The newly-issued Polydor album looks an absolute certainty to top the UK artist albums chart this weekend with Official Charts Company data showing that by the end of business on Tuesday it had outsold its nearest seven challengers combined.

The strong sales for the US singer-songwriter are just what the market desperately needs after Asylum/Atlantic act Ed Sheeran's + returned to number one last Sunday with the lowest sales for a chart-topping album since September 1995, just 20,607 copies. That ...