Another quiet week on the singles chart, beyond a couple of major releases…

1 Ariana Grande – “Positions”

Four weeks, though apparently this one was very close – the equivalent of just a few hundred sales. “34+35” and “POV” are still on the chart, at 17 and 19 respectively.

2. Billie Eilish – “Therefore I Am”

Positively perky, by the standards of Billie Eilish singles – and unlucky to miss out on being her second number one (after “No Time To Die”). It’s the first song ever to chart with the word “Therefore” in the title.

7. BBC Children in Need – “Stop Crying Your Heart Out”

Charity release for the BBC’s annual Children in Need telethon, which was last week. This is being presented as a Radio 2 project (which, for non-UK readers, is basically the popular music station you’re supposed to move on to when middle age looms) and sounds it. The actual contributors do include a number of acts who are still firmly in the Radio 1 camp, though, such as ELla Eyre, Ava Max, KSI and, um, Grace Chatto, the cellist from Clean Bandit.

The Oasis original reached number 2 in 2002. This was doing very well at the start of the week but evidently couldn’t sustain it.

“Train Wreck” by James Arthur climbs 19-16, and the fact that it’s still climbing after four weeks on chart is worth noting when you bear in mind that it’s an album track from several years ago which has spontaneously charted after being discovered by TikTok. “Paradise” by Meduza featuring Dermot Kennedy climbs 24-20. “Whoopty” by CJ climbs a massive 15 places, from 39 to 24, so it’s obviously going to be around for a while. “I Miss U” by Jax Jones featuring Au/Ra climbs 28-25, and “Golden” by Harry Styles climbs 36-29.

30. Shane Codd – “Get Out My Head”

He’s an Irish DJ, and this is his first hit. A weird year in which to promote dance music, when there’s nowhere to dance, but this has the hooks to work.

31. Mariah Carey – “All I Want for Christmas Is You”

IT’S THE THIRD WEEK OF NOVEMBER, YOU MONSTERS.

This track has charted every year since the dawn of the digital era in 2007. Despite changes to the chart rules that were designed to stop older records swamping the chart by downweighting them, it’s still made number 2 for the last three years.

And … er, that’s it. So over to the album chart…

1. AC/DC – “Power Up”

AC/DC’s eighteenth studio album doesn’t stray from the formula, but it’s a formula that’s served them well. This is their fourth number one album, following 1980’s “Back in Black”, 2008’s “Black Ice”, and 2010’s soundtrack to Iron Man 2 – but they routinely place in the top 5.

2. McFly – “Young Dumb Thrills”

This is McFly’s first new album in a decade, and it’s their highest place since 2005 (their first two albums were number ones). On the strength of the single, they seem to be going for ELO.

3. Andrea Bocelli – “Believe”

Bocelli’s classical-crossover records routinely do well – this is his twelfth top 10 album.

4. Paloma Faith – “Infinite Things”

Paloma Faith has reached the crossover point in her career – a high-placing album that produced no hit singles. She’ll be fine; she was always more suited to the album audience. This is her fifth album, all of which have made the top 10 (and all but her debut made the top 5).

6. André Rieu & The Johann Strauss Orchestra – “Jolly Holiday”

Shameless kitsch, of course, but hey, there’s an audience that loves it, so more power to him. Rieu’s chart record is weird – often it’s the top 10, often it’s down in the thirties.

8. Sophie Ellis-Bextor – “Songs from the Kitchen Disco”

Not actually a collection of performances from her popular lockdown streaming shows – which literally did see her singing in her home while childminding – but a combination of a greatest hits album and some covers of songs she performed during those sets. Her albums usually make the top 20, but this is her first time in the top 10 since 2014.

The video for her cover of Alcazar’s “Crying At The Discotheque” is well worth a watch, as she performs to a missing audience in a string of deserted, Covid-shuttered venues.

10. Johnny Cash & The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra – “Johnny Cash & The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra”

Oh, one of these albums of old vocal tracks with new orchestral backings. The less said the better. (Mercifully, this is not Cash’s highest placed UK album – several did better, his highest position being 4.)

22. The Shadows – “Dreamboats & Petticoats – The First 60 Years”

Greatest hits album (and a relatively conservative 46 tracks, considering the title).

26. K-Trap – “Street Side Effects”

K-Trap has had two previous top 40 albums, but this is comfortably the highest placed. His only singles chart appearance was as a guest on a Krept & Konan single last year.

31. Chris Stapleton – “Starting Over”

Stapleton’s album chart record is truly bizarre – his only previous top 40 album was 2017’s “From A Room vol 1”, which got to number 22. And then volume 2 missed the top 75. Weird.

39. Future x Lil Uzi Vert – “Pluto x Baby Pluto”

Collaborative rap album. Because they both have Pluto-themed nicknames, apparently.

40. Phil Campbell & The Bastard Sons – “We’re The Bastards”

And finally, the first top 40 album for Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons. Campbell was the lead guitarist in Motörhead from 1984 to 2015.