Clock Still Ticking
We Don’t Talk About Bruno is No.1 on the Official UK Singles chart for the sixth week, continuing its momentum at the head of the market with a lead once more of more than 20,000 sales over its nearest rival. But consumption of the hit drops again, and indeed more dramatically than last week with the Encanto hit posting 53,355 sales.
This week's desperate search for something new to say about the single leads me to contemplate its status as a No.1 single whose performers are depicted as cartoons. We Don't Talk About Bruno is actually just the latest in a small but extensive line of cartoon chart-topping singles but the first to be credited directly to the voice actors rather than the characters they portray.
In the past we've had Sugar, Sugar (credited to The Archies rather than singer Ron Dante), Do The Bartman (credited to The Simpsons rather than Nancy Cartwright), Chocolate Salty Balls (credited to Chef rather than Isaac Hayes), Can We Fix It and Mambo No.5 (credited to Bob The Builder rather than Neil Morrissey) and not forgetting The Official BBC Children In Need Medley (credited for expediency if nothing else to the ensemble cast of Peter Kay's Animated All-Star Band). But Bruno isn't credited to Pepa Madrigal and the members of her extended family but instead Carolina Gaitan, Mauro Castillo and the other cast members who pop up on the song. Which you will note makes it unique.
Once again we were teased with the prospect of an Encanto 1-2 and once more we were denied. This week's lucky loser is yet again Fireboy DML and Ed Sheeran's Peru, rebounding to No.2 after a week away to claim second spot for a fourth week in total - all of them behind We Don't Talk About Bruno of course. The reason for this rebound is the rather startling exit made by The Joker And The Queen, Ed Sheeran's single plunging dramatically to No.12 in only its second week on the chart. That similarly leaves room for Surface Pressure by Jessica Darrow to reclaim its own No.3 peak, this now the Encanto single's sixth week in the Top 5, all but one of which have been spent at either 3 or 4.
Where Are You Now from Lost Frequencies and Calum Scott makes a new peak at No.4, as does Make Me Feel Good by Belters Only featuring Jazzy a rung below.
YOU LIAR
The week's highest new entry is House On Fire by a returning Mimi Webb, the No.6 entry for the single returning her to the Top 10 for the first time since Good Without peaked at No.8 last summer. A brand new track, not featured on her Seven Shades Of Heartbreak EP, her biggest hit single to date is more than worthy of the accolade. It is a slice of dance-pop that might as well have been lifted from the tracklist of any Miley Cyrus album in the last decade. For that reason it is actually refreshingly normal, devoid of any attempts at production cleverness or genre-bending. It is straightforward teen-friendly radio-saturating pop of the kind there is actually far too little off in the charts, so seeing it here is something of a joy. Pay attention to the songwriting credits too, House On Fire is the first hit composition credited (among others) to ELAM graduate Ines Dunn and whose name is attached to a large number of in-development pop hits.
We mentioned the startling reversal for Ed Sheeran's The Joker And The Queen and indeed it has the ignominy of being overtaken by the now 31-week-old Bad Habits which makes an 18-11 jump to land its highest chart placing since early December. This is thanks to the belated release of the "remix" he first performed at the Brits ceremony earlier this month, an extraordinary collaboration with Bring Me The Horizon which it appears everyone was aching to buy.
Perhaps not entirely coincidentally the Equals album fends off some strong challenges to top the charts in its own right once more, Ed's album returning to the summit for what is only its fourth week at No.1, its third run in total after it spent a fortnight at the top in early January.
It's Grime Up North (and South)
D-Block Europe's Overseas continues its increasingly astounding chart run as it is a Top 10 single for the ninth week in total and it is re-joined in the Top 20 by its immediate successor Make You Smile. Having peaked (for now) at No.15 in early January the track had plunged as low as No.53 but now rockets back to No.19 following an ACR reversal.
The grime spirit of giving your mates a leg-up continues, M24 first charted in February 2020 with No.32 hit London, which featured Tion Wayne on co-vocals, and the pair now return to the chart with credits reversed as Tion Wayne takes centre stage on Knock Knock which debuts at No.21.
Returning to the mid-table hits surely destined for more but for now making heavy work of swimming upstream, Jax Jones and MNEK are up to No.23 with Where Did You Go, George Ezra eases up a single place to No.25 with Anyone For You (it is the most played song on the radio at the moment, but its public consumption lags behind this) but perhaps more interestingly Charlie Puth claims a brand new peak with the much-hyped Light Switch. Since its debut the single has hovered on the cusp of the Top 40, moving 39-42-41-40 but now accelerates - slightly - to a new high of No.31.
What The F-
There's a slew of new Top 40 arrivals that finally make it after some weeks of knocking on the door. Leading the charge is Go which jumps to No.34 for viral star Cat Burns, the single having spent five weeks hovering between 45 and 53. The single is compelling, even if she does say fuck too many times for this old fart to enjoy it properly.
Em Beihold's Numb Little Bug first surfaced in the Top 40 a fortnight ago when it crept to No.38 but after a wobble last week is back now at a new peak of No.36, this again a single which deserves far more.
Wilkinson's newest single Here For You debuted at No.43 last week but it has been quickly eclipsed by its predecessor, Used To This (featuring Issy Cross) which was first released in late January and now hauls itself from the depths to make the Top 40 for the first time at No.39. It is the drum'n'bass producer's first such hit single since Dirty Love made No.20 in October 2014.
Finally for now Bad Boy Chiller Crew land the highest new entry of the week on the albums chart as Disrespectful makes No.2 and they can also celebrate with a second Top 40 hit as BMW creeps to the bottom rung after a five week climb. They previously made No.31 last year with Don't You Worry About Me.
