It’s a very quiet week for new entries, but we do have a new number one.

1. Benson Boone – “Beautiful Things”

Beyoncé’s run ends after five weeks, as “Texas Hold ‘Em” drops straight to number 3. Ariana Grande’s “We Can’t Be Friends” climbs to 2, and Benson Boone climbs to the top. This record entered at number 18 at the end of January, climbed into the top 5 in week three, and has been hovering in the top three ever since. It makes number 1 in its ninth week on the top 40.

Boone doesn’t go on the One Hit Wonders list, because “In The Stars” was a minor hit two years ago, reaching number 21. Nonetheless, he’s a surprise number one, with little built-in audience and relying on the sustained appeal of the song. More to the point, it’s essentially a rock ballad, and we haven’t had one of those at number one in years. I suppose you could make a case for Lewis Capaldi at a stretch, but this is much more squarely in the genre tradition. There does seem to be a genre shift going on, driven in part by TikTok, which is pushing quite traditional folk/rock/Americana songwriting at the moment. Well, it was probably overdue for a revival.

13. V – “Fri(end)s”

This is the second solo hit for V from BTS, following “Sow Dancing”, which got to number 24 last year. This is apparently the first single from his new album. (Um, aren’t these guys supposed to be in the military right now…?) It’s quite good, anyway. Fun video. BTS-related records still tend to be frontloaded to the first week, but you never know.

18. Mark Knopfler’s Guitar Heroes – “Going Home (Theme from Local Hero)”

This is a charity single for the Teenage Cancer Trust (or Teen Cancer America, if you’re buying it there). It’s basically a lot of very famous guitarists collectively covering Knopfler’s theme to the 1983 film Local Hero, a trust which he routinely plays as an encore. Knopfler’s version was released as a single in the UK, but didn’t make the top 40. (In fact, none of his solo singles have got above number 32.)

The thing is ten minutes long. It’s so long that YouTube plays an advert halfway through it. If you’re struggling to remember what the theme to Local Hero actually is, jump forward to just after 3 minutes in when the actual melody starts. The Radio 1 chart show decided  just to play first three minutes of nothing much happening and then move on, which is certainly a call that somebody made. Admittedly, it’s quite a pretty three minutes. But still.

And… um, yes, that’s it for new entries. There are two re-entries: “Never Lose Me” by Flo Milli reappears at number 23 after a new mix was released, but it’s still below its previous peak. And “Birds in the Sky” by NewEra rebound from 42 to a new peak of number 34. That actually has a video now, a real classic of the “Are you sure any of this footage is actually interesting?” “Don’t worry, we’ll save it in the edit” genre.

This week’s climbers:

• “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for your Love)” by Ariana Grande climbs 3-2. She hasn’t had a number 1 in the UK since 2020, but she gets awfully close.
• “Scared to Start” by Michael Marcagi climbs 14-10, reaching the top 10 in its eighth week on the top 40.
• “Austin” by Dasha climbs 25-15, and seems to have some actual momentum despite being a pop-country track. Hmm. Dasha herself seems to have been around for a few years, previously releasing pop music to little impact before tacking to country on her last album.
• “Whatever She Wants” by Bryson Tiller climbs 17-16.
• “Worth It” by Raye climbs 34-33.

The four tracks leaving the top 40:

• “Lovin On Me” by Jack Harlow, a three-week number 1 back in November, finally leaves the chart after 18 weeks.
• “One of the Girls” by the Weeknd, Jennie & Lily Rose Depp only got to 21, but had an 11 week run.
• “Von Dutch” by Charli XCX entered at 26 and dropped out in its third week.
• “Grey” by Jung Filly peaked at 31 but did stick around for four weeks.

The longest-running track on the top 40 is still “Greedy” by Tate McRae, which spends its 27th week in the top 40. It’s still at number 28.

Over on the album chart:

1. Ariana Grande – “Eternal Sunshine”

That’s two weeks.

3. Kacey Musgraves – “Deeper Well”

This doesn’t include the single “I Remember Everything” (which is a guest appearance on a Zach Bryan song). This is her highest album chart position to date – her sixth studio album, the fifth to chart in the UK, and the third in a row to make the top 10. That’s a nice video above.

5. Justin Timberlake – “Everything I Thought It Was”

Including the current single “Selfish”, which got to number 29. This is the first time he’s released a studio album that didn’t make the top 2. Granted, number 5 isn’t bad, but it’s one place below Noah Kahan with an album that’s been out since last June.

7. Caity Baiser – “Still Learning”

Officially a mixtape, but it’s her first appearance on the album charts. Caity Baser seems to have landed as one of those odd acts who are obviously targeted at the singles market but are only registering on the album charts – her only hit single to date remains “Pretty Boys”, which reached number 26 last year.

17. Nemzzz – “Do Not Disturb”

Debut mixtape. He’s from Manchester.

31. The Black Crowes – “Happiness Bastards”

This is their first studio album since re-forming in 2019. You’d have thought the Black Crowes would be the sort of band who would benefit from the album market’s drift towards legacy acts. Mind you, they haven’t had a top 40 album since 2001 (they didn’t split until 2009), and number 31 is still their highest chart position of this century.