The Smile and The Reytons enter tense battle for UK Number 1 album

Plus, James Arthur, Tom Odell and Future Islands also in play for all-new Top 5.

It’s a tense start to the week on the Official Albums Chart, as The Smile and The Reytons enter a battle for the UK’s Number 1 album, with just 200 chart units separating the two acts.

Leading the charge at the midweek mark are Radiohead offshoot group The Smile – comprising Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood and Tom Skinner – with their second record Wall Of Eyes. The Smile previously reached Number 5 in 2022 with their debut LP A Light For Attracting Attention.

As members of Radiohead, The Smile have previously earned six chart-topping albums in the UK; OK Computer (1997), Kid A (2000), Amnesiac (2001), Hail to the Thief (2003), In Rainbows (2008) and A Moon Shaped Pool (2016).

But they can’t rest on their laurels yet! Rotherham indie-rock band The Reytons – aka Jonny Yerrel, Joe O’Brien, Lee Holland and James Todd – are also within touching distance of Number 1 with Ballad of a Bystander (2).

Last year saw the band achieve their first Number 1 on the Official Albums Chart with What’s Rock and Roll? - can they secure a second chart-topper in a year?

Not far behind at Number 3, James Arthur’s Bitter Sweet Love could become his fifth UK Top 10 album, as Tom Odell aims for a sixth Top 10 with Black Friday (4), and US synth-pop outfit Future Islands could celebrate their first UK Top 10 LP with People Who Aren’t There Anymore (5), rounding out a prospective all-new Top 5.

More new entries in the Top 10 this week could come from Frank Carter and The Rattlesnakes with Dark Rainbow (6), which would mark their fourth Top 10 collection – don’t miss them discussing the album on The Record Club with Bowers & Wilkins on Wednesday, 31 January – and Yorkshire rockers New Model Army, who are up for their first ever Top 10 in their 43-year career on Unbroken (7).

Further down, Teddy Swims is looking to hit yet another new peak with debut album I’ve Tried Everything but Therapy (Part One) (19) thanks to the success of breakthrough single Lose Control.

Chicago punk outfit Alkaline Trio are heading for their highest charting position yet in the UK with tenth album Blood, Hair and Eyeballs (22) and finally, buzzy Irish indie-rock band NewDad look to secure a Top 40 debut with their first full-length release, Madra (30).