Calvin Harris is heading to the top of the UK singles chart for the first time in more than three years as Jake Bugg and Leona Lewis fight a close battle for album honours.
Harris, whose last three fronted hits have all peaked at No 2 in the UK, currently sits at No 1 in the midweeks with his newly-issued Columbia track Sweet Nothing, according to the Official Charts Company. He is paired on the release with Florence Welch having previously helped Florence + The Machine top the singles countdown for the first time thanks to a remix of Spectrum.
The Scottish DJ and artist's first and only No 1 single in his own right to date is I'm Not Alone in 2009, although he has led the listigs in conjunction with Dizzee Rascal (2008) and Rihanna (2011). Sweet Nothing is significantly ahead of its closest rival, Virgin act Swedish House Mafia featuring John Martin's Don't You Worry Child, which debuted at No 1 last Sunday. However, matters are far less clear at this stage of the week in the artist albums market.
At present just a few thousand sales separate the self-titled debut album from Mercury act Jake Bugg and Leona Lewis's third Syco album and fellow brand new release Glassheart with Bugg ahead. Lewis's two previous albums Spirit and Echo both reached No 1.
Having climbed back to No 1 last Sunday, Gentlemen Of The Road/Island act Mumford & Sons fall to 3 in the midweeks with Babel, while Muse's Helium 3/Warner Bros set The 2nd Law dips 3-5 and Ellie Goulding's Polydor set Halcyon is down to 6 having debuted at 2 last weekend.
UK folk act Bellowhead are set for their biggest-charting album by far in the UK with the newlly-issued Navigator title Broadside presently showing up as a new entry at 10 on Sales Flashes. Their current peak is 57, achieved by last album Hedonism in 2010. Just above it is Parlophone act Bat For Lashes' new album The Haunted Man at 4.
Ed Sheeran's Asylum/Atlantic debut + has a chance of heading back into the Top 10 following his chat and performance on Jonathan Ross's ITV1 show last Saturday. It rises 29-11 in the midweeks as Pink's RCA set The Truth About Love drops 4-8.
An X Factor performance last Sunday from one-time runner-up Rebecca Ferguson has helped a newly-overhauled version of her RCA debut Heaven enter at 7 on the midweeks, while Backtrack is new at 16 on the singles midweeks.
Having debuted at 6 in the US last week, Diana Krall's new Verve album Glad Rag Doll is new at 13 in the midweeks. Also heading for the albums chart this Sunday is Sunken Condos, the first album in six-and-a-half years from Reprise/Warner Bros's Donald Fagen, which is new at 22 at this stage in the week. New entries in and around the Top 40 are also expected from Placebo with their Vertigo/Mercury debut B3, Dirty Hit's Little Comets, V2's Martha Wainwright, Hands On Music's Show Of Hands and Columbia/Legacy's Art Garfunkel.
Lawson look like scoring their third straight top five singles hit following When She Was Mine and Taking Over Me with the Globa Talent/Island-issued Standing In The Dark debuting at 4 in the midweeks. And likely to move back into the Top 10 this Sunday is Mercury act Taylor Swift with We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together rising 12-7 following her X Factor performance. The same programme is also behind the revival of Mary J Blige's 2001 hit No More Drama after it was performed by contestant James Arthur. The Universal track is at 37 on Sales Flashes.
Island act PSY's Gangnam Style holds at 3, while XL act Adele's Skyfall drops 2-6. There is a one-place drop to 5 for Def Jam/Mercury act Rihanna's Diamonds, while Parlophone act Conor Maynard's Turn Around featuring Ne-Yo holds at 8, the Polydor-issued Anything Could Happen by Ellie Goulding slips 5-10 and Atlantic's Flo Rida stays at 9 with I Cry.
Justin Bieber's Def Jam/Mercury track Beauty And The Beast with Nicki Minaj will leap into the Top 40 this Sunday, while there will also be new entries from Universal's The Voice finalist Tyler James and Parlophone's Pet Shop Boys. And the late John Denver's 1974 RCA chart-topper Annie's Song is set for a Top 40 return after being used in an ad by Talk Talk.
The full midweek singles and albums charts are on musicweek.com.
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