Just one major new entry this week, but…

1. Charli XCX featuring Billie Eilish – “Guess”

Technically this is Charli XCX’s second number one, because she had a featured artist credit on Icona Pop’s “I Don’t Care”. That’s an odd one, since she doesn’t actually feature on the record in any normal sense – apparently she’s doing backing vocals somewhere, but the credit mainly relates to her writing the song. Anyway, that was in 2013. Since then, she’s been a steady presence in the singles chart, mostly in the mid range and with the occasional bigger hit, but her peak as a lead artist was number 6 (with “Boom Clap”, over a decade ago).

It obviously helps that “Guess” has a big name guest star with a separate audience, but this has also been the best year of Charli XCX’s career, at least in chart terms. She has two other singles on the chart this week: “Apple” climbs to number 8, and “360” to number 11. The album “Brat” climbs back to its entry point of number 2, in its ninth week on release. While Billie Eilish is more of a regular at the top end of the chart, this is still only her third number one – the others being “No Time to Die” in 2020 and “What Was I Made For” in 2023. So she maintains her bizarre track record of never getting to number 1 with the singles from her own albums.

The radio edit used by the BBC is particularly bizarre – apparently, references to removing underwear with ones mouth are unacceptable, but the line “pull it to the side and get right up in it” is absolutely fine.

Oh, and this is the first number one of the year by a British artist. Took long enough.

31. Sonny Fodera, Jazzy and D.O.D. – “Somedays”

Well, that’s competent. The video director’s done a good job of showing Margate in the best light, though.

This is Sonny Fodera’s third hit single, all of which have been collaborations. He and MK got to number 7 with “Asking” in 2023, and a single with Becky Hill reached number 23 last year. Jazzy had two top 5 hits in 2022 and 2023 (plus a track that got to 35 later that year). And D.O.D. had a couple of mid-table hits in 2023, the bigger one being “So Much In Love”.

35. Hanumankind featuring Kalmi – “Big Dawgs”

Indian rap, and that’s not something we see much of. Admittedly, Hanumankind grew up in Texas, but he was born in India and lives there now. Kalmi’s the producer. It’s the debut hit for both.

37. Billie Eilish – “Wildflower”

An album track which has been rising from the lower reaches for a couple of weeks; I assume it’s been boosted by the Amazon Music performance above.

This week’s climbers:

• “Apple” by Charli XCX climbs 14-8.
• “Kehlani” by Jordan Adetunji climbs 15-9.
• “360” by Charli XCX climbs 12-11.
• “Bye Bye Bye” by NSync climbs 30-12. Really. It does.
• “Hot to Go” by Chappell Roan rebounds to a new peak of 15. More of her in a bit.
• “Move” by Adam Port, Stryv, Keinemusik, Orso & Malachiii climbs 18-16.
• “The Door” by Teddy Swims climbs 24-23.
• “Red Wine Supernova” by Chappell Roan climbs 38-32.

The four tracks leaving the top 40 are:

• “Misses” by Dominic Fike, which peaked at 34 and lasted two weeks.
• “Not Like Us” by Kendrick Lamar, which peaked at 6 and lasted 13 weeks.
• “Set My Heart on Fire” by Majestic, Jammin Kid & Celine Dion, after two weeks peaking at 39.
• “Gen Z Luv” by Central Cee after a single week at 34. He still has two other singles in the top 40 though.

“Stick Season” by Noah Kahan remains the longest running top 40 single, at 44 weeks and counting. It’s at 33 this week.

On the album chart:

1. Chappell Roan – “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess”

A climber to number 1? On the album chart? After months on release? It’s unheard of. There’s a special edition out to push it over the edge, but still, it was up here anyway. The single “Good Luck Babe” (peaked at 2) isn’t on it, but “Hot to Go” and “Red Wine Supernova” have both made the chart.

Also reaching a new peak this week after a slow climb is “Nursery Rhymes by Cocomelon” by Cocomelon, which doesn’t seem to be going away and reaches number 28 this wek.

7. Kanye West & Ty Dolla Sign – “Vulture 2”

That’s on the low side for a Kanye West album, even a collaboration – though his album with Kid Cudi got to number 7. The reviews haven’t been good for this one at all.

33. Jack White – “No Name”

Well, that’s weird. Jack White has never placed a solo studio album below the top 5 before – his previous low of any sort was a collection of acoustic rarities in 2016, which still reached number 12. There was a weird promotion for this album which involved giving it away as an anonymous release from some US indie stores in July, and it doesn’t seem to have worked in the UK.