Charts analysis: Fontaines DC top 70,000 sales with Dopamine Chamber

Scorching to the highest sales of any album for 18 weeks – and the highest by a group since Coldplay’s Moon Music in 2024 – Fontaines DC’s fifth studio album, Dopamine Chamber, debuts at No.1 on consumption of 70,105 units (14,235 CDs, 37,501 vinyl albums, 1,796 cassettes, 1,479 digital downloads and 15,094 sales-equivalent streams). It is the second No.1 for the rock quintet formed in Dublin 12 years ago, who comprise 31-year-old lead singer Grian Chatten, 32-year-old guitarist Conor Curley, 33-year-old bass guitarist Conor Deegan, 32-year-old drummer Tom Coll and 32-year-old guitarist Carlos O’Connell. The first four are founder members of the group, with O’Connor joining in 2016. All are credited with co-writing every song on the album. Dopamine Chamber secures the highest weekly sale yet for an album by the band, surpassing the 43,034 units their last album, Romance sold when it debuted and peaked at No.2 in 2024 – more than doubling their previous best of 19,983 units their third album, Skinty Fia, achieved when it opened at No.1 in 2022. Both previous Fontaines DC studio albums also made the Top 10, with 2019 debut Dogrel opening and peaking at No.9 on consumption of 7,197 units, and follow-up, A Hero’s Death, placing second on 19,040 units as it opened its account in 2020. Despite missing out on No.1, Romance is the band’s most-consumed album with a to-date tally of 350,882 units, followed by Skinty Fa (206,493 units), Dogrel (145,172 units), and A Hero’s Death (95,774 units). They also charted 2021 concert recording Live At Kilmainham Gaol, which reached No.42, and has to-date consumption of 4,184 units. Based in London, Fontaines DC self-identify as Irish. Chatten was born in Cumbria, while guitarist O’Connell was born in Madrid. Chatten moved to Ireland when a month old, while O’Connell, of mixed Spanish and Irish heritage, relocated to Ireland aged 18. Dopamine Chamber is the 52nd No.1 album by a band from the Irish Republic, and the third so far this year, emulating earlier efforts from Dermot Kennedy and Niall Horan. It secures the highest weekly sale of an album by an act from the Irish Republic since 2010, when The Script’s Science & Faith achieved a slightly higher introductory tally of 70,816 units. The only albums to open bigger than Dopamine Chamber in 2026 are Kiss All The Time: Disco, Occasionally (183,045 units) by Harry Styles and You Seem Pretty Sad For A Girl So In Love (102,814 units) by Olivia Rodrigo. Romance’s failure to reach No.1, by the way, was because it was scheduled against Sabrina Carpenter’s Short N’ Sweet. It is exactly four years (208 weeks) since any other album – namely The Car by Arctic Monkeys – had a higher first week sale than Romance and didn’t debut at No.1. In a Top 10 where the remainder of the titles together achieved only 301 units more consumption than Dopamine Chamber managed on its own, Olivia Rodrigo’s latest album, You Seem Pretty Sad For A Girl So In Love is its (distant) nearest challenger, rebounding 3-2, a 16-week high, with consumption climbing 19.66% week-on-week to 13,053. Building on the success of her 2024 debut album, What A Devastating Turn Of Events, which peaked at No.17 and has sold 25,845 copies, 27-year-old London singer/songwriter Rachel Chinouriri’s second album, I Think I Spoke Too Soon, opens at No.9 (5,934 sales) The rest of the Top 10: The Essential (4-3, 9,675 sales) by Michael Jackson, The Art Of Loving (5-4, 8,056 sales) by Olivia Dean, Visitor (6-5, 7,748 sales) by Sienna Spiro, 50 Years: Don’t Stop (7-6, 7,073 sales) by Fleetwood Mac, The Highlights (10-7, 6,884 sales) by The Weeknd, Time Flies: 1994-2009 (8-8, 6,157 sales) by Oasis and The Ones That Got The Plays (15-10, 5,825 sales) by Katy Perry. After debuting at No.1 last week, Ghosts (100 Days Of Morning) tumbles to No.170 (1,332 sales) for Jamie T. Also exiting the Top 10: Generic Everything (2-104, 1,784 sales) by Chase & Status, and She’s The Best (9-194, 1,215 sales) by Troye Sivan. Nine months after delivering his 25-song No.3 studio album, With Heaven On Top, fecund country star Zach Bryan has dropped new eight-song EP Young Manhood And Other Donatable Organs. Including the new Lana Del Rey hit collaboration Lies, it debuts at No.11 (5,742 sales) becoming his fourth Top 75 album chart entry. Previously in Fairport Convention and in a duo with former wife Linda, folk/rock singer/songwriter Richard Thompson has been a solo recording artist since 1972, but failed to make the album chart in that capacity until 1991. Comprising 12 new songs, all written entirely by the 77-year-old, his 20th solo chart and 15th solo chart entry Hippies, Thugs And Heroes debuts at No.40 (2,836 sales). Also new to the Top 75: How Long Will It Take (No.31, 3,393 sales), the first full-length album by 23-year-old singer/songwriter Nieve Ella, from Shropshire; and No Bad Memories (No.60, 2,278 sales), the fourth album/chart entry for Australian electronic music trio, The Avalanches. No.1 when first released in 1989, Tears For Fears’ third album, The Seeds Of Love, recharted at No.13 in 2020, when released in a 30th anniversary super deluxe edition, and is back again this week at No.19 (4,167 sales), following the release of another expanded edition across multiple formats. The very first No.1 by an act from Northern Ireland, Ash’s 1996 album 1977 has been remastered and expanded, hence its first chart appearance in 25 years at No.26 (3,713 sales). The KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack secures a 61st week at No.1 on the compilation chart (2,764 sales, including 274 Yoto cards, 12 CDs, nine vinyl albums, 13 digital downloads and 2,456 sales-equivalent streams). Overall album sales are up 0.85% week-on-week to 2,432,888 units, 5.67% below same week 2025 sales of 2,579,239. Physical product accounts for 333,376 sales, 13.70% of the total. PHOTO: Ewen Spencer

Charts analysis: Patient Zero equals Swift's No.1 opening run with Anti-Hero and The Fate Of Ophelia

In the week that her UK track consumption surpasses 125 million, and Karma becomes her 31st song to pass the million mark, Taylor Swift is No.1 for the third time in a row with Patient Zero, the introductory single from the expanded Encore edition of her album, The Life Of A Showgirl. Patient Zero is the third of Swift’s eight No.1s to spend its first three weeks on the chart at No.1, emulating Anti-Hero (2022) and The Fate Of Ophelia (2025). After first week consumption of 46,993 units, and second week consumption of 38,456 units, Patient Zero turned in its best tally yet, with a tertiary frame of 55,413 units, with 1,591 digital downloads and 20,130 sales-equivalent streams dwarfed by sales of 33,692 CDs. In three variants, the CDs started to ship last week, when they contributed 10,940 sales. Their latest contribution raises the overall CD sales of Patient Zero to 44,632 units. Earlier this year, Swift’s seventh No.1, I Knew It I Knew You shifted 42,492 CDs in a week, on its way to overall CD sales of 47,764, making it the biggest selling CD since X Factor winner Ben Haenow’s 2014 coronation single, Something I Need, which sold 47,001 on its first week, and 92,040 overall. Among 2020s singles, The Beatles’ Now And Then is the only other track to exceed 40,000 sales on CD, with a to-date tally of 47,484. Swift has now spent 23 weeks at No.1 in her career, all but two of them in the 2020s. Without CDs, Patient Zero would have spent only one week at No.1 without CDs, and this week’s No.1 would be Babydoll, which instead jumps 3-2, for Jamie Miller, with consumption growing 22.66% week-on-week to 34,389 units. A finalist in the 2017 series of The Voice UK, Miller has had to wait nine years to achieve his first hit but Babydoll is currently the second-highest charting song by a contestant in the long-running show, trailing only Gecko (Overdrive), a 2014 No.1 hit for first season (2012) finalist Becky Hill and Dutch DJ Oliver Heldens. Also ascending to a new peak, Stop The Wedding! is growing at a faster rate, increasing consumption 25.40% week-on-week at it climbs 4-3 (32,176 sales) for Ashe. The rest of the Top 10: Great Expectation (2-4, 28,483 sales) by Sienna Spiro, Nicole Kidman (8-5, 22,702 sales) by Adéla, Boston (6-6, 21,795 sales) by Stella Lefty, Choosin’ Texas (5-7, 21,225 sales) by Ella Langley, The Cure (7-8, 20,633 sales) by Olivia Rodrigo, Rein Me In (11-9, 17,807 sales) by Sam Fender & Olivia Dean and My Body Isn’t Ready (10-10, 17,097 sales) by Sombr. Exiting the Top 10 after falling into ACR is Training Season (9-37, 8,119 sales) by Dua Lipa. Stella Lefty will move to ACR next week. There are four new entries to the Top 75, none of which come near to matching the re-entry position of Just Give Me A Reason. Uncharted since its original 2013 chart run, which saw it peak at No.2, the track has been blowing up on social media for Pink and featured vocalist Nate Ruess for weeks. It achieves critical mass this week, escaping ACR, and surging 78-15 (13,180 sales). The track’s to-date consumption of 2,758,915 units makes it the 224th biggest song of the 21st century That means it is bigger than any other Pink track, although - fronting the band Fun - Pink’s co-vocalist Ruess has an even bigger 21st century hit in the form of We Are Young, a 2012 chart-topper (feat. Janelle Monae), which ranks 195th with consumption of 2,914,192 units. Opening at No.38 (8,081 sales), the week’s highest new entry is Shotta’s, the very first hit for UK R&B/rap artist Season 25. Where Is Gone? (No.57, 6,615 sales) is the third single from Irish band Fontaines DC’s new album, Dopamine Chamber – which dropped today (16 October 16) – following Marianne (No.19) and Tongue (No.51). Their eighth chart entry in total, it is a collaboration with Spanish singer Rosalía, becoming her seventh hit. Also new to the Top 75: Girls All Around The World (No.61, 6,332 sales), the 25th hit for London rapper Digga; and Carnage (No.67, 6,128 sales), a track from the new No.2 album Generic Everything by Chase & Status, delivering their 22nd hit and the second for featured vocalist Little Simz. Olivia Rodrigo scores her 18th Top 40 hit as Expectations – a track from her album You Seem Pretty Sad For A Girl So In Love newly-released in a Chappell Roan duet version – jumps 46-35 (8,218 sales). There are new peaks for Willing And Able (20-17, 12,344 sales) by Noah Kahan, Good Girl (25-22, 10,630 sales) by Cloonee & Prospa feat. Tristan Henry, Mi Chico (30-25, 10,273 sales) by DJ Goja, Jason Derulo & Melody, Cos Of You (40-34, 8,592 sales) by Morrisson, Unethical (58-50, 7,132 sales) by Faouzia and The Sun Will Never Settle (72-66, 6,134 sales) by Kingfishr. Overall singles consumption is down 1.20% week-on-week to 29,566,787 units, 4.74% below same week 2025 sales of 31,039,026 units. Paid-for sales are up 6.67% week-on-week at 271,140, 6.60% above same week 2025 sales of 254,358. PHOTO: TAS Rights Management

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