The chart rules were changed a few years back to limit the number of tracks by the same artist to three, after Ed Sheeran and Drake managed to swamp the top ten. In practice, not that many acts have shown the ability to swamp the top end of the chart when they release a new album. But there are some.

1. Taylor Swift – “Anti-Hero”
3. Taylor Swift – “Lavender Haze”
4. Taylor Swift featuring Lana Del Rey – “Snow On The Beach”

The maximum three tracks from “Midnights”, which obviously enters the album chart at number 1. It’s her ninth consecutive number one album, including her re-recordings of “Fearless” and “Red”, as well as the two folk-style albums she released during the pandemic. With “Midnights”, we’re back to mainstream pop and songs about her celebrity status, which is… kind of what I was glad to see her moving away from? “Anti-Hero” is one of her better songs in that mode, but it still feels like a step backwards.

They’re a bit samey, these three tracks – midpaced and drifty (especially the two album songs). I suppose you could say that’s the sign of an album with a coherent sound.

Lana Del Rey makes an unlikely appearance on “Snow on the Beach”; it’s her biggest, and indeed only, hit since her improbable appearance on the Charlie’s Angels theme tune alongside Miley Cyrus and Ariana Grande, which reached number 2 in 2019. Her last hit single with more representative material was in 2017 when “Lust For Life” reached number 38, but the Weeknd was a guest on that. Before that, you have to go back to “West Coast”, which just missed the top 20 in 2014.

We also have counter-programming.

23. Arctic Monkeys – “I Ain’t Quite Where I Think I Am”

Their album, “The Car”, enters at number 2. This is the final single, joined by re-entries for its two predecessors – “Body Paint” at number 22 and “There’d Better Be a Mirrorball” at 25. Both are new peaks, albeit marginally – they both reached 26 on release.

“The Car” is the first Arctic Monkeys studio album to miss number 1 – they also released a live album in 2020 which got to number 3 – but there are extenuating circumstances. They’ve released an album in Taylor Swift week. The sales and streams are very high for both albums, with both achieving the equivalent of more than 100,000 first week sales. We don’t get that very often in the album market these days.

28. Meghan Trainor – “Made You Look”

Meghan Trainor is not a one-hit wonder – aside from her 2014 number 1 “All About That Bass”, the follow-up got to number 1 and she guested on a Charlie Puth number 1 the following year. It is fair to say, though, that diminishing returns set in after that. The lead single from her 2016 album got to number 11; her only significant hit single since then was a guest vocal on a Sigala single in 2018. Her 2020 album produced no hit singles and missed the albums top 40. Clearly, the solution that has been settled upon is to go back to the formula from eight years ago, and it has at least delivered her a hit single. It hasn’t done so well for the parent album, which enters this week at 67.

37. Joel Corry & Tom Grennan – “Lionheart (Fearless)”

After a straight run of five top ten hits between 2019 and 2021, Joel Corry has slowed down a bit, placing singles at 17, 21 and 18. If this doesn’t go further then it’ll be his smallest hit by a mile – but to be fair, he’s entered low and climbed before. The track’s… okay? The chorus reminds me a bit too much of Sia’s “Elastic Heart”.

Tom Grennan’s previous single “All These Nights” only managed a week at number 37, which seemed harsh, since it was perfectly decent. He’s just come off a successful guest vocal for KSI, but he could use a hit where he’s featured more prominently.

This week’s climbers are few and far between, thanks to Taylor shoving everyone else down:

• “Miss You” by Oliver Tree & Robin Schulz climbs 9-8 (and now has a proper video, which is actually quite good). Meanwhile, the Southstar version drops to 27. What seems to have happened here is that Southstar made his track as a bootleg remix, couldn’t clear the sample, and went with an anonymous re-creation. Unusually, Tree’s record company then responded by cloning the remix. Hmm.
• “How do I Say Goodbye” by Dean Lewis climbs 35-31.

There are six new entries this week, plus three re-entries (two for Arctic Monkeys, plus K-Trap’s “Warm” at 40). The nine tracks making way for them:

• “Turn on the Lights Again” by Fred again.. & Swedish House Mafia, which peaked at 27.
• “Poland” by Lil Yachty after a week at 42.
• “Victoria’s Secret” by Jax, which had three weeks, peaking at 33.
• “Not Over Yet” by KSI featuring Tom Grennan, which had six weeks in the top 10, peaking at number 4.
• “My G” by Aitch & Ed Sheeran, which had a single week in the top 10 and then hung around in the top 40 until getting hit by the downweighting rule in week 10.
• “Oh Caroline” and “I’m in Love With You” by the 1975, two tracks from last week’s album release.
• “Real Spill” by Lil Baby after a week at number 36.
• “Edging” by Blink 182, after a week at number 31 – it drops straight out of the top 100.

On the album chart, Taylor Swift is number 1 and Arctic Monkeys are number 2. But there’s a surprising amount of competition over here.

3. Loyle Carner – “Hugo”

He’s a rapper, he was nominated for the Mercury in 2017, and this is his third album. The previous one also got to number 3, but the competition wasn’t quite so stiff that time around. (He was beaten by a Billie Eilish album in its four week, and the soundtrack to Greatest Showman in its 88th week in the top 40.) The video above is really good.

4. Simple Minds – “Direction of the Heart”

Their 18th studio album. It matches the position of their previous studio album, 2018’s “Walk Between Worlds”. Their current drummer wasn’t born until six years after their first hit. She is now 35.

5. Kylie Minogue – “Impossible Princess”

25th anniversary reissue. This is her Britpop era album, the one that sounds nothing like anything else in her back catalogue before or since. The track above was co-written by James Dean Bradfield of the Manic Street Preachers, which is… certainly a thing that happened. The album reached number 10 on release, though in fairness it can’t have helped that the album had to be swiftly retitled for sensitivity reasons after the death of Princess Diana. (It was referred to for a time as “Kylie Minogue”, despite the fact that that had also been the title of the previous album.)

11. Dry Cleaning – “Stumpwork”

The follow-up to last year’s “New Long Leg”, which reached number 4. Still a very good position for a band who could in no sense be described as commercial.

12. A-Ha – “True North”

Their eleventh album, accompanied by a making-of documentary. Their previous studio album was 2015’s “Cast In Steel”, which reached number 8 – so not a bad position at all. The single above is much better than I expected.

16. Carly Rae Jepsen – “The Loneliest Time”

Perhaps surprisingly, this is the highest position for a Carly Rae Jepsen album since 2012’s “Kiss” made the top 10. She hasn’t been in the top 20 since then.

17. Andrea Bocelli, Matteo Bocelli & Virginia Bocelli – “A Family Christmas”

Good lord, it’s not even Hallowe’en! Anyway, if you’ve ever wanted to hear Andrea Bocelli sing an easy listening version of “Feliz Navidad” with his children, he’s got you covered.

18. Architects – “The Classic Symptoms of a Broken Spirit”

Hmm. The previous Architects album, “For Those That Wish to Exist”, was a number 1, but their previous three albums placed at 16, 15 and 18… so evidently that was an outlier. Heck of an outlier, though.