The 1975 lead Official Albums Chart race with Being Funny In A Foreign Language

The 1975 lead an all-new Top 5 in the race for this week’s Official Albums Chart Number 1 with Being Funny In A Foreign Language.

The fifth studio album from Matty Healy, Adam Hann, Ross MacDonald and George Daniel currently tracks to become the band’s fifth UK chart-topper midweek.

Prior to this, the Cheshire-formed pop-rock group have enjoyed Number 1 success with eponymous debut The 1975 (2013), I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it (2016), A Brief Enquiry Into Online Relationships (2018) and Notes On A Conditional Form (2020). Explore The 1975’s Official Charts history in full here.

MORE: The Official biggest albums of 2022 so far revealed

But it isn’t a done deal just yet, as Red Hot Chili Peppers make their bid for a second Number 1 album of 2022. Return Of The Dream Canteen, the follow-up to April’s chart-topping LP Unlimited Love and the group’s thirteenth studio album overall, tracks for a Number 2 debut after a weekend of sales and streams. Should it continue at such pace, it’ll provide the Californian rock export a 10^th UK Top 10 record. See Red Hot Chili Peppers' full Official Charts history here.

Florida-formed rock group Alter Bridge could claim their fifth UK Top 10 LP with Pawns & Kings this week (3). The band, comprising Myles Kennedy, Mark Tremonti, Brian Marshall and Scott Phillips, last achieved such success with their 2019 release Walk The Sky (4). Meanwhile, Atlanta rapper Lil Baby, born Josiah Armani Jones, looks set to score a solo best on the Official Albums Chart with his latest release It’s Only Me (4).

Dexys Midnight Runners round off the all-new midweek Top 5 with Too-Rye-Ay (5). A reissue of the Birmingham-born band’s second studio album could see it to return to the Top 10 for the first time in 40 years, with the record peaking at Number 2 upon its original release in 1982.

English indie-rock outfit The Big Moon eye a career best and their first-ever UK Top 10 album with Here Is Everything this week (6). The group, comprising Juliette Jackson, Soph Nathan, Celia Archer and Fern Ford, previously enjoyed Top 20 success with 2020 release Walking Like We Do (19).

Elsewhere, Lightning Seeds look set to make a welcome return to the Official Albums Chart with their first album in 13 years, See You In The Stars (7). The record could become their highest-charting studio album across their 32-year career, should it keep its momentum throughout the week.

The Vamps celebrate a decade in music with Ten Years Of The Vamps this week (9). The hits collection could provide Brad Simpson, James Brittain-McVey, Connor Ball and Tristan Evans a fifth Top 10 record, succeeding 2014 debut Meet The Vamps (2), 2015 LP Wake Up (10), 2017 chart-topper Night & Day and 2019 Number 1 Cherry Blossom.

Rounding out the midweek Top 10, innovative artist Brian Eno could enjoy a career best, with his 22^nd studio album FOREVERANDEVERNOMORE currently tracking to become his highest-charting across a 48-year career (10).

English folk five-piece The Unthanks also look set to reach new highs this week with Sorrows Away (11). Prior to this, the group achieved Top 40 success with 2011’s Last (40) and 2015 release Mount The Air (26).

Betty Boo’s first new album in three decades, Boomerang, could see her return to the Top 40 for the first time in 32 years (13). The English singer, real name Alison Moira Clarkson, last achieved such success with her 1990 debut Boomania (4). Meanwhile, Irish rock outfit Kodaline track to enjoy their fifth Top 40 LP with Our Roots Run Deep (16).

Elsewhere, British rapper Rimzee sets his sights on his first-ever Top 40 album with Cold Feet (21), as New Jersey rock quintet Skid Row hope to score their first in 27 years with The Gang’s All Here (22).

A vinyl release of Paul Weller’s 1998 Modern Classics – The Greatest Hits collection could see it return to the Top 40 (24), while Glaswegian rockers GUN hope for similar success with The Calton Songs, a record collating reworked versions of their most-loved songs (28).

Two debut albums track for a Top 40 return this week thanks to National Album Day vinyl reissues. Stereophonics’ 1997 LP Word Gets Around currently sits at Number 33, as Jamiroquai’s 1993 chart-topper Emergency On Planet Earth looks to experience a revival at Number 38.

And finally, Biffy Clyro’s A Celebration Of Endings – Live release could score the Scottish rock trio an 11^th Top 40 record this week.

See the full Official Albums Chart Update Top 100 here from 5.45pm.

Article images: Samuel Bradley/Clara Balzary