Chart Watch is back for your Saturday night’s reading pleasure and for the second week in succession, there aren’t that many big movements to speak of, especially given there haven’t been that many big new releases to speak of. But what big movements, new certifications and new entries there are, you’ll discover in this week’s Chart Watch.
SINGLES
It’s five weeks on the fly for Justin Bieber in the No.1 spot on this week’s ARIA singles chart; ‘Love Yourself’ continues to dominate proceedings, this week over Adele’s ‘Hello’ and Justin’s ‘Sorry’.
And, after swapping in positions four and five last week, Jonas Blue and Shawn Mendes do it again (Shawn down to No.5) with their respective singles ‘Fast Car’ and ‘Stitches’.
Elle King blasts into the top ten this week with ‘Ex’s & Oh’s’ (No.14 to No.8) meaning someone has to forfeit their place in the ten. That someone is Zara Larsson (with MNEK) and that single is ‘Never Forget You’, which slides from No.7 to No.13 as Zara’s new single ‘Lush Life’ begins to make its presence felt; it’s up from No.25 to No.15.
Also making a ten place leap this week is Alessia Cara’s single ‘Here’, which bounds from No.29 to No.19. 1D’s ‘Perfect’ slips from No.15 to No.22.
Troye Sivan’s ‘Youth’ improves from No.27 to a new peak of No.23, Rachel Platten’s ‘Stand By You’ achieves a gold certification at No.26 and dropping her new video less than 48 hours into the new year proves a stroke of genius for Taylor Swift, whose latest single ‘Out Of The Woods’ bullets from No.70 to No.29 – ten spot below the song’s peak thus far.
Jonas Blue’s version might be shining brightest, but Tobtok’s version of ‘Fast Car’ is still doing well, edging six places higher to No.33 and ‘The Girl Is Mine’ from 99 Souls improves from No.46 to No.37.
There’s a bit of new year’s love for Selena Gomez’ single ‘Same Old Love’. 17 weeks into the charts and it achieves a 16 place jump, rebounding back into the top 50 to No.40. Lost Frequencies’ ‘Reality’ follows Selena back (No.58 to No.41), but Cyrus’ single ‘Stone’ is down 19 places to No.49. The ‘X Factor’ winner, however, does get the all-important gold certification.
Taylor Swift’s ‘Wildest Dreams’ plunges 18 places, Major Lazer’s ‘Be Together’ jumps 15, Rachel Platten’s ‘Fight Song’ is up 14 and Tracy Chapman proves the original may still be the best, with ‘Fast Car’ improving from No.78 to No.61.
The story’s not quite so grand for Ariana’s latest single ‘Focus’, however. It’s failed to fire, peaking at No.10 before quickly making its way down the countdown. This week, it’s down a further 20 places to No.62.
Fleur East’s infectious single ‘Sax’ – now being used in Channel 10 promos – leaps 18 places to a new peak of No.68, but Silento’s ‘Watch Me (Whip / Nae Nae)’ slides 24 spots to No.71.
Sam Smith’s ‘Stay With Me’ re-enters (No.82), as does Rüfüs’ ‘You Were Right’ (No.94), Kygo’s ‘Firestone’ (No.98) and Kygo’s ‘Stay’ (No.100).
ALBUMS
The top four remains steady on this week’s ARIA albums chart, with Adele again dominating the sales race with her ’25’, leaving Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran to occupy positions two through four.
Elvis shuffles into the No.5 spot with ‘If I Can Dream’, while Sam Smith’s ‘In The Lonely Hour’ bullets from No.16 to No.6.
She sneakily released her new album ‘Wildfire’ on January 01 where there was plenty of clear chart air, but the move wasn’t enough to see Rachel Platten’s album crack the top ten. It lands at No.12 first week in.
Leon Bridges’ visit to our shores pays dividends for his album ‘Coming Home’, which re-enters the top 100 in spectacular style (No.15). Cyrus, Enya and Adele’s ’21’ all remain in the top 20 mix.
There’s a bullet for Katy Perry’s ‘Prism’ (No.41 to No.27), another for Courtney Barnett’s ‘Sometimes I Sit And Thing, And Sometimes I Just Sit’ (No.45 to No.29) and another for Sia’s ‘1000 Forms Of Fear’ (No.66 to No.30).
With various iterations of ‘Fast Car’ firing on all cylinders on the singles chart, there’s some love for Tracy Chapman’s self-titled album on the album chart – it re-enters the countdown this week at No.35. Her ‘Greatest Hits’ is one step behind, bulleting from No.86 to No.36.
5SOS’ ‘Sounds Good Feels Good’ loses 15 places (No.29 to No.44); ditto Bring Me The Horizon’s ‘That’s The Spirit’ (No.33 to No.48).
‘Caracal’ from Disclosure leaps from No.85 to No.59, ahead of re-entries from Lorde’s ‘Pure Heroine’ and Hillsong Worship’s ‘Open Heaven/River Wild’, as well as Andrea Bocelli’s ‘Cinema’ and Rüfüs’ ‘Atlas’.
The Beatles’ ‘1’, however, slumps 35 places to No.66.
‘Christmas’ has definitely passed for another year for Michael Bublé, with his album plunging 60 places to No.69.
The Rubens’ ‘Hoops’ loses 25 places (No.51 to No.76) and ‘What Went Down’? Not Foals’ album, that’s for sure, which jumps 22 places to No.77.
But NWA’s ‘Greatest Hits’ is down – 31 places – to No.92. So too Kerser’s ‘Next Step’ (No.57 to No.95), Fetty Wap’s ‘Fetty Wap’ (No.70 to No.97) and of course, three Christmas albums; ‘Kylie Christmas’, ‘Merry Christmas’ from Mariah and Human Nature’s ‘The Christmas’ album, all of which tumble out of the top 100 (from positions 32, 43 and 47 respectively).
For a full run down of the ARIA top 50s, head over to the ARIA CHARTS WEBSITE every Saturday from 6:00pm AEDT.
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