In which we have Netflix to thank for avoiding another completely dead singles chart.

1. Sabrina Carpenter – “Taste”

Seven weeks. This brings her total to 19 for the year, across her three number one singles. This either matches or beats Ed Sheeran’s total from 2021 (depending on how you feel about the chart announced on 31 December that year). The only solo act to spend more weeks at number 1 in a calendar year is Frankie Laine, who was number one for most of 1953. To match him, she’d have to stay at number one for another eight weeks, which seems wildly unlikely. Sales figures suggest a lot of the top 10 is about to be hit by the downweighting rule, so we might finally be due for a clearout.

14. KSI featuring Trippie Redd – “Thick Of It”

First time we’ve seen KSI this year. His last couple of singles both entered fairly strongly and plunged in the second week, which might suggest he’s becoming a fanbase act – but this single seems decent enough. He and Trippie Redd had a single in early 2020, “Wake Up Call”, which got to number 11; Trippie Redd’s only other top 40 single was his own “Miss the Rage”, which had a single week at number 32 in 2021.

And that’s the only regular new entry this week. We also have some improbable re-entries down in the 30s, though.

34. cässo x Raye x D-Block Europe – “Prada”

Apparently this is having a resurgence on TikTok. It dropped out of the top 100 last month so it’s a true re-entry rather than something that’s just hovering around the 40 mark (such as Jimin’s “Who”, which reappears at 31 this week). “Prada” spent five weeks at number 2 just before the Christmas flood in 2023.

By the way, Radio 1 seem to think that “Prada” is an acceptable title to announce on air, but “Diet Pepsi” isn’t. The logic of this distinction is not easy to follow.

37. Crowded House – “Don’t Dream It’s Over”

Originally a number 27 hit in 1987, this reached a peak of number 25 on re-issue in 1996. It’s here because it appears in Netflix’s Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, believe it or not. Even more improbably, that series also explains this:

40. Milli Vanilli – “Girl I’m Gonna Miss You”

Number 2 in 1989, and their biggest UK hit. (“Girl You Know It’s True” reached number 3 the previous year, nothing else made the top 10.) The chart compilers are actually listing it under its alternate title of “I’m Gonna Miss You”, which results in it being incorrectly shown on the chart as a new entry.

This week’s climbers:

• “Die With a Smile” by Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars has now moved 7-7-7-6-5-4-4-3, edging its way painfully through the logjam.
• “Sailor Song” by Gigi Perez climbs 11-6, and seems to be well placed if we do get a clearout.
• “Somedays” by Sonny Fodera, Jazzy & DOD climbs 10-8 (two weeks after peaking at 9).
• “I Love You I’m Sorry” by Gracie Abrams climbs 19-11.
• “Pink Pony Club” by Chappell Roan climbs 17-13. Meanwhile, “Good Luck Babe” remains stuck at 2, and “Hot To Go” falls to 10.
• “Diet Pepsi” by Addison Rae climbs 22-15.
• “We Pray” by Coldplay climbs 32-20 on the back of the album release (see below), while “Feelslikeimfallinginlove” rebounds to 18 (still two places below its peak).

The five tracks leaving the top 40 are:

• “Carry You Home” by Alex Warren, which peaked at 32 but lasted a month.
• “Dancing in the Flames” by the Weeknd. This is interesting – it entered at 12, and it’s gone after three weeks. The follow-up single “Timeless” entered at 7 last week, but drops straight to 17. In a very slow-moving chart, this seems notable.
• “Austin” by Dasha finally leaves us after a 30-week run that peaked at number 5. It spend 21 weeks in the top 10.
• “Burning Down” by Alex Warren, which peaked at 35 and only lasted two weeks.
• “Going Crazy” by Nines after a single week at number 62.

The longest running track on the chart is still “Lose Control” by Teddy Swims, with a 41 week run. It falls from 29 to 32 this week.

On the album chart:

1. Coldplay – “Moon Music”

Continuing a perfect record of number 1s with studio albums, and featuring the singles already mentioned. Coldplay are still a huge draw in the album market: this album shifted 182,166 copies on compact disc in its first week. Across all formats and its streaming points, it beat the rest of the top 40 combined.

They’ve now had ten number 1 albums, which puts them on a level with Abba, Michael Jackson and Queen. The all time record is 16, held by the Beatles.

3. Public Service Broadcasting – “The Last Flight”

Their last three studio albums have all made the top 5. The theme this time round is the disappearance of Amelia Earhart.

4. James Bay – “Changes All The Time”

Same position as his previous album in 2022; he’s yet to miss the top 5.

7. The Smile – “Cutouts”

The Smile are a Radiohead side project, and this is their second album of the year – basically, more material from the same sessions. Their previous two albums reached 5 and 3.

8. Alison Moyet – “Key”

Mostly covers of her back catalogue, though there are two new songs in there, including the one above (which is rather good). It’s been seven years since she last released a solo album.

14. Jake Bugg – “A Modern Day Distraction”

His sixth album, and the first to miss the top 10.

15. The 1975 – “Being Funny in a Foreign Language”

Reissue of their 2022 number 1 album on liquid-filled vinyl, for some reason.

21. Aphex Twin – “Selected Ambient Works Volume II”

30th anniversary reissue. It originally got to number 11.

35. Finneas – “For Cryin’ Out Loud”

This is the second solo album by Billie Eilish’s brother and regular collaborator. The first one didn’t even make the top 100, so I guess this is a step up, but I’m surprised there isn’t enough interest from the Billie Eilish completists to get him further up the chart than this.