Official Singles Chart on 4/5/2018

I sometimes look at the older charts

This week's chart is as exciting as a tortoise hibernation party! Two exciting new entries in the top 40! And by the same artist! Oooh.... be still my beating heart.

My thoughts & observations on the UK charts as always…

- ‘One Kiss’ by Calvin Harris & Dua Lipa is #1 on the singles chart for a third consecutive week, having been streamed 7.3 million times in the past seven days.

- It becomes the longest of Dua Lipa’s two #1s & the longest #1 from Calvin Harris in seven years (since his feature on ‘We Found Love’ by Rihanna, which was at the top of the chart for six weeks back in 2011).

- ‘One Kiss’ also becomes the most played song on British radio this week, as it rises 2-1 on the airplay chart.

- Due to the release of Post Malone’s second studio album, some of the tracks make an impact on the Official Chart today, with the biggest new entry being ‘Better Now’, straight in at #9! So while many critics have agreed that ‘Beerbongs & Bentleys’ is an improvement over ‘Stoney’ (which I also agree with), the reviews for the former album still aren’t very good from the ones I’ve read & I honestly don’t understand why! I wouldn’t even put ‘Better Now’ in my Top 5 favourite tracks from the album; his flow, like most rappers today, leans heavily on melodic rap, although this I’d argue has more components for a heartbreak hit, where he admits that he would give up everything for this woman. There’s not really a lot I can say about the production & it’s definitely one of the more forgettable choruses on the album, but it’s still not bad. I don’t mind a Top 10 debut for this!

- The second debut for Post Malone this week is ‘Paranoid’, which starts at #11 today. As well as being pleasantly surprised how his music has grown on me considerably over the past year, I also never expected him to get this much success! He very nearly had three songs in the Top 10 this week & without the latest chart rules in place, he could easily have had his entire album inside the Top 100. I can kind of see why ‘Paranoid’ is one of the most successful unreleased tracks from it though; it definitely shows Post Malone’s more emotional side on this album & his voice has the usual auto-tune to the point where it causes a dark effect which captures that paranoia well, but without over-suffocating the keys in reverb, the slower drum beats & woozy synths here are cool too. There are some issues I have with the lyrics, particularly not picking sides after a political reference. As it is though, this is definitely a Post Malone song that I see myself coming back to for a little while, so check it out if you’re into this sort of music.

- Finally, Paloma Faith earns her 10th Top 40 single, as ‘Make Your Own Kind Of Music’ soars 56-28 in its fourth week on the chart! It’s about time this song got as high at it is, given how consistently well it’s been selling & all of the radio traction it’s gaining right now, but another reason it’s here is because it features on the latest advert for Skoda. The thing is, this doesn’t sound like a car commercial song at all & it’s actually a cover of a Mama Cass Elliot song from 1969! Although, in fact, I think I might like the 2018 version from Paloma Faith even more. Yeah, the verses are still a little boring, but the hook definitely sticks with me & Paloma’s wider than usual vocal range here really works for her, even though the production elements like the blaring trumpet notes aren’t here this time & her higher range might not be anything as impressive as it’s trying to be. That said, the lyrics about trying to inspire someone to write their own hits connects really well in both versions! I don’t see this being massive, but it’s least a minor hit & I’m fine with that.

- On the albums chart, Post Malone gets his first #1 with ‘Beerbongs & Bentleys’. It records the third highest streaming week ever for an album, with 35,000 listens!

- The rest of the Top 5 is: ‘The Greatest Showman’ OST (1-2), ‘Speak Your Mind’ by Anne-Marie (debuts at #3), ‘Cool Like You’ by Blossoms (debuts at #4) & ‘Staying At Tamara’s’ by George Ezra (4-5).

- Looking ahead to next week, these songs could be entering the Top 40 for the first time: ‘No Roots’ by Alice Merton, ‘Ashes’ by Celine Dion, ‘Youth’ by Shawn Mendes ft Khalid, ‘Hunger’ by Florence + The Machine, ‘I’ll Be There’ by Jess Glynne, ‘First Time’ by M-22 ft Medina, ‘You Can Cry’ by Marshmello x Juicy J ft James Arthur & maybe even more.

- Thanks for reading everyone! I hope you all have a good weekend. :)

- My latest Crown Note chart: http://crownnote.com/charts/piran-delves/pirans-top-40-74