Declan McKenna takes on Noah Kahan for UK’s Number 1 album

Declan McKenna is looking to finally secure his first-ever Number 1 album this week – but he’ll have to deal with Noah Kahan first.  

Declan’s third album, What Happened To The Beach? is currently leading the charge to debut at the top of the Official Albums Chart on Friday. 

It would be the 25-year-old’s first UK chart-topper; he previously reached the Top 20 with 2017 debut album What Do You Think About The Car? (11) and earned his first Top 10 with 2020’s Zeros (2), which was pipped to Number 1 by The Rolling Stones’ Goats Head Soup reissue by just 800 chart units. 

But Declan is not home and dry yet; Noah Kahan is a little over 3,000 chart units away from him at Number 2 with his third album, Stick Season. The LP – which contains the UK’s current Number 1 single of the same name – gets a big boost following the release of its expanded deluxe edition, featuring brand-new tracks and collaborations with the likes of Sam Fender, Post Malone, Kacey Musgraves, Hozier and more. 

The Stick Season album has so far peaked at Number 2, and is Noah’s first to reach the Official Albums Chart. 

Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign could debut at Number 3 with their new collaboration LP Vultures 1 (3), released following months of delays. It would be Ye’s 8th Top 10 album and Ty Dolla $ign’s first.  

Dizzee Rascal’s Don’t Take It Personal is also on track for a Top 10 debut (6), while pop goddess Zara Larsson’s third album Venus seeks to become her second Top 10 collection, and first in seven years (7). 

Read more about the genesis of Venus in our interview with Zara Larsson here.

Usher’s Coming Home is predicted to become the R&B superstar’s seventh Top 10 album (9) but following his headline-grabbing Super Bowl Halftime Show airing in the early hours of this morning, we could expect this to rise in the coming days. 

Further down, Somerset-born prog-rock outfit Pineapple Thief aim for their second Top 40 album (and highest charting yet) with It Leads To This (21) and Teddy Swims’ I’ve Tried Everything but Therapy (Part 1) rises 10 places week-on-week (29), following Lose Control’s continued success.  

Finally, classical quartet Il Divo’s XX is set to become the multi-national group’s 12th Official Albums Chart Top 40 entry (35).