Last Gasp
We are now deep into the territory that goes beyond "well these songs are very popular aren't they?" and fast a approaching "seriously wtf guys" when it comes to the music tastes of the country.
For the second week running the Top 5 singles are entirely static, Nos 1,2,3,4 and 5 on the Official UK Singles chart are exactly the same as they were two weeks ago. That's the first time in two years this has taken place. But the becalming of the chart runs even deeper than that. Two of them may have swapped places a fortnight ago, but there is no escaping the fact that the Top 3 singles on the chart are exactly the same ones that assembled on the immediate post-Christmas chart back in early January. Or five weeks ago if you've lost count already.
So that all means a third week at No.1 for Messy by Lola Young with the single maintaining almost week to week its streaming and sales performance. Just below, as it has been all year so far, is APT from Bruno Mars and Rose. It is now the track's sixth week in a row (and seventh in total) in the runners' up slot - now one short of the all-time record of 8 weeks for a track that has never made it to No.1 (Terry's Theme - Theme From Limelight by Frank Chacksfield in 1954 the record holder in case you were wondering).
But fear not. Change, even if it is of the enforced kind, is on the way. APT, That's So True (this week's No.3) and Sailor Song (No.5) will all tumble to ACR next time around. We won't necessarily have a new No.1 (but maybe this will manifest itself into existence) but there will be new songs contending to put some meat on the bones of 2025.
It's A Monster
Lady Gaga has never done things conventionally, and that extends to release dates. New Music Friday be damned, she slipped out her new single Abracadabra on Monday this week. Missing out on three days of streams inevitably depressed the chart position of the song, but it still debuts with a bang at No.6, making you wonder just where it might have ended up with a full seven days of sales behind it. It is the third hit single from her forthcoming new album Mayhem, all three of them having made the Top 10. Die With A Smile peaked at No.2 last August while Disease reached No.7 in November. In all it is her 17th Top 10 single.
My favourite unspoken joke of the Harry Potter series is that "Abracadabra" is the only (corrupted) magic word that Muggles have accidentally learned, alarming given that in the universe of the series it is the most lethal one of all when spoken by someone with the actual power to wield it. Gaga's single is the third hit in chart history to use it as a title, and startlingly the second in the space of a year. Steve Miller Band were famously the first, taking their memorable song of that name to No.2 in 1982. Then last year Wes Nelson and Craig David crept to No.37 with their own take on the concept.
Monday
Top of the albums chart is The Weeknd with Hurry Up Tomorrow which he is insisting is his "last" record. Many streams naturally means a singles chart impact, mostly to the benefit of existing hit Timeless. After floating around the Top 20 since its post-Christmas return the track now rockets back to the No.7 peak at which it debuted way back in October. The previously unheard Cry For Me is a beat behind, opening its own account at No.8 to hand him an 18th Top 10 hit single since his 2012 debut. His third hit is the prior teaser single Sao Paolo (featuring Anitta), returning after a brief three week chart run saw it reach No.22 back in November and now exceeding that original peak with a re-entry at No.21.
Awarding Season Begins
It isn't a phenomenon we have really seen before, but the winners and performers at last week's Grammy Awards all enjoy notable chart boosts off the back of the coverage of the ceremony. At the front of the queue is Chappell Roan who sees Pink Pony Club gallop to No.14 to park itself one place below the No.13 it scaled in October last year.
Hailed at the Grammy awards as the greatest thing in female rap today, entertainingly so given that she has only really appeared on the radar of British pop fans in the last couple of weeks, Doechii has gone from online sensation to star and so after stalling last week the still lovable Denial Is A River soars to a new peak of its own as it rises to No.16.
Also enjoying an awards bounce: Kendrick Lamar's Not Like Us re-enters at No.27, similarly former No.1 single GUESS from Charli XCX and Billie Eilish makes a chart comeback at No.31. We can also credit the Grammy awards for the brief boost enjoyed by Benson Boone's Beautiful Things which moves back up to No.33.
I mean that is lovely to see and everything. But that's still tired old hits milling around the chart which was always supposed to be full of the greatest and the newest. Keep the faith.
