Charts analysis: James score first No.1 studio album

Twenty-six years to the month after they topped the chart with compilation The Best Of, indie rock legends James finally return to No.1 with 18th studio album, Yummy on consumption of 18,542 units (11,651 CDs, 4,695 vinyl albums, 1,623 digital downloads, 573 sales-equivalent streams). Still spearheaded by 1982 founder members Tim Booth (vocals) and Jim Glennie (bass), it is their first album as a nontet, arriving just 10 months after they reached No.3 (13,972 sales) with its immediate predecessor, Be Opened By The Wonderful, on which they reimagined previously recorded material in stripped-down orchestral versions. Their 20th Top 75 and 12th Top 10 album, Yummy arrives at the summit nearly 38 years after their introductory 1986 album Stutter debuted and peaked at No.68. Four of their subsequent studio albums reached No.2 – Gold Mother (1990), Seven (1992), Millionaires (1999) and Girl At The End Of The World (2016). It secures James’ highest debut sale since Millionaires opened its account with 34,136 pure sales in 1999. Their biggest ever first week sale came from The Best Of, which sold 58,503 copies as it toppled Celine Dion from No.1 in 1998. Although they have released subsequent, more comprehensive compilations, The Best Of remains James’ biggest selling album, with to-date consumption of 1,013,286 units. The only other act to have their first No.1 studio album further into their chart career than James is The Specials, who topped with Encore in 2019, more than 39 years after their debut, breaking the record held by The Eagles since their one and only No.1, Long Road Out Of Eden in 2007, came more than 34 years after their 1974 chart debut. James have taken the record for most charted studio albums before reaching No.1 (17) – The Specials had only four previously charting studio albums, and The Eagles five. Incidentally, The Eagles score their 11th chart album in total with new compilation To The Limit: The Essential Collection debuting at No.43 (2,891 sales). Like James, their only million seller is a compilation which achieved seven figures within the last year, specifically their 2003 No.9 album, The Complete Greatest Hits, which has to-date consumption of 1,044,217 units. Mark Knopfler’s 10th regular solo studio album – 18th including soundtracks – One Deep River debuts at No.3 (14,996 sales), equalling the highest solo chart position yet for the 74-year-old Glasgow-born Geordie, matching the peak of 2015 set, Tracker. As leader of Dire Straits, Knopfler racked up four No.1 albums between 1982 and 1991; and reached No.2 with Missing: Presumed Having a Good Time, his only release fronting one-off country rock band The Notting Hillbillies in 1990. Across his entire career, One Deep River is his 20th Top 10 album. In Germany, it debuts at No.1 this week, becoming his seventh chart-topper there in total, and fourth solo. Seven years after their most recent studio effort, Californian rockers Linkin Park’s first ever bona fide hits set, Papercuts (Singles Collection 2000-2023), debuts at No.4 (10,830 sales). It is their 15th Top 75 and ninth Top 10 entry. Former martial arts fighter Kris Barras fell short of the Top 75 with his first two albums – Lucky 13 in 2016 and The Divine And Dirty in 2018 – fronting his eponymous band, but gets more popular with every release. Third album, Light It Up, reached No.49 in 2019, fourth album Death Valley Paradise reached No.27 in 2022, and this week his Earache label debut, Halo Effect, opens at No.5 (10,427 sales, including 25 USB sticks). The 38-year-old singer/songwriter is from Torquay. Leeds indie quartet English Teacher’s first full-length album, This Could Be Texas, debuts at No.8 (7,807 sales). Glasgow hard rock veterans Gun’s ninth studio album in a 35-year-chart career, Hombres is their eighth chart entry, third Top 10 album and highest-charting set since Swagger reached No.5 in 1994, opening at No.10 (7,166 sales). Some 88.11% of that total (6,314 sales) is physical (4,751 CDs, 1,493 vinyl, 70 cassettes). 3,513 of those physical sales are in Scotland, where the album duly debuts at No.1. Increased physical availability more than offset declining streaming to help boost consumption of Beyonce’s Cowboy Carter by 3.20% week-on-week to 15,355 units as it holds at No.2. It is still No.1 on streaming, despite its consumption there tumbling 32.99% week-on-week to 8,894 units, while its pure sales are up 302.05% to 6,461. The rest of the Top 10: The Highlights (6-6, 8,552 sales) by The Weeknd, Guts (5-7, 7,862 sales) by Olivia Rodrigo and Stick Season (10-9, 7,298 sales) by Noah Kahan. After debuting at No.1 last week, All Quiet On The Eastern Esplanade plummets to No.93 (1,935 sales) for The Libertines. Also exiting the Top 10: Eternal Sunshine (9-13, 5,740 sales) by Ariana Grande, Might Delete Later (7-51, 2,568 sales) by J Cole, Found Heaven (4-121, 1,570 sales) by Conan Gray, I Wonder If The World Knows (3-148, 1,387 sales) by The K’s and last week’s No.8, Black/Red by Feeder, which exits the Top 200 (611 sales). Three weeks after their first collaboration, We Don’t Trust You, debuted at No.2, We Still Don’t Trust You opens at No.11 (6,680 sales) for rapper Future and producer Metro Boomin. It is Future’s 14th charted album, Metro Boomin’s sixth. Also new to the Top 75: Don’t Forget Me (No.12, 6,096 sales), the third album – all charted – for 29-year-old American singer/songwriter Maggie Rogers; Silence Is Loud (No.16, 5,517 sales), the first full-length album and first chart entry for 24-year-old jungle/drum’n’bass singer/songwriter Nia Archives from Bradford; I’m Doing It Again, Baby (No.37, 3,389 sales), the second album for 25-year-old Norwegian alt-pop singer/songwriter Girl In Red, whose 2021 debut, If I Could Make It Go Quiet, reached No.7 and has to-date consumption of 50,577 units; The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess (129-68, 2,236 sales), the first album by 26-year-old American singer/songwriter Kayleigh Amstutz as Chappell Roan; and San Vito (No.71, 2,207 sales), the seventh album and sixth Top 75 entry for The Feeling. Newly expanded and remixed, Manic Street Preachers’ 2004 No.13 album Lifeblood re-enters at No.27 (4,182 sales), while the release of a special orange Coachella ‘festival edition’ of Lana Del Rey’s Did You Know There’s A Tunnel… brings the 2023 chart-topper back into the Top 75 after a gap of 17 weeks at No.39 (3,217 sales), and a new deluxe edition of Chris Brown’s 2023 No.11 album 11:11 expands its track count from 22 to 35, and earn it a re-entry at No.40 (3,129 sales). Its consumption down 2.94% week-on-week to 4,989 units, 1989 (Taylor’s Version) drifts 15-18 for Taylor Swift. That’s the lowest position of its 25-week chart tenure, although it remains the highest-charting of her seven concurrent Top 75 albums. The last time you would have to go this far down the chart to find an album by Swift was on October 21, 2022 – immediately before the release of Midnights – when Folklore led the way, at No.24. She will, of course, secure her 12th No.1 next week with The Tortured Poets Department, which dropped today (April 19). Now That’s What I Call Music! 117 spends a second week atop the compilation chart (3,820 sales including 3,305 CDs and 515 digital downloads). Overall album sales are up 0.49% week-on-week at 2,396,004, 10.18% above same week 2023 sales of 2,174,548. Physical product accounts for 305,160 sales, 12.74% of the total. PHOTO: Paul W Dixon

Charts analysis: Hozier scores first No.1 single with Too Sweet

How sweet it is: Bouncing Beyonce’s Texas Hold ‘Em (1-3, 45,999 sales) from pole position, and blocking Benson Boone’s Beautiful Things (2-2, 51,533 sales) from reclaiming it, Too Sweet becomes the first ever No.1 for Hozier. Taken from Hozier’s Unheard EP, Too Sweet jumps 4-1 with consumption surging 46.35% week-on-week to 61,030 units (1,004 digital downloads, 60,026 sales-equivalent streams), to surpass the No.2 peak of his 2014 debut smash, Take Me To Church. A 34-year-old singer/songwriter from County Wicklow, Hozier is the first act from the Republic Of Ireland to have a No.1 single since 2006, when Westlife topped for the 14th and last time with The Rose. Before Hozier, the last Irish solo act to have a No.1 was Ronan Keating, who topped in 2002 with Tomorrow Never Comes. Full name Andrew John Hozier-Byrne, Hozier is one of seven writers of Too Sweet. Surprisingly, he is only the third solo artist born in Ireland to have a hand in writing their own No.1. The first was Gilbert O’Sullivan, who topped with Clair and Get Down – both of which he wrote in their entirety – within a 21-week purple patch at the end of 1972 and the start of 1973. The second was Enya who co-penned her 1988 No.1, Orinoco Flow. Cheers!: Too Sweet is the second No.1 in a row with ‘whiskey’ in its lyrics, following Texas Hold ‘Em – and the Top 10’s only new entry Austin by Dasha, also mentions whiskey. After three straight weeks at No.15 – something that (appropriately) 15 songs have done before with none of them making it to four weeks – Austin takes a big upwards lurch, jumping to No.8, its consumption increasing for the seventh week in a row to 29,213 units. I Like The Way You Kiss Me continues to grow for Artemas, climbing 6-5 (41,449 sales). The 24-year-old from Oxfordshire lands his second Top 40 hit as earlier release If U Think I’m Pretty jumps 52-39 (10,339 sales). The rest of the Top 10: Lose Control (3-4, 43,909 sales) by Teddy Swims, End Of Beginning (7-6, 34,125 sales) by Djo, We Can’t Be Friends (Wait For Your Love) (5-7, 32,363 sales) by Ariana Grande plus re-entries Scared To Start (12-9, 25,415 sales) by Michael Marcagi and Stick Season (11-10, 23,745 sales) by Noah Kahan. Jolene (8-16, 18,745 sales) and II Most Wanted (with Miley Cyrus 9-17, 18,208 sales) both exit the Top 10 for Beyonce. Rapper J Cole’s eighth album, Might Delete Later, provides three of the four highest new entries, namely H.Y.B. (No.29, 18,672 sales), 7 Minute Drill (No.38, 10,363 sales) and Crocodile Tearz (No.53, 8,734 sales). He has now had 23 Top 75 hits, of which 14 have made the Top 40. H.Y.B. is a collaboration with Bas and London rapper Central Cee, providing Bas’ first hit and Central Cee’s 31st. Despite their American accents and credentials, Cole was born in Germany, Bas in France. Heavily influenced by O-Zone’s 2004 No.3 smash Dragonstea Din Tei (Mi Ya Hi), I Don’t Wanna Wait debuts at No.37 (10,835 Sales) for David Guetta & OneRepublic. It is Guetta’s 62nd Top 75 (49th Top 40) hit, OneRepublic’s 14th Top 75 (10th Top 40) hit. While his former No.1 Beautiful Things holds at No.2, Slow It Down climbs 27-23 (15,249 sales) and his fifth hit, Cry, debuts at No.67 (7,667 sales) for Benson Boone. All three are from his first album, Fireworks & Rollerblades, which debuts at No.16 this week. Also new to the Top 75: Feel It (No.59, 8,037 sales), the third hit for Texan teen D4vd; and Good Luck, Babe! (No.64, 7,811 sales), the first hit for 26-year-old American singer/songwriter Kayleigh Amstutz as Chappell Roan. Into the Top 20 on only its third chart appearance, Mark Ambor’s first hit, Belong Together climbs 22-14 (19,470 sales). No.25 last October, Jungle’s Back On 74 revived when they performed it at the BRIT Awards earlier this month. Gaining further impetus from TikTok, it returned to its peak position of No.25 last week and now jumps to No.19 (16,899 sales). Although all of the London band’s four albums have made the Top 10, Back On 74 is their only Top 75 single. It is taken from the latest, Volcano, which reached No.3 last August and which is enjoying a gentle eruption in interest at the moment, with a 28.77% upswing week-on-week to 1,184 units bringing it back into the Top 200 at No.187. Back On 74 is on track to become Jungle’s most consumed track, with a to-date tally of 268,516 units. Ahead of it is only Busy Earnin’ – my favourite single of 2014, it anyone is interested - which never quite made the published chart, peaking at No.103, and has thus far achieved consumption of 442,972 units. A year to the week since it peaked at No.20, Hell N Back, the viral first hit for Bakar - 30-year-old Londoner Abubakar Baker Shariff-Farr – is getting renewed love from TikTok, with growing consumption for the sixth week in a row powering its re-entry to the chart at No.26 (14,449 sales). Originally released in 2019, the track’s current resurgence is due mostly to the 2023 remix casting it as a duet between Bakar and American R&B singer Summer Walker. To-date consumption of Hell N Back stands at 845,983 units. On its 17th appearance in the Top 75 (27th in the Top 100), Evergreen climbs 38-36 (10,867 sales) for Richy Mitch & The Coal Miners, passing the No.37 peak it established four weeks ago. There are also new peaks for: Birds In The Sky (20-18, 17,703 sales) by NewEra, Happier (26-21, 16,453 sales) by The Blessed Madonna & Clementine Douglas, Jump (62-43, 9,859 sales) by Tyla, Gunna & Skillibeng and We Ain’t Here For Long (55-49, 9,025 sales) by Nathan Dawe. Overall singles consumption is up 1.80% week-on-week to 28,394,107 units, 15.16% above same week 2023 consumption of 24,656,954 units. Paid-for sales are down 2.89% week-on-week at 268,313 – 0.35% below same week 2023 sales of 269,247.

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