Hoist The Mainbrace
For the first time in what seems like a sod of a long time there is no Sabrina Carpenter song at No.1 on the Official UK Singles chart, nor indeed is there any prospect of their being one in the immediate future. As Taste vanishes 1-11, as predicted falling to ACR at the earliest opportunity, a neat void has been created at the top of the charts.
In line with midweek predictions said void is filled by last week's No.2 single as the intriguing Sailor Song by Gigi Perez takes pride of place at the summit. It completes a remarkably leisurely ascent for the single, a track which began its chart life way back in August, some 14 weeks ago. Its journey up the charts was characterised by several incidents of becalming, the single notable spending a fortnight at positions 35, 13 and 11 along the way. But since making the Top 10 its progress has been uninterrupted, halving its chart position each week (almost) to move 6-3-2-1. Written and produced by Perez alone, it means she joins the vanishingly small number of women to compose and helm their own No.1 singles totally solo. And yes, we can still argue until the cows come home whether Tori Amos' Professional Widow counts as part of that list.
The success of the track also completes a rather circular rise to fame for the New Jersey singer-songwriter. She first started posting songs to TikTok in 2020 to assuage her grief over the death of her sister. A deal with Interscope records followed but when this failed to produce any commercial hits (despite support slots with acts such as Coldplay) she was released. Sailor Song was the third single she self-released in 2024, its success resulting in Island records snapping her up and indeed taking over distribution of the track at the start of October, one week before it made the Top 10 for the first time.
Sailor Song also continues an enjoyably mini theme of unabashed gay female love songs achieving major chart success. First came Charli XCX's gender-ambiguous TASTE which was gatecrashed by Billie Eilish turning it into a sapphic erotica, coincidental with her own extended chart run with Birds Of A Feather. And then of course there has been Chappell Roan, flooding the charts with her own gay anthems and in particular Good Luck Babe. Sisters are no longer just doing it for themselves, in the charts of 2024 they are also doing it to each other.
APT, In Faith
It was briefly in contention, ultimately falling behind, but it is nonetheless a joy to see Rose & Bruno Mars surge to No.2 with APT. Which I'm fairly certain makes it the biggest K-pop track to hit the charts since Gangam Style a full 12 years ago. Yes, it wears western influences on its sleeve and it is as much a Mars hit as it is hers, but Rose has the honour of performing the biggest-ever crossover hit single by one of her countrywomen ever. And although a particular seasonal clock is ticking, it still has room to go higher.
Having spent the first part of the summer wondering just how Sabrina Carpenter grew so massive so suddenly, I guess we also have to contemplate this in terms of Gracie Abrams. Without anyone paying attention she now has two simultaneous Top 5 hits as the previously unreleased That's So True jumps 19-3, with the already well-established I Love You, I'm Sorry returning to the No.4 peak it first scaled a fortnight ago. Both tracks come from her second album The Secret Of Us, That's So True from its recently issued second edition.
Sick And Wrong
Also initially touted as a potential No.1 single based on early sales flashes, Lady Gaga's Disease faded a little as the week went on but does more than enough to qualify for a Top 10 debut, smashing its way to No.7. Her second hit single in the last three months, hard on the heels of Die With A Smile, the track sees the musical chameleon take on yet another new persona with an intense and dark EDM track that is a world away from the pop-dance with which she first made her name but which somehow manages to be the most intriguing record your will hear all week. It is tempting to wonder if this ishuge on its own merits or just because of Gaga's name value - but given how she struggled to buy a chart hit last time around in 2022 we can probably lean towards the "merits" part of the argument. Disease is her 16th Top 10 single all told. And you write her off at your peril.
The Top 10 is rounded off by Addison Rae's Diet Pepsi which edges its way to a new peak of No.10. This does mean we have a female dominated chart once more. The presence of Bruno Mars and Sonny Fodera notwithstanding, the only track in this week's Top 10 to have no female involvement at all is KSI and Trippie Red's Thick Of It, still clinging on at No.8.
Created
This week's No.1 album was an unexpected one. Having led the race all week The Courteeners eventually surrendered the chart crown to Tyler The Creator as the rapper's superior streaming prowess meant he came good towards the end of the week - this despite the album not appearing online until Monday. Chromakopia is his first chart album since 2021 and at a stroke becomes his biggest. His last two releases Igor and Call Me If You Get Lost both peaked at No.4.
A massively streamed album inevitably means a good smattering of chart hits. So step forward Tyler's three chart hits of the week: St. Chroma as new entry at No.15, the already-charting Noid which vaults to No.16, and Darling I which is also new at No.24.
Spookily Small
With Halloween slotting in nicely at the very end of the chart week, it is time for the annual low-key invasion of the horror-themed back catalogue. The power of playlisting means that for the second year running Danny Elfman's This Is Halloween leads the charge, although its No.14 peak from last year is a mere No.41 chart entry this time around. There are also perennial chart returns for Thriller (No.51), Ghostbusters (No.68) and Monster Mash (No.71) with Somebody's Watching Me sliding in at the basement at No.96. The charting of these hits is possibly slightly more muted than it might have been - October 31st fell on a Thursday meaning many of their streams from the likes of Spotify and Apple Music were not directly counted (US based services always report a day late) and instead had to be guesstimated from their naturally much lower levels from earlier in the week.
But speaking of perennials, the moment I'm afraid has arrived. Per the pattern of the last few years this week is the last singles chart until January to contain no Christmas records. All things being equal the Big Two whose identities you can surely guess will both begin their annual journeys to the chart summit next week, although that said Alan Jones in Music Week (with greater access to data than I) muses that said festive tracks are actually lagging behind the momentum they already had this time last year. So make of that what you will.
But rather than be miserable about the chart's annual descent into proper irrelevance I figured it was time to make the most of it. So I'm pleased to announce the launch of the Chart Watch UK Yule Log, the weekly running tally of just how many festive songs have invaded the Top 100 - and just how fast they do it.
We begin this week with zero. Will the final chart of the year beat last year's record of 80? This is the place to find out.
