Charts analysis: Lewis Capaldi returns to albums summit

After ceding pole position to Stormzy last week, Lewis Capaldi returns to the top of the album chart, with debut release Divinely Uninspired To A Hellish Extent starting its fifth run at the summit, and spending its eighth week in pole position, on consumption of 18,298 units (including 12,055 from sales-equivalent streams). It is the lowest consumption tally for a No.1 for 35 weeks. The deposed Stormzy slips to No.3 (15,753 sales) with Heavy Is The Head. Selena Gomez leads the week’s new intake, which sees three albums debuting inside the Top 10, and seven in the Top 75. The first of her six studio albums – the first three with The Scene, the last three solo – on which she has co-written every song, Rare is Gomez’s first album in more than four years, and looks set to give her a third straight No.1 and sixth straight Top 10 entry in her native USA. It is her first Top 10 album here, debuting at No.2 (17,661 sales, including 5,122 on cassette, in which format it commands 84.37% of the week’s sales). Gomez’s most recent album, 2015’s Revival, secured her highest previous UK chart placing (No.11) and is also her biggest-seller (107,389 sales). Leicester quintet Easy Life have released a couple of mixtapes/EPs previously, but neither was chart-eligible. Their latest, Junk Food – a seven-song, 18-minute, eclectic collage – is, and lands on the chart at No.7 (6,597 sales). Of these sales, 1,988 are on vinyl, enabling it to debut atop said format’s chart. Their fellow East Midlander, classical cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason, also ventures into the Top 10 for the first time. Kanneh-Mason was the first black winner of BBC's Young Musician Of The Year, the youngest classical artist to make the Top 40 for almost a decade, and the youngest cellist to have a Top 20 album when, at the age of 18, his debut album, Inspiration, debuted at No.18 in February 2018. It subsequently peaked 16 weeks later at No.11, after the Nottingham native’s performance at the wedding of Prince Harry & Meghan Markle, and has gone on to sell 43,539 copies. His follow-up, Elgar, on which he is accompanied by The London Symphony Orchestra directed by Simon Rattle, debuts at No.8 (5,101 sales) – and like his first album, at No.1 on the classical chart. Despite its title, only six of its 14 tracks are compositions of Edward Elgar, with other tracks including the traditional Blow The Wind Southerly and Scarborough Fair. The rest of the Top 10: No.6 Collaborations Project (3-4, 9,351 sales) by Ed Sheeran, Fine Line (4-5, 8,638 sales) by Harry Styles, When We Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? (5-6, 8,338 sales) by Billie Eilish, Hollywood’s Bleeding (9-9, 4,714 sales) by Post Malone and You’re In My Heart (6-10, 4,688 sales) by Rod Stewart. Exiting the Top 10: What A Time To Be Alive (8-11, 4,624 sales) by Tom Walker, Everyday Life (7-12, 4,255 sales) by Coldplay and Back Together (10-26, 2,694 sales) by Michael Ball & Alfie Boe. Nearly three years after London indie act The Big Moon’s carefree first album, Love In The Fourth Dimension, debuted and peaked at No.66, the all-female quartet’s follow-up, the more political, social and environmentally conscious Walking Like We Do, makes a much bigger splash, debuting at No.19 (3,423 sales). Only two acts who share their name with US states have made the UK album chart – and both are British. The first was Scots-band Texas, who landed 11 Top 40 albums between 1989 and 2017, and the second is Georgia, a 29-year-old Londoner, whose second album, Seeking Thrills, mixes pop-synth and dance influences, and debuts at No.24 (2,772 sales). It thus instantly surpasses career sales of her eponymous 2015 debut, which never made the Top 200, and has sales to date of 2,277 copies. Andy Williams is the second artist already this year, and the 16th in 12 months, to secure a chart entry with a 3 CD Crimson label release entitled Gold. The Williams set lands at No.29 (2,560 sales), becoming his 28th Top 40 album, more than 54 years after Almost There became his first. It is his first new chart entry since 2009, when The Very Best Of became his 11th and last Top 10 album, peaking at No.10. It subsequently returned to the chart, reaching No.50, immediately after his death, at the age of 84, in 2012, and has sold 170,162 copies. More than 43 years after their album chart debut, and 33 years after they last charted, Liverpool R&B/soul band The Real Thing secure their fifth chart entry with new Sanctuary compilation, Very Best Of, which opens at No.58 (1,822 sales). The album includes several tracks only available hitherto on vinyl, and Someone Oughta Write A Song (About You Baby), which was to have been their third single but which has not previously been released – although co-writer Ken Gold subsequently cut and released almost identical versions with contemporaneous bands Delegation and The Realistics. Frozen 2 is No.1 compilation for the second time (6,352 sales, including 4,176 from sales-equivalent streaming). Overall album sales are up 2.44% week-on-week at 1,809,646, 4.25% above same week 2019 sales of 1,735,879. Sales-equivalent streams accounted for 1,325,565 sales, a record 73.25% of the total. Sales of paid-for albums are down 7.54% week-on-week at 484,081, 20.14% below same week 2019 sales of 606,131.

The Roaring '20: The biggest albums of the year previewed

A new artist, Lewis Capaldi, scored the best-selling artist album of 2019 with Divinely Uninspired To A Hellish Extent, but the frontrunners for 2020 have a more familiar feel. Here, we run down 20 of the most anticipated records due out this year... DUA LIPA FUTURE NOSTALGIA | (WARNER RECORDS) | DUE: TBC Dua Lipa enters her sophomore campaign as a fully rounded pop proposition. She’s bagged BRITs, sold more than 550,000 copies of her debut and booked arena dates for May and June. By that point, the new LP should be embedded in the Top 10. On the singles chart, Don’t Start Now is chasing No.1. Given her ambition to make music that could sit alongside “classic pop” by Madonna, Moloko and Blondie, there should be plenty more where that came from. JUSTIN BIEBER TBC | (DEF JAM/VIRGIN EMI) | DUE: TBC Bieber broke UK streaming records when he last released an album (2015’s Purpose amassed 21 million sales globally), so his first long-player in more than four years should see the Canadian superstar amass some big numbers. Lead track Yummy has already made a chart impact and he’s confirmed dates in North America. The campaign’s 10-part YouTube docu-series Justin Bieber – Seasons (a deal reportedly worth $20 million) will be closely scrutinised by every true Belieber on the planet. HAYLEY WILLIAMS PETALS FOR ARMOR | (ATLANTIC) | DUE: January 22 Many would have put money on a new Paramore album this year, but P-Mo frontwoman Hayley Williams surprised everyone with her December announcement of new solo material. Following up with cryptic social media posts, Williams’ form as a featured artist (BOB’s Airplanes, Zedd’s Stay The Night) suggests things might go in a less rock direction than with her band, while she has said the record was made “with the help of some of my closest friends” One thing’s for sure: it’s going to be emotional. GREEN DAY FATHER OF ALL | (REPRISE) | DUE: February 7 It’ll be three-and-a-half years since Green Day’s last album, Revolution Radio, and the US punk superstars sound like they have a lot of pent-up energy to expend. Frontman Billie Joe Armstrong has been touting the new record as fast and furious, promising “dangerous songs for dangerous kids”. The biz will be watching to see if they can lead a rock streaming breakthrough, but either way expect their Hella Mega Tour, in company with Fall Out Boy and Weezer, to do some serious box office. ELLIE GOULDING TBC | (POLYDOR) | DUE: TBC Ellie Goulding was actually talking up a new album this time last year but, in the end, she only released a handful of singles in 2019. The delay does mean, however, that she goes into 2020 off the back of renewed momentum, courtesy of her cover of Joni Mitchell’s River, which hit No.1 in December despite only being available on Amazon Music. Goulding says Mitchell is a key influence on her long-awaited fourth album, which should add a new dimension to her penchant for high-quality dance-pop bangers. THE KILLERS IMPLODING THE MIRAGE | (VIRGIN EMI) | DUE: TBC With no new material to promote, The Killers walked on to Glastonbury’s Pyramid Stage cold. They walked off as the hottest band in the world. And with over 250,000 tickets snapped up for their 2020 UK stadium tour in just two hours, the scene is set perfectly for the Las Vegas rockers’ sixth studio album (and first since 2017’s Wonderful Wonderful), which is due in the spring. SAM SMITH TBC | (CAPITOL) | DUE: TBC The follow-up to 2017’s double platinum The Thrill Of It All (722,792 sales, OCC), Sam Smith’s forthcoming third album is billed as a more pop-driven affair than previous releases. The 27-year-old racked up another two Top 10 singles last year and remains one of British music’s leading lights. ADELE TBC | (COLUMBIA) | DUE: TBC Adele contributed the two biggest albums of the last decade, 21 (5,175,320 copies sold, according to the Official Charts Company) and 25 (a mere 3,582,854), so her long-awaited fourth record – and first after her initial XL/Beggars deal – has retail and the biz salivating at the prospect of another blockbuster. A rumoured November 2019 release date passed without the singer dropping anything more than a few heavy hints she was working on new music, but 2020 should be the year. Watch this space. BTS MAP OF THE SOUL: 7 | (BIG HIT ENTERTAINMENT) | DUE: February 21 BTS scored a No.1 with last year’s Map Of The Soul: Persona album. The LP’s tally of 84,753 sales (OCC) is impressive, but following collaborations and co-writes with Halsey and Ed Sheeran, the Wembley Stadium headliners will surely go even bigger this time. Could the K-pop sensations up their features game even further? LORDE TBC | (VIRGIN EMI) | DUE: TBC Lorde’s critically-acclaimed second LP Melodrama peaked at No.5 in the UK upon its release in 2017 but was a sleeper hit, going gold with sales topping 130,000. Details on album number three have been scarce so far, but the 23-year-old New Zealander recently revealed it would be delayed following the death of her beloved dog Pearl. HALSEY MANIC | (VIRGIN EMl) | DUE: January 17 Halsey’s US success is yet to fully transmit across the pond, with her 2017 Billboard No.1 LP Hopeless Fountain Kingdom stalling at No.12 in the UK. But her third album Manic and arena headline dates in London, Manchester and Glasgow promise to solidify her at the top level around the globe. PEARL JAM TBC | (MONKEYWRENCH/REPUBLIC/VIRGIN EMI) | DUE: TBC It’s been six years since the legendary Seattle band released their 10th album, Lightning Bolt, but the good news is that their follow-up seems to be on its way. In 2018 the group released the Trump-baiting, Brendan O’Brien-produced single Can’t Deny Me, which was confirmed as being taken from their next LP. With a European tour – including a headline slot at BST – already announced, it seems the long wait is nearly over. FOO FIGHTERS TBC | (RCA) | DUE: TBC It was only 2017 when the Foos released Concrete And Gold, but it seems they’re already hard at work on their 10th record. “We’re really just jumping into the fire on this one,” wonder drummer Taylor Hawkins told Music Week late last year. “We didn’t do any pre-production, Dave just wanted to get started and he had a bunch of demos. I don’t like to give stuff away, but if you’re a fan you’ll be like, ‘Woah, Dave’s definitely on another trip on this one, completely!’” BIFFY CLYRO TBC | (WARNER RECORDS) | DUE: TBC Last year, Scottish rock crew Biffy Clyro released Balance, Not Symmetry – their first ever soundtrack. For 2020, however, we should see the group release their eighth, as-yet-untitled studio album. Not only have the group have been teasing studio footage online for a good while now, bassist James Johnston also told NME we should expect the record to arrive in “the first half of next year”. Fingers crossed. SHEKU KANNEH-MASON ELGAR | (Decca) | DUE: Out now Classical crossover star Sheku will be looking to trouble the charts this week with his second album, built around Elgar’s Cello Concerto. The success of 2018 debut LP Inspiration, which peaked at No.11 and has 43,408 sales to date (Official Charts Company), meant that the 20-year-old cellist could call on Sir Simon Rattle to conduct the London Symphony Orchestra on a classy outing recorded at Abbey Road Studios (famously opened by Elgar in 1931). THE 1975 NOTES ON A CONDITIONAL FORM | (DIRTY HIT) | DUE: TBC Thanks to The 1975’s manager and label boss Jamie Oborne’s proclamations in Music Week, we know quite a bit about the “extraordinary” companion piece to A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships already. The drip-feed of tracks so far suggest we’re in for more sonic diversity this time round, while bombast, grandiosity and Matt Healy’s uber-smart lyricism are guaranteed. The 1975 are already huge; this record could make them massive. THE STROKES TBC | (RCA) | DUE: TBC The Strokes did zero promo for their last record, 2013’s Comedown Machine, so in mouthing off about its as-yet-untitled follow-up at a New Year’s Eve gig in New York, Julian Casablancas has already upped the ante. “We’ve been unfrozen, and we’re back,” said the singer before they played a rambling, six-minute new song with a needling guitar line that may or may not be called Ode To The Mets. Further details are scarce, but a smiling Casablancas said the record is “coming soon”. DRAKE TBC | (CASH MONEY/ REPUBLIC) | DUE: TBC Between 2018’s record-breaking album Scorpion and his 2019 compilation record Care Package, you’d assume Drake might enjoy a long break before his next move. Nah. In a rare interview with Rap Radar released on Christmas Day 2019 he confirmed that, while he was taking some time to smell the roses, his next record is on the way. “I’m at a great place in my life,” he said. “I’m trying to make this album, I’m enjoying being a father, I’m enjoying my house.” CARDI B TBC | (ATLANTIC) | DUE: TBC Cardi B has described making the follow-up to 2018’s debut album Invasion Of Privacy as “a challenge”, but the Bodak Yellow rapper promises to avoid pandering to what’s hot and continue to plot her own path. Already this month, the New Yorker has tweeted a teeny snippet of what could be the still-untitled album’s lead single. On it, she raps ‘shake, earth quake’. Here’s hoping the release will rock the industry’s foundations in the same way her breakthrough did. TAME IMPALA THE SLOW RUSH | (FICTION) | DUE: February 14 Presumably lost in music for the last few years, psych-pop maven Kevin Parker has finally completed his fourth studio album. The follow-up to 2015’s Top 3 LP Currents has a lot to live up to. As well as moving 176,636 copies (Official Charts Company) and winning him a BRIT, Currents was a critical favourite. A glut of new tunes, including the disco-tinged Lost In Yesterday, suggest that the multi-talented Aussie singer, songwriter and producer hasn’t lost his touch. Tours #2020 Twenty of the biggest artists set to hit these shores over the next 12 months... Billie Eilish continues her stunning rise with her maiden UK arena tour in July, including four nights at The O2… Britain’s own breakthrough superstar (and Music Week Artist Of The Year) Lewis Capaldi headlines arenas in March… Slipknot are back in town this week... Lana Del Rey plays arena dates next month… The 1975 hit the road in February… The reunited Pussycat Dolls make their return in April... Craig David celebrates his 20th anniversary in the business with an arena tour the same month… Dua Lipa stars at arenas in May/June... Guns N’Roses will become the first music act to perform at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium when they return to Blighty in May… The Killers rock stadiums in May and June… Queen + Adam Lambert have a 10-night stand at The O2 booked for June… Camila Cabello’s biggest UK tour yet is also lined up for June... Supremes icon Diana Ross graces UK arenas in the wake of her Glastonbury legends’ slot... Little Mix visit stadiums off the beaten track in June/July… DIY sensation Gerry Cinnamon heads out on his biggest tour yet, topped by a July headline show at Glasgow’s Hampden Park… Westlife come to stadiums across the land over the summer… The Eagles play Hotel California in full for two nights at Wembley Stadium in August… Stormzy will embark on his first UK tour in three years when he hits the arena circuit in the autumn... Ozzy Osbourne’s long-delayed UK jaunt is now set for November… Elton John wraps up his farewell tour in December...

Someone 2019 loved: Music Week's analysis of the year

2019 was the year of Lewis Capaldi, but also some seismic market shifts as UK music consumption grew for the fifth year in a row. Our legendary year-end ...

Analysis

subscribers only

Charts analysis: Stormzy holds steady at singles summit

After historically unprecedented upheavals in the Top 75 last week, which saw 23 climbers, 10 new entries, 41 re-entries and just one track in decline, things are calmer ...

Analysis

subscribers only

Charts analysis: Stormzy does the double

Doing the double: Stormzy this week becomes the first artist to simultaneously top the singles and albums chart since his pal Ed Sheeran last July. Heavy Is The ...

Analysis

subscribers only