What Does This All Mean?
Three is the magic number this week. Or perhaps it might be four. We can workshop that a little if it seems appropriate.
Three you see is the number of weeks Taylor Swift has reigned supreme on both singles and albums charts. After appearing in danger of being overcome by new releases, the still magnificent streaming power of Life Of A Showgirl retains its place at the summit of the Official UK Albums chart. To do this in the present albums market is, as most regular chartwatchers will tell you, vanishingly rare. In fact the last album to land three consecutive weeks at No.1 was Eminem’s The Death Of Slim Shady in July 2024 - although this did come just a few weeks after an album called The Tortured Poets Department spent four straight weeks at the summit. That was performed by a lady called Taylor Swift. You may have heard of her.
Three is also the number of weeks The Fate Of Ophelia has spent at No.1, although there were vague signs during the course of the week that its tenure may not be as secure as she would like. Certainly the gap between the smash hit and the rest of the market - OK the other two big hitters in the market - is smaller than ever. This week The Fate Of Ophelia lands a mere 67,888 chart sales - just over 4.5k ahead of its nearest rival.
Said nearest rival is once more Olivia Dean’s Man I Need, as once more despite trailing Golden for many of the midweek sales flashes it has come good in the end to rest once more in the bridesmaid slot. This is now the former No.1 single’s seventh week in total as a No.2 hit. Although that is still some way from being a record, and alas Man I Need will feel the icy blade of the ACR axe next time out.
So enjoy this moment while it lasts, Olivia Dean bending the chart rules in her favour one last time to occupy not three but fully four rungs of the Top 10. So Easy (To Fall In Love) is up at No.6, Nice To Each Other is down at No.8, and after four weeks away Reign Me In is back in the Top 10 at No.10. The latter lists Sam Fender as the primary artist - more of him anon - meaning Ms Dean is merely the guest star. But still has a credit on 40% of the Top 10.
Taylor herself has to be content with just three hits (although under old rules you can take it as read she would have had plenty more). Opalite is this week’s No.5, Elizabeth Taylor resting at No.7. Both are slowly but surely sinking too.
Broken Glass Admiring
The Saja Boys have been fully vanquished. Your Idol succumbs to ACR this week, meaning the door is now open for Huntr/X to have three chart singles of their own for the very first time. No.3 hit Golden (still immune to ACR for now) is joined in the Top 10 by How It’s Done which moves to a new peak of No.9, but both are merely warm ups for the long overdue debut of the movie’s climactic track What It Sounds Like which after many, many weeks of being starred-out makes its debut for real at No.13.
So let’s break this down. Three hits for Taylor Swift, four for Olivia Dean and two more for Huntr/X leaves just one place in in the Top 10 for anyone else. Step forward RAYE whose Where Is My Husband edges back up to No.4. Sam Fender you will note is the only man who is anywhere near the top end of the charts.
Died And Came To Life
I love it when a plan comes together, lavish praise for Sienna Spiro’s Die On This Hill was not misplaced. It jumps 10 places for a new peak of No.16 and is surely heading for the Top 10 for perhaps a quick pre-Christmas chart run. And surely a longer one after.
Back then to Sam Fender, in the news and rightly so this week after People Watching was awarded the 2025 Mercury Music Prize. The album and all its previous hit tracks get a boost off the back of that triumph (the title track is back in the Top 40 at No.26), but he also lands the second highest new entry of the week. The occasion is yet another teaser track (The Olivia Dean version of Reign Me In the first) from the forthcoming special edition of the album. Talk To You features a genuine superstar co-credit in the shape of Elton John although this is something of a conceit given you will search the bits of the track in vain for his voice. His is apparently the piano playing on the hit. And for whatever reason that is worthy of a co-performing credit. Hey, if it is good enough for Paul McCartney then why not.
A Land Down Under
The arrival of his new album Deadbeat (this week’s No.4) means Australian noisemaker Tame Impala has not one but two Top 40 hits this week - a 200% increase on his past chart form. The topical Dracula rockets to No.21 this week, and it is joined by album cut My Old Ways at No.39.
Meanwhile another performer of Australian descent makes a chart return in a most unexpected manner. We last heard from Joji way back in 2022 when the ethereal and rather beautiful Glimpse Of Us made a welcome No.12 with the follow-up Die For You creeping to No.39 later that year. Never one to make the same record twice, the Japanese-Australian content creator lands back on the chart this week with Pixelated Kisses, a new entry at No.37. This one is different to say the least, a low-fi distorted bass rumble that delivers a vibe rather than a song. It is also vanishingly short, just 1:50 in length. But that means you get to listen to it 2 or 3 times before deciding you still can’t understand what it is all about.
To End On A Down Note
It is Halloween week next week, so expect the usual low level chart influx of spooky classics (although perhaps alas still not AllStars’ Things That Go Bump In The Night which is always overlooked). After which we begin the march to Christmas. Stay tuned for just how many new things I can find to write about the same parade of oldies.
