Charts analysis: Sabrina Carpenter serves up first No.1 single with Espresso

Overseas acts continue to dominate with caffeine queen Sabrina Carpenter becoming the seventh in a row to take the title, as Espresso percolates 5-1 on consumption of 79,627 units (957 digital downloads, 78,670 sales-equivalent streams). A deceptively light and upbeat song using coffee as a metaphor for relationship addiction, it is Carpenter’s only Top 10 hit thus far, easily overshadowing her previous top ranked song, Feather, which reached No.19 in January, Espresso has become the eighth track by Carpenter to achieve lifetime consumption in excess of 100,000 units, ending the week as her fourth biggest song on 178,018 units. Ahead of it are 2023 No.32 hit Nonsense (353,593 units), Feather (314,582 units) and the uncharted Thumbs (188,228 units), which was released in 2016 when Carpenter was just 17. Carpenter’s 2021 debut hit Skin, which reached No.28, has to-date consumption of 140,707 units. Carpenter was the supporting act on the US leg of Taylor Swift’s Eras tour but ends her benefactor’s single week reign at No.1, as Swift’s Post Malone collaboration Fortnight slips 1-2 (79,143 sales). Trailing quite significantly for much of the week, Fortnight benefitted from the late injection of 16,534 CD sales but still managed to lose out by 484 sales. The two other Swift songs from new album The Tortured Poets Department (TTPD) that debuted in the Top 5 last week also suffer declines, with Down Bad dipping 4-10 (33,620 sales), while the title track is now ‘starred-out’ (29,121 sales) between No.10 and No.11. The latter is dismissed under primary artist rules because I Can Do It With A Broken Heart has moved from fourth to second most popular cut on the album, and consequently makes its chart debut at No.8, (40,456 sales). It is Swift’s 74th Top 75 entry, 55th Top 40 and 30th Top 10 hits. In America, where there is no cap on the number of simultaneous hits an act can have, Swift has racked up 263 Hot 100 hits – second only to Drake’s 330 – and 59 Top 10 hits. She has 32 songs in the chart this week, including everything from TTPD, and the entire top 14. Denied a first ever hit four weeks ago, when his Spaghetti collaboration with Beyonce and Linda Martell was ‘starred-out’ between No.26 and No.27, Shaboozey made no mistake two weeks later, when his viral country/rap track, A Bar Song (Tipsy) debuted at No.41. After rising to No.16 last week, the track lurches upwards again, coming to rest at No.6 (41,035 sales). Sabrina Carpenter’s Espresso is the first coffee-themed No.1 since All Saints’ Black Coffee in 2000, but A Bar Song (Tipsy) is the fourth Top 10 hit in recent weeks to mention whiskey in its lyrics (Texas Hold ‘Em, Too Sweet and Austin are the others) and mentions not just generic whiskey but also Jack Daniels by brand. Easing 2-3 this week (61,838 sales), Hozier hit Too Sweet also mentions coffee in its lyrics. The rest of the Top 10: Beautiful Things (6-4, 46,955 sales) by Benson Boone, I Like The Way You Kiss Me (7-5, 45,411 sales) by Artemas, Lose Control (8-7, 40,946 sales) by Teddy Swims and Austin (10-9, 35,187 sales) by Dasha. The others climb on reduced consumption but Austin – which peaked at No.7 a fortnight ago - increases consumption for the 10th week in a row, albeit by 0.04%. ACR ends the 11-week Top 10 run of Texas Hold ‘Em, which plunges 9-27 (15,866 sales) for Beyonce. Originally from Virginia but now based in Los Angeles, 23-year-old singer/rapper Tommy Richman has released several tracks, dating back to 2021, without success but his new song – Million Dollar Baby – went viral after a clip was shared on TikTok, and makes an immediate debut at No.31 (15,191 sales) only a week after release. His new song Stargazing drops next Friday (May 10) but Myles Smith is into the Top 75 for the first time with Solo (76-69, 7,564 sales). Released last November, the introductory hit for the 25-year-old singer/songwriter from Luton has amassed to-date consumption of 98,084 units Also new to the Top 75: Euphoria (No.50, 9,877 sales), a diss track issued in response to Drake’s Push Ups, and the 40th hit for rapper Kendrick Lamar; Love Me Jeje (No.58, 8,736 sales), the fourth hit for Nigerian Afropop singer Tems; If We Being Real (89-64, 7,936 sales), the second hit for Californian rapper Yeat, who featured on Drake’s No.5 hit IDGAF last year; and For Life (feat. Zak Abel & Nile Rodgers, No.75, 7,086 sales), the 17th hit for Norwegian DJ and producer Kygo. Mark Ambor’s first hit, Belong Together, is up one place for the third week in a row, climbing 12-11 (28,865 sales). There are also new peaks for: Tell UR Girlfriend (18-15, 21,085 sales) by Lay Bankz, Good Luck Babe (21-18, 19,834 sales) by Chappell Roan, I Don’t Wanna (27-20, 18,024 sales) by David Guetta & OneRepublic, These Words (35-22, 17,653 sales) by Badger & Natasha Bedingfield, We Ain’t Here For Long (47-45, 11,003 sales) by Nathan Dawe, Feel It (56-53, 9,517 sales) by D4vid, Outside Of Love (59-54, 9,198 sales) by Becky Hill, Starburster (62-59, 8,703 sales) by Fontaines DC and Pedro (67-60, 8,624 sales) by Jaxomy, Agatino Romero & Raffaella Carra. Director Sam Taylor-Johnson’s new Amy Winehouse docudrama Back To Black has garnered mixed reviews, but has generated considerable interest in Winehouse’s back catalogue, with the 2006 album of the same name reaching a three year high at No.17 last week. It now dips to No.19 (4,358 sales) but two of Winehouse’s biggest hits return to the Top 40, while a third returns to the Top 50. Valerie – credited to Mark Ronson feat. Amy Winehouse – climbs 45-38 (11,835 sales) leapfrogging Back To Black (43-39, 11,835 sales), as Tears Dry On Their Own re-enters at No.49 (10,472 sales). Valerie was last higher in 2008, the others in 2011. Overall singles consumption edges up 0.11% week-on-week to a new high of 29,836,597 units, 9.82% above same week 2023 consumption of 27,169,851 units. Paid-for sales are down 2.66% week-on-week at 297,644 – 0.83% above same week 2023 sales of 295,197.

Charts analysis: Taylor Swift's The Tortured Poets Department goes platinum in second week at summit

Eleven new albums debut on the Top 75 this week but none of them is strong enough to unseat The Tortured Poets Department (TTPD), which secures an easy second week at No.1 for Taylor Swift on consumption of 49,698 units. It now has sales to date of 319,789. Selling 4,694 CDs, 3,224 vinyl albums, 35 cassettes, 1,174 digital downloads and achieving 40,571 sales-equivalent streams in its latest frame, TTPD draws 18.36% of its total from sales and 81.64% from streaming, a big switch from last week when it was 70.79% sales and 29.21% streaming. It is the fourth of 12 No.1 albums by Swift to spend its second week on the chart at the apex – the others being Folklore, Midnights and 1989 (Taylor’s Version). TTPD has the highest second week consumption yet for a Swift album, replacing Midnights, which fell 76.47% second week to 48,113 units in 2022. Ahead of Swift on the first couple of sales flashes but never in with a real chance of becoming No.1, because of her far superior streaming power, the Pet Shop Boys’ new set, Nonetheless (No.2, 22,419 sales) nonetheless gave the veteran synth-pop duo their highest chart position since compilation Alternative reached No.2 in 1995. The 15th studio album by the pair – 64-year-old keyboards player Chris Lowe and 69-year-old vocalist Neil Tennant – it extends to more than 38 years their impressive, uninterrupted run of Top 10 studio albums. It is the most of any duo – Erasure, who started their album chart career the same year, and have been more productive, issuing 19 studio albums, (including four No.1s in a row) have overall been less successful, with only eight Top 10 albums in total, and no more than five in a row, a third of The Pet Shop Boys’ ongoing total. Including compilations, live sets, soundtracks, mini albums et al, The Pet Shop Boys have had 19 Top 10 and 29 Top 75 albums but 1993 release Very – their fifth studio album – remains their only No.1. Nonetheless’ sales-equivalent streams of 811 units - less than 1/50th of those of TTPD – failed to earn it a place on the Top 200 artist album streaming chart. However, it was easily No.1 album on both physical and overall paid-for sales, with a total of 21,608, comprising 10,815 CDs, 7,761 vinyl albums, 527 cassettes, 1,218 blu-ray discs and 1,287 digital downloads. First week consumption of Nonetheless were 33.70% above the 16,768 start made by the last PSBs album, 2020’s Hotspot, and their highest since their 10th studio album Yes opened with sales of 27,639 in 2009. St. Vincent racks up her third straight Top 10 entry, and fifth Top 75 entry with eighth album, All Born Screaming, debuting at No.5 (6,989 sales). The 41-year-old singer/songwriter – real name Annie Clark – played keyboards, guitars, drums and even a theremin on the album, also writing every track (one with Cate Le Bon) and producing the set. Her blockbusting debut album, I Cry When I Laugh, opened at No.1 on consumption of 59,117 units in 2015, and follow-up, Always In Between, shifted 36,449 copies repeating the position in 2018 but Jess Glynne’s third album – entitled simply Jess – makes a more subdued debut this week, entering at No.6 (6,829 sales). I Cry When I Laugh has to-date consumption of 1,510,678 units, Always In Between 577,641. Liverpool band The Zutons’ energetic brand of indie rock resulted in Top 10 placings for all of the three albums they released before disbanding in 2009. Returning in 2018, they have finally released their fourth album, The Big Decider, sixteen years after the third. Produced by the legendary Nile Rodgers, it debuts at No.7 (6,753 sales). All of their current members – 43-year-old singer/rhythm guitarist Dave McCabe, 45-year-old drummer Sean Payne and 41-year-old saxophonist Abi Harding – have been stalwarts of the band since before the release of their 2004 debut, the No.6 success Who Killed The Zutons, which remains their biggest-seller (674,565 sales). The rest of the Top 10: The Highlights (4-3, 8,340 sales) by The Weeknd, Guts (6-4, 7,209 sales) by Olivia Rodrigo, Cowboy Carter (3-8, 6,716 sales) by Beyonce, Stick Season (7-9, 6,133 sales) by Noah Kahan and 50 Years: Don’t Stop (8-10, 5,701 sales) by Fleetwood Mac. Exiting the Top 10; Gold: Greatest Hits (10-11, 5,446 sales) by Abba, Rumours (9-27, 3,779 sales) by Fleetwood Mac, Dark Matter (2-123, 1,583 sales) by Pearl Jam and UB45 (5-176, 1,228 sales) by UB40. No.89 when first released last November, Icelandic singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Laufey’s second album, Goddess, has been released in a new, expanded edition across all formats and makes its and her introductory Top 75 appearance as a result, opening at No.13 (4,945 sales). Also new to the Top 75: Boy (No.22, 4,058 sales) a seven song, 23-minute EP by Australian singer Luke Hemmings, who has topped the chart as a member of 5 Seconds Of Summer but only reached No.51 with his only full length solo album, When Facing The Things We Turn Away From in 2021; PartyNextDoor 4 (No.26, 3,850 sales), the fourth album and fourth Top 75 entry by Canadian R&B singer/songwriter PartyNextDoor; Hyperdrama (No.34, 3,190 sales), the fourth album and highest chart entry by French duo Justice, arriving 17 years after their debut and more than seven years after their last album; Forgiveness Is Yours (No.61, 2,331 sales), the fourth album and third chart entry for eclectic London-based sextet Fat White Family; Against All Odds (No.63, 2,283 sales), the first chart entry by 26-year-old Liverpool drill rapper Michael Graham as Mazza-L20; and Parked Car Conversations (No.74, 2,062 sales), the fourth album and third chart entry for Irish band, Picture This. No.40 in 1998, Roseland NYC Live by Portishead is the subject of a slightly late 25th anniversary edition. Remastered and expanded, it re-enters at No.51 (2,459 sales). Teddy Swims has released a 1.5 edition of his debut album I’ve Tried Everything But Therapy (Part 1), adding four new tracks. It responds by jumping 95-33 (3,262 sales) to achieve its highest position for 13 weeks. Its return to No.1 on the compilation chart reflecting only how weak that market is, The Greatest Showman soundtrack – from 2017 - secures its 42nd week at the apex in total on consumption of 2,766 units (141 CDs, 44 vinyl albums, 55 digital downloads and 2,526 sales-equivalent streams). Overall album sales are down 9.93% week-on-week at 2,460,878, 5.06% above same week 2023 sales of 2,342,365. Physical product accounts for 330,216 sales, 13.42% of the total.