For the first time in a while, this is a dead week for the singles chart.

1. Dave & Central Cee – “Sprinter”

That’s 10 weeks, tying with Miley Cyrus’s “Flowers” as the longest running number one of the year. In theory, the next target is Ed Sheeran’s “Bad Habits”, which had 11 weeks in 2021. But “Sprinter” is due to be hit by the downweighting rule next week, so in practical terms it has no prospect of getting there. The top three is all non-movers – in fact, there are six non-movers in the top 10 – so Billie Eilish has a reasonable shot of taking the number 1 by default next week.

20. Doja Cat – “Paint the Town Red”

Doja Cat’s previous single “Attention” stalled at number 37, but probably achieved its actual goal of signalling that she’s tacking away from pop. That means we can follow it up with a track with a nice familiar sample – “Walk On By”, which reached number 9 for Dionne Warwick in 1964. Warwick’s biggest UK hit was actually “Heartbreaker”, which got to number 2 in 1982. “Walk On By” has also been a hit single for the Stranglers (number 21 in 1978), Sybil (number 6 in 1990) and Gabrielle (number 7 in 1997). The 1962 top 5 hit of the same name by Leroy Van Dyke is a different song entirely.

31. Travis Scott featuring SZA & Future – “Telekinesis”

The only other new entry this week is a Travis Scott album chart, which is simply swapping places to be the third biggest track on last week’s album – it would have been disqualified last week under the three-song rule. Scott still has “Fein” at number 28 and “Meltdown” at number 19.

There are also a couple of marginal re-entries at the bottom end of the chart – “Flowers” by Miley Cyrus reappears at 34 after dropping to 41 last week, and for some reason “Anti-Hero” by Taylor Swift” is back at number 38, having dropped out of the top 40 back in June.

This week’s climbers:

• “Disconnect” by Becky Hill and Chase & Status climbs 15-9. That’s only Becky Hill’s fifth top ten hit despite being a fairly regular chart presence for 10 years now. Chase & Status have had four previous top 10 hits, but they were all between 2009 and 2013.
• “0800 Heaven” by Nathan Dawe, Joel Corry & Ella Henderson climbs 11-10. Dawe’s fourth top 10 hit, Corry’s seventh, Henderson’s tenth.
• “Desire” by Calvin Harris & Sam Smith climbs 18-12, so it’s getting some traction. It has a video now, which turns out to be a bit off brand for Smith’s recent releases.
• “I’m Just Ken (From Barbie The Album)” by Ryan Gosling climbs 14-13.
• “So Much In Love” by DOD climbs 23-16.
• “Unhealthy” by Anne-Marie & Shania Twain climbs 22-18.
• “Baddadan” by Chase & Status featuring Bou and Flowdan climbs 31-21.
• “Closer” by Bou featuring Slay climbs 33-26.

Thanks to the re-entries, there are four tracks leaving the top 40:

• “Popular” by the Weeknd featuring Playboi Carti and Madonna peaked at 11 but hung around for 9 weeks.
• “Padam Padam” by Kylie Minogue got to number 8 and lasted 11 weeks.
• “Nothing Compares 2 U” by Sinead O’Connor naturally departs after a week.
• “Hyaena” by Travis Scott gets disqualified under the 3-song rule after a single week at 21.

If we’re sticking to uninterrupted runs, the longest-running track in the top 40 is “Miracle” by Calvin Harris and Ellie Goulding, with a total of 22 weeks, and currently at number 27. If we’re counting interrupted runs, it’s “Flowers”, which has had a total of 29 weeks in the top 40 with only a single week outside.

On the album chart, it’s a busy top 10 and not much further down.

1. Cian Ducrot – “Victory”

His debut album goes to number one in a busy week, albeit one light on the really big names. Two of the singles made the top 20 – “All For You” in 2022, and “I’ll Be Waiting” this year.

2. Skindred – “Smile”

Welsh metal fusion band. This is their eighth album; the last three all charted, but between 26 and 29, so this is a huge step up. They’ve changed labels, if that matters.

4. The Sherlocks – “People Like Me & You”

Yorkshire indie guitars. It’s their fourth album, and the highest placing, though two of the others also made the top 10.

5. Miles Kane – “One Man Band” 

His fifth solo album, his highest placing – though again, he’s made number 8 twice before, and had two number 1 albums with the Last Shadow Puppets.

6. N-Dubz – “Timeless” 

Their comeback single “Charmer” made number 32 last year but it isn’t actually on the album. This is their fourth studio album after a 13 year gap, and it matches their previous best (with 2009’s “Against All Odds”). The single above is… surprisingly okay, actually.

28. Snow Patrol – “Final Straw” 

Finally, a 20th anniversary for Snow Patrol’s third album, which became their first mainstream hit on reissue in 2004.