Simultaneously surpassing the peaks of her previous long-players Pure Heroine (No.4, 2013), Melodrama (No.5, 2017) and Solar Power (No.2, 2021), while maintaining her pace of one release every four years, singer/songwriter Lorde’s fourth album, Virgin, debuts atop the chart on consumption of 18,848 units (3,302 CDs, 8,676 vinyl albums, 433 digital downloads and 6,437 sales-equivalent streams).

Effecting the 29th change of leadership of the chart in as many weeks, it arrives at the summit more than 11 years after ...