This won’t take long.

You might remember that a few weeks ago, some of the major UK record labels announced their new “on air, on sale” policy, where records would be made available to download as soon as they were released to radio.  There was some speculation that this might result in records slowly climbing from the bottom of the charts.  And what happened?  A string of records went straight in at number 1 with no prior promotion.

But things seem to be changing.  Once again, the top end of the chart is eerily becalmed.  There are only four new entries on this week’s chart, none of which make the top 20.  This is about as quiet as the charts get.

“Someone Like You” by Adele is number one, for the third week.  And to judge from the iTunes chart, it’s got a decent shot of holding on for a fourth.

The highest new entry, way down at 22, is “Rope” by the Foo Fighters.  There’s no official video for this yet (though if you’d like to see a shakycam version of them playing it live, admittedly with half decent sound quality, then YouTube will oblige).   This is the lead single from their seventh album and, well, you know what to expect, and you’re pretty much right.  It’s a good song; it’s not going to surprise anyone; and it’s their 21st hit single.  Coincidentally, the last one (“Wheels”, in 2009) also peaked at 22.  Their biggest UK hit is actually “Best of You”, which reached number 4 in 2005 and also hung around a good long while.

Next up, “Fighting Fire” by Breakage featuring Jess Mills, at number 34.  This is another single from that hazily defined dubstep-spawned genre which has produced a few decent singles this year.  “Fighting Fire” isn’t a stand-out of its type, but it’s perfectly okay.  Breakage is a Londoner called James Boyle; Jess Mills used to be the singer for His Girl Friday and is now a solo artist.  Debut single for both.

Number 35 is “Black and Yellow” by Hype Squad.  No video for this, and it’s entirely absent from YouTube.  It’s a cover version of the Wiz Khalifa song, which has never charted in the UK.  (Black and yellow being the colours of Pittsburgh sports teams, apparently.)  The Hype Squad, as far as I can make out, are one of those factory cover version acts that take advantage of over-extended pre-release hype, and it’s unusual to see them in the top 40.  Oddly, according to iTunes, the original has been available in the UK since last September, though a further version was released on Friday, presumably in a panicked response to the sales of this single.

And the only other new entry of the week is “Who You Are” by Jessie J at number 40.  That’s a track from her debut album, which came out last week.  It’s not an official single, and it’s a very emotion-by-numbers lyric, but it does crop up in some oddball promotional videos on her YouTube channel, which might explain it being singled out for downloads.  For example, here she is singing it in a New York subway station.

And that’s it for new entries.  Told you it was quiet.

Among this week’s climbers:

“Born This Way” by Lady Gaga is back up to number 4 after dropping to 8 last week, presumably because the video’s now out.  If you haven’t seen it… well, it’s as ridiculous as you’d expect.  I’m not quite sure it works; the song is a pretty direct disco stomper, and the video is either dripping in irony, or stark raving mad, neither of which altogether fits.  Hmm.

“C’Mon” by Tiesto, Diplo & Busta Rhymes vaults 23 places to number 13, which is basically because they released the version with Busta Rhymes on it – it charted last week on the strength of the instrumental original.  “I Need a Doctor” by Dr Dre, which has been around for over a month, climbs 9 places to a new peak of 15 – I assume that’s because he too has finally got around to making a video for it.  And  Avril Lavigne’s “What The Hell”, which has now been out for seven weeks, also reaches a new peak of 25.