A quiet week for new releases, and it’s X Factor audition season – it must be re-entry time…

37.  The Kings of Leon – “Supersoaker”

Originally got to number 32 in July when it was released as the lead single from “Mechanical Bull”.  The album enters at number 1 this week, and this is the track being played in the TV adverts, so it’s the one being cherrypicked.  It’s got a video now, too!

34.  Robin Thicke featuring Kendrick Lamar – “Give It 2 U”

The follow up to “Blurred Lines” is… not in the same league, let’s be honest.  It’s climbing somewhat on iTunes, but it’s hardly racing up the charts.

For some reason, the video has 2 Chainz in, but the version that’s actually on release and in the charts has rapper Kendrick Lamar, who thus gets his first top 40 single in this country.  His album “Good kid, M.A.A.D City” made number 16 last year, though.

“Blurred Lines” itself is still hanging in there at 18, and actually goes back up slightly this week.

30.  Justin Timberlake – “Take Back The Night”

Well, that’s a surprise.  This was the first single from “The 20/20 Experience: 2 of 2”, the retroactively designated second half of “The 20/20 Experience”.  It limped into the chart earlier in the year, peaked at 24, and vanished after five weeks.  Not good.  Justin Timberlake singles don’t do that.  But according to Wikipedia, “Take Back the Night” didn’t exactly set the world alight anywhere; it made the top ten in parts of Belgium, and otherwise it was a minor hit.

Now it’s back, and it looks like it might go a little further – but in doing so it seems to have cut the legs out from under “TKO”, the second single from the album, which made 31 in the midweeks but has now vanished from the top 40 altogether.  The promotion of this album seems to be going a bit wrong.

28.  2 Chainz featuring Wiz Khalifa – “We Own It” 

A top ten hit in May from the sound track of Fast and Furious Umpteen, I think this is back in the chart because of the advertising for the DVD release.

22.  Jessie J – “Sexy Lady”

Another track which isn’t officially on YouTube!  And again, you won’t have that much trouble finding it.  This is being cherrypicked from her album, which also comes out this week, because it’s in this advert for No 7 cosmetics.

Meanwhile, her actual current single “It’s My Party” drops from 3 to 9 in its second week out.

16.  Haim – “The Wire”

The fourth single from their debut album, which finally comes out at the end of the month.  Haim are an 80s throwback if ever there was one, but what initially struck me as a rather pernickety and fiddly little track starts to feel more addictive by the end of its running time.  They’ve never got above 30 before, so this is a big step up.

14.  Sub Focus featuring Kele – “Turn It Around”

This week’s highest new entry, admittedly more by default than anything else.  It’s the fifth hit for producer Sub Focus, whose biggest hit is technically the number 10 hit “Endorphins”, though “Tidal Wave” is the one that sticks in my memory.  The guest singer is Kele Okereke, the lead singer of Bloc Party, making his second solo appearance on the chart (following his 2010 single “Tenderoni”, a minor hit).

13.  Demi Lovato – “Skyscraper”

Why hello, X Factor, this must be your doing!  This track was Demi Lovato’s big comeback after her breakdown, and knowing that back story certainly adds something to it (even though it was apparently recorded before all that happened).  Since nobody in Britain had heard of Demi Lovato outside the Disney Channel audience, it limped to 32 when it came out here last year, but I’ve always liked it.  She had a proper hit single earlier this year when “Heart Attack” reached number 3, but suddenly “Skyscraper” is getting the attention it deserved the first time round, and as of right now, iTunes has it climbing into the top 10 next week.

It is, of course, an ideal X Factor audition piece, since it rewards the histrionic style that grabs attention on that show, which is why Hannah Sheares did it last week.  (It also happened to fit her producer-sanctioned narrative of group member who was persuaded to dump the band and go it alone.)  It’s a passable rendition, but “Skyscraper” is precisely the sort of song that the public haven’t heard of and rush out to buy when they hear it on ITV.

1.  Jason Derulo featuring 2 Chainz – “Talk Dirty”

Second week at the top, and it isn’t getting any better.  Next week could be interesting; there are no major new releases challenging it, but OneRepublic are currently ahead on iTunes.

Over on the album chart, an incredibly busy week, and one unusually heavy on acts who actually have hit singles.

• “Mechanical Bull” by Kings of Leon at 1, as mentioned.
• “Nothing Was the Same” by Drake at 2.  Lead single “Hold On We’re Going Home” is still in the top five.
• “Alive” by Jessie J at 3, as already covered.
• “Tattoos” by Jason Derulo at 5.  He’s got “Talk Dirty” at number 1 and his previous single “The Other Side” at number 40, which is nicely symmetrical.
• “Fire Within” by Birdy at 8.  Current single “Wings” is still in the top 20.
• “The Bones Of What You Believe” by Chvrches at 9.  Their current single, “The Mother We Share”, has spent the last two weeks at number 38.
• “The Last Ship” by Sting at 14.  His eleventh studio album, apparently linked to a play that he’s producing on Broadway next year.  Lead single: “Practical Arrangement.”
• “Dream Theater” by Dream Theater at 15.  Twelfth album by the American prog metal band, who have evidently run out of ideas for titles.  The last four all made the UK chart, and this is their highest place to date (though not by much).  Lead single: “The Enemy Inside”.
• “Seasons of Your Day” by Mazzy Star at 24.  Mazzy Star split in 1996, and this is their first new album since reforming in 2010.  Amazingly, it’s the first time they’ve made the album top 40.  Competition was a lot tougher in the 90s, bluntly.  Sample track: “California”.
• A 20th anniverary reissue of “In Utero” by Nirvana at 28.
• “Between Dog and Wolf” by New Model Army at 34.  Now this is unexpected – NMA haven’t even made the albums top 75 since 1998, since when they’ve released four other studio albums that appear to have sunk without trace.  Lead single: “March in September”.