Official Singles Chart Top 40 on 01/2/2019

My thoughts & observations on the UK charts as always…

- ‘7 Rings’ by Ariana Grande is #1 for a second consecutive week, with a huge lead of 27,000 combined sales! It has been streamed 10.4 million times across the country in the past seven days.

- ‘Dancing With A Stranger’ by Sam Smith & Normani becomes the new #1 on the airplay chart.

- Unsurprisingly, ‘7 Rings’ makes a huge debut at #1 on the national YouTube chart, with 5.85 million views across the country in its opening week.

- J COLE – MIDDLE CHILD (#9)
This is one of those rap songs that I’m really on two minds on. You could say that J Cole is bringing some of his most consistent bars here & the inclusion of the horns & the melodic loop make this at least addictive, but the content seems to be more implications (particularly at Kanye) than shots taken at anyone or anything & there are some awkward references to flexing or other rappers. If you look past all of that though, I’ve got no real issues with this, even if I don’t see J Cole putting out a song that’ll really take me by surprise anytime soon. As such, light 6/10!

- DUA LIPA – SWAN SONG (#25)
As if you didn’t need any more proof that Dua Lipa will continue to be loved by critics in 2019, ‘Swan Song’ only adds to that! While I might not have a ton of interest to see the ‘Alita: Battle Angel’ film coming out in a couple of weeks, the soundtrack looks interesting if Calvin Harris & Mark Ronson are also apparently working on it. Anyway, here, Dua Lipa sounds solid as ever, with the powerful declarations in the hook & her flawless upper range; she sounds angelic! Of course, the percussion choices here are exciting throughout & I also loved the tribal chanting after the hook. The only issue is that the song sets itself up to reach an ultimate climax, which we don’t really seem to get, but of course I’m not going to complain when you consider all the other qualities scattered throughout this awesome new soundtrack single! For me, it’s a strong 8/10.

- YUNGEN FT DAPPY – COMFORTABLE (#32)
I actually found myself liking this song way more than I expected! Most songs from Yungen have had to grow on me & some of them over a matter of weeks or even months, but I could groove to this easily! Both Yungen & Dappy sound convincing in their deliveries & signature flows. There are a couple of cool production elements here I like too, such as the notable bass beats & the guitar plucks attached onto the end of the underlying melody. There is some bragging going on the lyrics, but the content takes an intriguing turn when the girl is asked if she’d stay with the guy if he didn’t have those luxuries. I think there might not be enough dynamics or evolution throughout the song for me to really come back to it, but this was a decent surprise nonetheless. Strong 6/10!

- LITTLE MIX FT TY DOLLA $IGN – THINK ABOUT US (#34)
Hmm… Ty Dolla $ign’s popular among Brits this week it seems, haha! Although, this track actually got a remix & is now being pushed as the next single from ‘LM5’ & while that album as a whole was sadly a bit of a let-down, I’ll certainly give the girls a pass here! This is one of the few tracks from that album that showcases each member’s vocals rather well & as a whole, they inject their fun & curious personalities into the chorus, as well as the bridge being really catchy! I’m not sold on the warbling vocals in the ‘drop’ (if you can call it that) & while the original is better, Ty Dolla $ign fits in fine enough here I guess. It’s definitely not among Little Mix’s best, but you know what, I don’t mind if this sticks around. Solid 6/10.

- A BOOGIE WIT DA HOODIE FT 6IX9INE – SWERVIN’ (#38)
Oh, I’ve been seen this song creeping up the lower reaches of the chart for a while now & it was only matter of time before it was going to hit the Top 40, so let’s get this out of the way fast… basically it’s a rather toxic trap collaboration! I really don’t like how A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie mentions that he makes girls feel nervous, nor that 6ix9ine sounds so out of place in this since it’s so obvious to tell that his part was phoned in. That said, 6ix9ine’s content is exactly what you’d expect (shooting people!) & despite the two working together before, there’s no chemistry here in the slightest & when you add the minimalist production, there’s just nothing left for me to recommend. I stopped caring about it too soon after hearing to get mad at it, but this is still far from anything passable. Solid 3/10!

- KEHLANI FT TY DOLLA $IGN – NIGHTS LIKE THIS (#40)
So if I’ll be totally honest, I’ve never really got Kehlani’s appeal unfortunately. I mean, she’s not a bad singer, but she doesn’t exactly sound all that interesting & given that I have mostly the same issues with Ty Dolla $ign too, I didn’t think I’d get a lot out of this collaboration. Turns out, that’s exactly what happened! I will praise how the production blends modern R&B & the classic cues of the 90s & 00s aspects of that genre, which does match Kehlani’s tone, which probably makes her vocals above average here relative to her other hits or features. However, Ty Dolla $ign doesn’t really sound like he cares all that much & kind of kills the emotion of the song & the chemistry between him & Kehlani, which I would say is fine given the lyrics about dishonesty & misleading relationships, but then I think back to the other songs that are charting right now that take on similar content & how much more I’ll remember them because of their sparkle or finesse, which this song just lacks. As for this, it’s a solid 5/10.

- On the albums chart, Bring Me The Horizon claim their first #1 with ‘Amo’, which accumulated 27,000 combined sales in its opening week (61% of that figure is from physical copies).

- The rest of the Top 5 is: ‘The Greatest Showman’ [Soundtrack] (1-2), ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ [Soundtrack] by Queen (stationary at #3), ‘Staying At Tamara’s’ by George Ezra (2-4) & ‘Toast To Our Differences’ by Rudimental (debuts at #5).

- Looking ahead to next week, these songs could enter the Top 40 for the first time: ‘Bury A Friend’ by Billie Eilish, ‘Permission’ by New Hope Club, ‘Ryan Air’ by Window Kid & Hedex, ‘Desire’ by Sub Focus & Dimension, ‘I’m So Tired…’ by Lauv & Troye Sivan & 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-40-113