Taylor Swift, it turns out, can dominate the top 10 for two weeks in a row.

1. Taylor Swift – “Anti-Hero”

Two weeks. The parent album “Midnights” remains at number one for a second week. The other two tracks that charted from it, “Lavender Haze” and “Snow on the Beach”, drop out of the top five… but only to numbers 6 and 8.

3. Rihanna – “Lift Me Up”

Huh. And there was me thinking that a new Rihanna single was bound to be challenging for number one. She hasn’t had a single out, even as a guest vocalist, since 2020 (when she appeared on a PartyNextDoor single that got to number 12). She hasn’t released a single of her own since 2016. So you’d think this would be a bigger deal. I mean, number 3 is quite a big deal. But bigger.

One factor may be that it’s not the lead single from a new Rihanna album – it’s a contribution to the soundtrack of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. And the other may be that it’s a rather schmaltzy ballad, which isn’t necessarily what people are looking for from Rihanna. Her performance is great, the song itself seems to get stuck in a loop.

17. SZA – “Shirt”

Well, that video is completely demented. Well done. The song doesn’t exactly go anywhere but it’s weirdly compelling all the same. SZA’s chart positions are wildly inconsistent, but this is one of her better placings for solo material.

32. Ray Parker Jr – “Ghostbusters”

Hallowe’en fell on a Monday this year, which works out nicely for a few days of streaming to get some of the standards into the lower end of the chart. “Ghostbusters” spent three weeks at number 2 in 1984, stuck behind “I Just Called To Say I Love You” by Lionel Richie. It got a week at number 38 last year.

35. Fred again.. – “Delilah (Pull Me Out Of This)”

This was released last week, but it’s propelled into the top 40 by the release of parent album “Actual Life 3 (Jan 1 – Sep 9 2022)”, which enters at number 4 to become his first top 40 album. It’s something of a surprise, since the two previous volumes of “Actual Life” didn’t make the top 100. Apparently some hit singles have raised his profile.

36. Bobby “Boris” Pickett – “Monster Mash”

Another Hallowe’en track. This just missed the top 40 last year. It was released in 1962 but didn’t chart in the UK until a reissue in 1973, when it reached number 3. “Thriller” by Michael Jackson is just outside the top 40.

40. Juice WRLD – “In My Head”

Another unreleased track by the rapper who died in 2019. To be fair, the standard remains quite respectable.

This week’s climbers:

• “Miss You” by Oliver Tree & Robin Schulz climbs 8-5. It seems to have won the commercial battle against the Southstar version, which drops to 30 this week.
• “Messy in Heaven” by vebnee & Goddard climbs 14-11.
• “Made You Look” by Meghan Trainor climbs 28-14, which I wouldn’t have predicted at all. Like it or not, retreading the style of her big hit has worked.
• “How Do I Say Goodbye” by Dean Lewis climbs 31-23.
• “Kiss Me” by Dermot Kennedy climbs 34-28.
• “Lionheart (Fearless)” by Joel Corry & Tom Grennan climbs 37-33.

There are six new entries this week (well, four new entries and two Hallowe’en re-entries). The records making way for them:

• “Last Last” by Burna Boy, which made the top 5 and spent over 20 weeks in the top 40.
• “Warm” by K-Trap, after re-entering for a week at number 40.
• “California Breeze” by Lil Baby, which had two weeks, peaking at 26.
• “I Ain’t Quite Where I Think I Am”, “Body Paint” and “There’d Better Be A Mirrorball” by Arctic Monkeys, all dropping straight out of the top 40 after last week’s album release.

On the album chart, “Midnights” by Taylor Swift is still number 1.

2. The Beatles – “Revolver”

This is the quadruple LP special edition reissue, of course. The album was number 1 for seven weeks on release in 1966.

3. Michael Ball & Alfie Boe – “Together in Vegas”

It’s basically an album of Rat Pack songs, out in good time for the MOR Christmas market. It’s their first album to miss the top 2, but I doubt they’ll be losing too much sleep about that.

The Fred again.. album is number 4.

6. Massive Wagons – “Triggered”

Their sixth studio album, their third to chart, and their highest position (by three places over its predecessor).

7. Tom Odell – “Best Day of my Life”

All five of his studio albums have made the top 10 – this is the lowest placing, and the first to miss the top 5. Still a pretty good track record.

10. Foo Fighters – “The Essential”

Greatest hits album, no doubt also timed for the Christmas market.

15. Paul Weller – “Will of the People”

Not to be confused with the Muse album of the same name. It’s a triple album collection of B-Sides and rarities.

19. Dylan – “The Greatest Thing I’ll Never Learn”

Debut album… well, mixtape, officially, but same difference. This feels like a record designed to produce hit singles, but it finds itself in the album top 20 instead.

22. Blue – “Heart & Soul”

It’s been seven years since the re-formed turn-of-the-century boy band released their last album. This is the first time they’ve placed an album below 13, but honestly, they’re doing pretty well to still be charting at this stage in their careers.

30. The Hunna – “The Hunna”

Their fourth album. The first two made 13 and 12, the third missed the top 40. So they’ve turned it around a bit here.

37. Palaye Royale – “Fever Dream”

They’re a rock band from Vegas; this is their fourth studio album, but the first to chart in the UK.