Official Singles Chart on 2/11/2018

How strange. Bohemian Rhapsody has a different record label on this Chart. On this one it says Island Records and on the 1975 Charts it's say EMI records.

Venom by eminem

My thoughts & observations on the UK charts as always…

- ‘Shallow’ by Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper is #1 on the singles chart for a second week in a row.

- ‘Woman Like Me’ by Little Mix ft Nicki Minaj reaches #1 on the national airplay chart.

- ‘Girls Like You’ by Maroon 5 ft Cardi B remains at the top of the country’s YouTube chart. It accumulated 3.49 million views over the past week, indicating a 3.4 percent increase compared to the week before.

- XXXTENTACION & LIL PUMP FT MALUMA & SWAE LEE – ARMS AROUND YOU (#14)
In a week where we only have three new arrivals, I’m kind of confused why this is the highest; it didn’t have much stability on streaming this week, YouTube wasn’t massive & neither were sales, but the other reason I’m baffled is that there’s nothing here that indicates hit potential. Spanish vocals can’t stop XXXTENTACION from lacking any personality, even if he does try a bit harder in the hook. Swae Lee vocals are just average for a song with him on it, nothing worth commenting on there, but it was probably Maluma that disappointed me the most here, as he just doesn’t fit in with the artists very well at all. What’s also frustrating is that Lil Pump actually has a cool flow here & it sounds like he actually cares for once, which I’d actually be on board with... if the content wasn’t about: girls, cars & brands, or in other words, generic trap lyrics (but at least it’s an improvement). Skrillex’s production also saves me from disliking this, but outside of that, I ultimately don’t care about a lot here. On that note, it’s a light 5/10 from me.

- BILLIE EILISH – WHEN THE PARTY’S OVER (#34)
The fact that anyone can get their first Top 40 hit at the age of just 16 without any significant promotion is one interesting factor here, but the other is how intrigued & impressed lots of critics are with Billie Eilish! I’ve seen the appeal behind her music for about a year now & thankfully, this song isn’t any different! Her restrained delivery which almost reaches a cappella at some points instantly reminded me of something Lana Del Rey would put out which is certainly a positive for me! Billie Eilish also has a surprising amount of confidence to go into a darker territory in pop music, while also sounding compelling in doing so! The production might go to the back of your mind on the surface, but dig a little deeper & the piano has a very fascinating melody & the simmering bass sells the attitude of this song even more. I don’t think radio will excessively play this, but given how boring the charts have been in 2018, we really needed this! For me, it’s a solid 8/10 for now.

- ELLIE GOULDING X DIPLO FT SWAE LEE – CLOSE TO ME (#36)
When you look at the names attached to this song, it’s not exactly a collaboration that you would’ve seen coming at all. Anyway, if there’s one thing that clearly hasn’t changed about Ellie, it’s her beautiful & distinct vocals, which shine really well on this production (which also seems to fit for Swae Lee as well). Unfortunately, it’s Swae Lee who lets this song down slightly, having very little chemistry with Ellie & bringing rather profane lyrics for the second verse, even if I don’t mind his signature smooth delivery. Diplo’s work here is enjoyable & gentle in the verses, but the drop unfortunately ruins the otherwise catchy hook. Now, I’m not saying that this is bad by any means, but given some of the biggest hits Ellie Goulding has had, I honestly expected this to blow me away & it just didn’t. So while I’m giving this a solid 6/10, it’s hard not to feel a sense of disappointment here, sorry.

- On the albums chart, ‘Si’ becomes Andrea Bocelli’s first ever #1 & the first classical album to hit #1 since 1996!

- ‘A Star Is Born’ [Soundtrack] (1-2), ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ [Soundtrack] by Queen (5-3), ‘The Greatest Showman’ [Soundtrack] (2-4, 42nd week in Top 5), ‘Jubilee Road’ by Tom Odell (debuts at #5).

- Looking ahead to next week, these songs could enter the Top 40 for the first time: ‘Photographs’ by Professor Green ft Rag’n’Bone Man, ‘Joan Of Arc’ by Little Mix, ‘A Million Dreams’ by P!NK, ‘The Greatest Show’ by Panic! At The Disco, ‘Baby’ by Clean Bandit ft Marina & Luis Fonsi, ‘I Found You’ by Benny Blanco & Calvin Harris, ‘1999’ by Charli XCX & Troye Sivan, 'Polaroid' by Jonas Blue, Liam Payne & Lennon Stella, 'Back To Life' by Hailee Steinfeld, 'Thank U, Next' by Ariana Grande & maybe even more.

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

- My latest Crown Note chart: https://crownnote.com/charts/piran-delves/pirans-top-40-100
(next one should be posted over the weekend)