Miraculous Escapes
Events of the last few weeks have rather reduced the status of the No.1 single on the Official UK Singles chart to almost little more than a footnote, so it seems only appropriate to give it some proper attention here. Miracle by Calvin Harris and Ellie Goulding is still streaking ahead of the competition, now spending its seventh week in total at No.1 - and you will notice too that the track is now ten weeks old but has yet to succumb to ACR. This is thanks to last week's bump in streams (from 39k sales to 41k) which ensured the clock was reset at the death. Miracle rises in sales once more this week to over 44,000. Meaning its prospective ACR slump is still some weeks away. Could a double figure run at No.1 now be in its sights?
That all alas means more waiting in the wings for David Kushner's unexpectedly huge Daylight, now spending its sixth straight week as a Top 3 single. It rebounds back to the runners up slot.
With Eurovision fever fading away somewhat, most of last week's big new arrivals are already starting to sink from sight. The exception however is Loreen's Tattoo which retains much of its first week appeal and slides just a couple of places to No.4. That's enough to ensure it is the first Eurovision-connected hit single to spend two straight weeks in the Top 5 since Gina G's Ooh Aah Just A Little Bit way way back in 1996.
The Wild-Eyed Wide-Eyed Scotsman Returns
However these of course are not the big stories of the week. The headlines have inevitably been grabbed by Lewis Capaldi, a man who surely has now elevated himself to superstar level with the release of his second album Broken By Desire To Be Heavenly Sent. I can't tell you how thrilled I am to be faced with the prospect of typing that over and over from now until the end of the year (possibly). The album smashes its way to No.1 with what was always going to be a huge sale, although perhaps how huge was not something anyone was prepared to speculate on. The Scotsman is No.1 with a colossal 95,000 copies to his name, beating with some ease the 76,000 sales clocked up by Ed Sheeran's Subtract in its first week on sale earlier this month. Capaldi's debut Divinely Uninspired To A Hellish Extent opened with 89,000 sales back in 2019, meaning that the singer can add himself to the small list of acts who have actually bettered their previous releases of late.
With three consecutive No.1 singles already nestling in its grooves (even if two of them were perhaps slightly engineered that way - see issues passim) you might have expected Lewis Capaldi to enjoy a sizable singles chart impact in tandem with the album release. But that hasn't turned out to be the case. Wish You The Best enjoys a small bump, climbing back two places to No.3, but Capaldi's two other permitted hits this week are some distance behind. New arrival Haven't You Ever Been In Love Before lands at No.28 while How I'm Feeling Now makes another chart return at a lowly No.48.
The reason for this is simple. While BBDTBHS (shut up, it is easier this way) did indeed notch up a large chart sale, the overwhelming majority of these were paid purchases. In terms of streaming numbers the album did not move the dial as much as you would think, just 11,000 odd of its sales were accounted for by online listening - and as Ed Sheeran found out to his cost a fortnight ago, if you don't stream that much you stand very little chance of anything resembling chart domination. Mind you, Sheeran's album remains in contention to return to the top next week, dipping to No.2 with a further 11,000 sales of its own to its name.
Put Down Those Video Games
A lack of a Capaldi tsunami opened the door for the highest new entry to be something of a shock. Making her return to the Top 10 as a solo artist for the first time in almost exactly a decade is none other than Lana Del Rey. Her song Say Yes To Heaven arrives almost by accident, a previously unreleased outtake from the sessions for her 2014 album Ultraviolence which leaked online back in late 2020 and duly entered circulation as a TikTok backing track. Then a couple of months ago something curious happened. Previously existing in that strange copyright-free hinterland creators began to notice that the music had been claimed by Lana's label - indicating that it was being lined up for a full commercial release at last. And indeed here it is, arriving in both its original form and a none more fashionable sped-up version, streams of which are combined to propel the single to No.9.
And that's quite frankly huge. Lana Del Rey's last Top 10 single as a solo artist was by strange coincidence another random quirk, a Cedric Gervais dance remix of Summertime Sadness (which originally featured on her Born To Die album) becoming a club smash and flying to the top of the charts in August 2013. She's returned to the Top 10 two times since but both were, shall we say, footnotes. She featured on the three-way dance of Don't Call Me Angel alongside Ariana Grande and Miley Cyrus (No.2 in September 2019) and was the duet partner of Taylor Swift on Snow On The Beach (No.4 in November 2022). No, this track is her own work and her own work alone and marks a quite extraordinary chart comeback. Even if it is (possibly to her annoyance) with some old and outdated material.
Also new to the Top 10 is Giving Me from Jazzy, giving the Irish singer her second such hit after she reached No.4 as the voices of Belters Only's Make Me Feel Good last year.
Go Out Of Style
Now 60 weeks old Harry Styles' As It Was is showing no sign at all of declining back to ACR and moving out of the way. It instead returns to the Top 10 once more with a two place rebound to No.10. And with his tour about to kick off his label have clearly decided he should have even more visibility - hence what we must presume is a requested reset for Late Night Talking which re-enters the singles chart at No.37, its highest chart placing since October last year. His current single is supposed to be Satellite, but although that is growing it languishes at No.49 for now.
Riddly-Pat
But now this is where it gets extraordinary. Because Lana Del Rey isn't the only long-standing act enjoying her best chart outing in a great many years. Kylie Minogue singles come and Kylie Minogue singles go, each new offering hailed as the greatest thing since sliced bread by her still noisy band of online acolytes. But the Australian star has long slipped into being a legacy brand, new albums paid due attention to by reviewers but precious few others. But the quirky electropop sound of her new track Padam Padam has caught more ears than usual. The first Kylie track in years that actually says something interesting musically.
So just look at that, the onomatopoeic flies into the Top 40, planting itself at No.26. It is her first Top 40 single since Dancing reached No.38 in February 2018 and her first Top 40 single since Into The Blue blasted to No.12 in March 2014. It is not insignificant that Padam Padam is halfway to becoming her first "real" hit single of the streaming era. It is the most-purchased track of the week and debuts at No.1 on the old school sales chart, but that still only accounted for around 4,000 of the 14,000 chart sales the single has notched up so far. There has always been room for shall we say mature acts to stage chart comebacks. Diana Ross and Cher did so numerous times as they edged into their 50s. But it was always with tracks that propelled them forward rather than relying on past glories. And that's why Padam Padam works. A Kylie track that is notable, hummable and genuinely diverting. Let's not pretend this hasn't landed here largely on fan power. But if it makes progress up the charts over the next couple of weeks it will be nothing less than the single deserves.
Bey Bee
Beyonce already has one track in the Top 30 in the shape of the reactivated CUFF IT, and now she has another. AMERICA HAS A PROBLEM (her caps, not mine) originally featured on her Renaissance album but now arrives on the charts thanks to a new single remix which adds new Kendrick Lamar vocals. It is new at No.22 as anticipation builds for her tour landing on these shores.
Post Malone is in need of another large hit to draw attention to the forthcoming arrival of his new album. Teaser track Mourning won't be one of them it seems, sliding into view at No.35.
New dance banger of the week is Side Effects from Becky Hill and newcomer Lewis Thompson which pokes its nose into the Top 40 on the bottom rung after debuting lower down last week. There's no rhyme or reason to whether a Becky Hill track ends up a smash or not, but it has been a full year since Crazy What Love Can Do took up residence in the Top 10, so perhaps she is due another. And due one without David Guetta in tow for that matter.
