A dull week on the singles chart, with one very obvious exception.  A rather busier week for the albums…

1.  Calvin Harris & Dua Lipa – “One Kiss”

Four weeks.  Granted, it’s not facing intense competition from any recent releases, with the top 10 singles merely swapping a few places – but it had eight million plus streams last week too.

14.  Childish Gambino – “This is America”

This was released on Saturday and the video has attracted a ton of attention.  Obligatory warning, just in case you’re unaware: it’s not an all-ages video due to the two shootings, though they’re more symbolic than they are  graphic.  But it’s a great record even without the visuals.  After all, YouTube doesn’t count towards the chart.

Still, I don’t particularly expect things to chart just because they’re getting good word of mouth on Twitter.  Donald Glover’s only previous appearance on the singles top 40 was in 2012 when he guested on a Leona Lewis single.  “Redbone”, his biggest US hit, only reached number 51 in this country; the parent album “Awaken My Love” reached 34.  Even allowing for a rising profile, it’s a pleasant surprise to see somebody get a breakthrough hit with something as unusual and interesting as this.

16.  Jess Glynne – “I’ll Be There”

This is pleasantly summery, though the chorus veers dangerously close to yodelling for my tastes.  Jess Glynne was on Rudimental’s number one “These Days” earlier in the year, but this is her first solo single since 2015, when she had three number ones.

35.  Shawn Mendes featuring Khalid – “Youth”

What passes for cautiously upbeat in 2018, which is to say that it’s a song about how everything’s pretty awful right now but we won’t let it defeat us.   It’s the third single from Mendes’ upcoming album, after “In My Blood” (number 13) and “Lost in Japan” (number 30), so I wouldn’t be too sure of it going further.

36.  M-22 featuring Medina – “First Time”

This week’s club hit, and it’s fine.  M-22 are producers Matt James and Frank Sanders; the name stands for “March 22”, which is the day they met.  Sweet.  Medina Valbak is a star in her native Denmark, where she had eight number one hits between 2008 and 2014.  Her only previous UK hit single was “You and I”, which managed a single week at number 39 in 2009.

40.  Shakka featuring AlunaGeorge – “Man Down”

Ah, the “oh dear, the hot girl wants a relationship, how awkward” song.  Aluna Francis’s verse kind of turns it into an answer song but it comes across as a bit shoehorned in the video.  Shakka has been around for years, but his only previous chart appearance was in 2013 when he guested on Wretch 32’s “Blackout”.  AlunaGeorge had a decent start to 2013 as well, but haven’t really followed it up on the singles chart since; their last two top 40  appearances were “You Know You Like It” (2013) and “I’m In Control” (2016), both of which could only manage a single week at 39.

Climbing this week, in a decidedly sluggish chart…

• “Answerphone” by Banx & Ranx, Ella Eyre & Yxng Bane moves 8-6.
• “Flame” by David Guetta featuring Sia climbs 19-11, which is getting into more sensible territory for it.
• “Bad Vibe” by M.O. featuring Lotto Boyzz & Mr Eazi moves 22-20.
• “Familiar” by Liam Payne & J Balvin climbs 31-25.
• “Vroom” by Yxng Bane climbs 32-31

On the album chart, The Greatest Showman Soundtrack returns to number 1 yet again, for a fourth run and a fifteenth total week…

3.  Frank Turner – “Be More Kind”

The last two Frank Turner studio albums made number 2, so no surprises here.  His accent is difficult to square with his education at Eton, but he writes good songs.

5.  Plan B – “Heaven Before All Hell Breaks Loose”

It’s been six years since the last Plan B album, and he’s now firmly confined to the albums market.  Plan B has always veered through an unusually wide range of genres, and this incarnation is apparently a bit of a range of singing styles.  The single above is a rather good electro-gospel affair.

8.  Shinedown – “Attention Attention”

Florida rock band.  It’s their sixth album; the last three have charted in the UK; this is their highest place so far.  Sounds pretty much how you’d expect.

9.  Jon Hopkins – “Singularity”

The video’s worth a watch.  Hopkins’ last album, 2013’s “Immunity”, was nominated for the Mercury, but still couldn’t get above 63, so this is a staggeringly high place for him.

12.  Gaz Coombes – “World’s Strongest Man”

A third solo album by the lead singer of Supergrass, and the highest placing (though of course Supergrass placed five albums in the top 10).  The single is good.

14.  Parkway Drive – “Reverence”

Australian metalcore.  The single has lyrics like “welcome to a world of pain”.  It’s their sixth album, their second to make the album top 40, and the higher placing.

15.  The London Symphony Orchestra – “John Williams – A Life in Music”

Classic FM presents an orchestra playing John Williams’ back catalogue.  Needs must.  The London Symphony Orchestra has been around since 1904 but they have form in churning out pop-classical albums, such as their string of “Classic Rock” albums that ran from 1978 to 1989.

18.  The Slow Readers Club – “Build a Tower”

They’re a rock band from Manchester and their Wikipedia entry has a very understandable “multiple issues” tone.  For people who like the Killers, this is the sort of thing that they like.

26.  Reef – “Revelation”

Yes, Reef, the band who did “Place Your Hands” in 1996.  It’s been 18 years since their last studio album and they’ve evidently mellowed somewhat into country-rock territory.  Sheryl Crow is on the single above.

28.  Leon Bridges – “Good Thing”

He’s a Texan soul singer and this is his second album; the first got to number 8, so this is a bit disappointing.  The video above is vaguely creepy, but I think that’s what they were going for, so…

33.  Rae Sremmurd – “Sr3mm”

From the people who did “Black Beatles” two years ago, this is a sprawlingly self-indulgent triple album – one disc by the duo, one disc each by the individual members.  Oddly, the parent album for “Black Beatles”, “SremmLife 2”, didn’t chart at all.

34.  Belly – “Dove”

Belly’s two 1990s albums both made the top 10, but interest in a reunion is clearly rather muted.  The song above isn’t bad at all, but the video is eye-burningly horrendous.