This week's Official UK Singles Chart
This week's Official UK Albums Chart
He nearly managed the double. In prime position to achieve the impressive feat of topping both charts at once, Sam Smith ultimately has to settle for just one half of it. At the very least his debut album In The Lonely Hour has the honour of toppling Coldplay from the summit of the Official UK Albums Chart, selling in healthy six-figure quantities and cementing his reputation as one of the most interesting new stars to emerge in the last twelve months, but this may well be tempered by the disappointment that despite another strong sale his hit single Stay With Me becomes the latest in an ever-growing line of hit singles to fail to land a second successive week at the top of the singles chart.
Instead, the Number One record on the Official UK Singles Chart is yet another new arrival as DJ and producer Secondcity watches his first ever hit single I Wanna Feel fly to the very top of the charts. Secondcity is the alias of Chicago-born Rowan John, who moved to the UK with his parents when he was 12 years old and who has proudly declared himself an anglophile despite his Stateside roots. He began performing as the second half of house duo Taiki & Nulight before becoming the latest of a long line of producers to switch aliases to forge a new career as a deep house producer (in much the same way Dream became Route 94 and had his own Number One single back in March). As for I Wanna Feel itself, the track positively oozes summer, a bright house track which in common with another steadily developing theme borrows its lyrics with impunity from another older classic, in this case, Toni Braxton's You're Makin' Me High which hit Number 7 here in July 1996.
There's more deep house in the second highest new entry of the week, in this instance, a single which will be familiar to most music fans in continental Europe. French duo Klingande are the creators of Jubel, a quite gorgeous club track which contains the bare minimum of vocals and which instead stirs in some old school Acid Jazz elements with an intoxicating saxophone lead propelling the track in a manner which leaves you almost regretful that it has to end. Already a chart-topper across much of the continent following its original release at the end of last year, its British release has been eagerly awaited, as reflected in this high chart entry.
Also new at Number 9 this week is Ellie Goulding with new single Beating Heart, a brand new track not heard on either the original or re-release of her last album Halcyon. Instead, the track is a soundtrack hit, specially recorded for science fiction film "Divergent" which opened to little fanfare earlier in the spring, making the appearance of the single in the charts at this late stage all the more curious. No matter, the track still sounds awesome, a testament to the songwriting talents of both the singer and collaborator Greg Kurstin whose production trademarks are all over it. Beating Heart returns Ellie Goulding to the Top 10 after her last single Goodness Gracious stalled at Number 16 and is the seventh such single of her career.
Those who prefer their music with slightly more guitar will be cheered by the Number 17 arrival of Heart And Soul by Glasgow four-piece Twin Atlantic. The track marks the long overdue commercial breakthrough for the band who already have two albums to their name - 2009's Vivarium and 2011 release Free. Having failed to chart with any of their previous single releases this brand new track benefits from some high profile support from the likes of Radio One DJ Zane Lowe and nearly surpasses anything they have put their name to previously.
With singles from both Paloma Faith and Ellie Goulding currently in the Top 10, it would be remiss if the collection of currently active quirky female singer-songwriters wasn't completed in some way, so conveniently enough at Number 21 there is a new entry for Lana Del Rey with West Coast, the lead single from her forthcoming third album Ultraviolence and for which British public have been waiting for more than a month thanks to record label stupidity (a theme which will be returned to next week for sure). The single is Lana Del Rey's second Top 40 single in the space of a month following the brief appearance of 2012 release Gods And Monsters from the special edition of her previous album following its use in a trailer for TV soap Eastenders and which propelled it to Number 39 at the end of April.
Once place behind at Number 22 are the usually triumphant One Direction who counter some rather negative press this week with the Top 40 reappearance of You & I. The track originally charted as an album cut in the wake of the release of their current album Midnight Memories back in November, whereupon it reached Number 19. After hovering just outside the Top 40 for most the last month the single finally explodes into life following the appearance last week of its video.
Finally, this week, as they have not merited a mention for a while, let us pay tribute to the 2014 ever-presents which continue to sell strongly as we charge towards the mid-point of the year. Happy by Pharrell Williams rallies 12-11 this week in what is its 27th appearance as Top 75 hit single - all to the continuing detriment of his 'current' hit Marilyn Monroe which rises to a brand new peak this week in its fifth week on the chart, but still only to Number 25. Meanwhile locked in place at Number 13 this week is Idina Menzel's Let It Go, the single set to celebrate its own six month chart anniversary next week, this being its ninth in a row inside the Top 20 without ever managing to climb beyond Number 11. Just a few weeks younger is the other memorable song from "Frozen" Do You Want To Build A Snowman which as the sun gets hotter seems ever more incongruous but which is also still a Top 40 hit single, dipping 36-38 this week as part of a continuous 21 week run chart run which has seen it peak (so far) at Number 26. Meanwhile, John Legend's plaintive All Of Me also continues to impress. The single has now been a Top 75 hit for 17 straight weeks and holds firm this week at Number 6 on its 14th consecutive week as a Top 10 hit single.