sadly the same cannot be said for last week's runner-up Last Night by The Vamps which makes an all too predictable 2-14 dive to demonstrate that online-hyped boy bands just do not have a substantial Week 2 in their sales arsenal.
Before the fangirls get too agitated, let us note that The Vamps do at least have the Number 2 album this week as their debut collection Meet The Vamps enters the chart in second place, playing second fiddle to Paolo Nutini's Caustic Love which gives the Scottish star his second chart-topping album following 2009s Sunny Side Up. Looks like the five-year wait was worth it.
Back to singles and the dance domination continues apace as Touch by the creatively named Shift K3y land at a none more appropriate Number 3. The alias of London deep house DJ Lewis Jankel, the name of Shift K3y has featured on remixes of tracks by the likes of Tinie Tempah and Alunageorge in recent months but Touch marks his chart debut as a credited performer. The track appears to have divided people online, its 2000-esque garage vibe seen as either a refreshing bit of nostalgia or something rather derivative and dated.
Having reached Number 5 with his debut single Do It All Over Again back in January, British teen star Elyar Fox lands himself a second hit single with A Billion Girls which makes a rather more understated debut at Number 11. His marketing has finally bit the bullet and seen him branded as "the British Bieber" which given his origins as a YouTube star and a relentless self-promoter seems rather apt as it happens. As ever, however, the three-week chart run of his debut gives rise to questions about his appeal beyond the carefully manipulated online fangirl army he has. His own Week 2 will be worth keeping an eye on.
Also new to the Top 20 at Number 13 is German Whip as performed by a trifecta of underground grime stars making an all too rare foray into the commercial mainstream. Led by Meridian Dan are Aidan 'Big H' Harris and perhaps most notably Jamie 'JME' Adenuga whose relentless desire to remain uncommercial now receives a second blow with his second chart appearance, following on from his guest role on the Wiley single Can You Hear Me (Ayayaya) which reached Number 3 in November 2012.
Finally, it takes great skill to land two new Top 40 hits in successive weeks but that is just what Dutch duo Showtek have managed. Hard on the heels of their guest role on the David Guetta track Bad (which dips 22-32 this week), they arrive at Number 29 with their own Cannonball (Earthquake) to claim a second hit single to follow Booyah which was a Number 5 hit in November last year. Whilst they stand little chance of reaching Number One with this track anytime soon, it should be noted that the relentless parade of new Number One singles is set to continue next week as their fellow countryman Mr Probz is as I write outselling the competition by the small matter of 2:1.
