Charts analysis: Justin Bieber wins close No.1 album battle with Lewis Capaldi

Lewis Capaldi gathered a pair of BRIT awards on Tuesday (February 18), but the boost this gave to his blockbusting debut album, Divinely Uninspired To A Hellish Extent, wasn’t quite enough to send it to the top of the chart for the sixth time. It ultimately fell 144 sales short, remaining at No.2 with sales up 20.20% week-on-week at 17,537. After a titanic battle with Tame Impala, it is Justin Bieber who emerges triumphant with his fifth studio album, Changes, providing his second No.1 on consumption of 17,681 units (including 11,237 from sales-equivalent streams) – the lowest for a No.1 for 40 weeks. Bieber’s third studio album, Believe, delivered his only previous No.1 album in 2012 on sales of just 38,115 copies, while his last album, Purpose, shifted a massive 90,596 copies on the week of its release in 2015 but still had to settle for runners-up position behind One Direction’s Made In The AM. Despite not topping the chart, Purpose is by far Bieber’s most successful album in terms of consumption, with 1,330,226 units to date, followed by 2010 debut My World 2.0, which peaked at No.3 (828,291 units) with Believe a distant third (249,309 units). Like Bieber, Australia’s Tame Impala debuted in 2010, and last delivered an album in 2015. The act’s fourth studio album, The Slow Rush made a fast break, topping early sales flashes – like its 2015 predecessor Currents – but eventually ending up at No.3, again like Currents, but on considerably higher consumption of 16,489 units versus Currents’ 12,391. A psych-rock act whose only permanent member is 34-year-old Kevin Parker, Tame Impala had never had a Top 75 single until this week (see singles analyses for details) though the uncharted The Less I Know The Better – the stand-out track on Currents – has achieved hit-level consumption of 538,589 units, including 22,710 paid-for downloads. Currents tops the Tame Impala album consumption rankings, with a to-date tally of 180,972 units. Pop trio New Hope Club – former Stereo Kicks member Reece Bibby plus Blake Richardson and George Smith – have released several singles without charting but their eponymous first album is off to an encouraging start, debuting at No.5 (8,467 sales). Aside from Lewis Capaldi, there were major Brit-fuelled boosts inside the Top 10 for Billie Eilish’s When We Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go (6-4, 10,384 sales, a 48.20% increase) and Harry Styles’ Fine Line (9-8, 6,849 sales, 29.32% increase) – and elsewhere in the Top 40 for Eilish’s Don’t Smile At Me (17-13, 4,492 sales, 28.86% increase), Dave’s Psychodrama (57-14, 3,772 sales, 110.94% increase) and Lizzo’s Cuz I Love You (126-35, 2,393 sales, 113.67% increase). The rest of the Top 10: Music To Be Murdered By (3-6, 7,435 sales) by Eminem, Heavy Is The Head (7-7, 7,225 sales) by Stormzy, No.6 Collaborations Project (5-9, 6,811 sales) by Ed Sheeran and Big Conspiracy (4-10, 6,127 sales) by J Hus. Departing the Top 10: Father Of All… (1-17, 3,635 sales) by Green Day, Huncholini The 1st (10-19, 3,350 sales) by M Huncho and No One Else Can Wear Your Crown (8-166, 917 sales) by Oh Wonder. New York rapper A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie’s third album, Artist 2.0, sprints to a No.11 debut (5,881 sales). That’s an excellent result considering his 2017 debut, The Bigger Artist, fell short of the Top 200, while 2018 follow-up, Hoodie SZN, peaked at No.23. Northern Ireland rock trio Ash’s celebratory 2 CD set Teenage Life: 25 Years Of hosts 36 tracks, including 15 of their 21 charted singles, and brand new track, Darkest Hour Of The Night. Their 10th chart album, it debuts at No.26 (2,777 sales). Their cumulative album sales hitherto were 1,330,201, marginally more than their singles sales tally of 1,327,173. Also new to the chart: New Empire Volume 1 (No.54, 1,889 sales), the sixth studio album, and fourth chart entry for Californian rap/rock band Hollywood Undead; And It’s Still Alright (No.63, 1,751 sales), a ballad-heavy sixth studio album and third chart entry for the eclectic Nathaniel Rateliff; and Live From London (No.70, 1,629 sales), a poignant concert recording of Northern Ireland guitar deity Gary Moore, recorded at Islington Academy a year before his death at the age of 58 in 2011. A new expanded 20th Anniversary Edition of David Gray’s chart-topping, 10 times platinum White Ladder returns the set to the Top 75 (No.22, 3,033 sales) for the first time for the first time since 2005. Seven years after they split, JLS confirmed their reformation and tour dates last week, generating improved sales for their back catalogue especially 2013 No.6 compilation Goodbye: The Greatest Hits, which increases consumption 264.58% week-on-week to 1,979 units as it makes its first chart appearance in more than six years at No.47. A remastered 3CD deluxe edition of Erasure’s 1991 chart-topper Chorus has been released to ‘celebrate the album as an art form,’ and stimulates a return to the chart at No.53 (1,892 sales), more than 27 years after its last appearance. There are tour boosts for Once Upon A Mind (46-33, 2,429 sales) by James Blunt and Sunset & Full Moons (67-40, 2,216 sales) by The Script. The Frozen 2 soundtrack rebounds 2-1 (4,424 sales, including 3,126 from sales-equivalent streams), topping the compilation chart for the sixth time in seven weeks. Overall album sales are up 1.35% week-on-week at 1,833,447, 9.37% above same week 2019 sales of 1,676,356. Sales-equivalent streams accounted for 1,364,893 sales, a record 74.44% of the total. Sales of paid-for albums are down 1.82% week-on-week at 468,554, 12.03% below same week 2019 sales of 532,600.

Rising Star: Somethin' Else's Zosia Morris

The biz's brightest new talents tell their stories. This week it's the turn of Zosia Morris, executive producer at Somethin' Else for the BRIT Awards. Just what makes the BRIT Awards so special? “The BRITs are responsible for so many iconic pop culture moments. Everyone knows exactly what you’re talking about when you say ‘Geri Halliwell’s dress’, and it’s the stage that gave the world the opportunity to fall in love with Adele. It’s seen the rise of Stormzy; from being in the background of Kanye’s 2015 performance, to winning big and closing the show in 2018. It’s always the hottest ticket in town, yet the show never feels elitist, pretentious or arrogant. It’s as much for the artists as it is for the fans and audience at home. The BRITs are the best at throwing a massive party to celebrate the achievements of the world’s biggest artists.” How did you end up working on the awards? “Somethin’ Else is the BRITs’ digital global agency. We’re responsible for the digital and social strategy and output of the official BRITs channels. I started on a four week internship in November 2013 and told everyone how much I love the BRITs, and that I’d really like to help out. I was a super good intern, so they were happy to have me back for various roles, and as a runner for the BRITs 2014 red carpet crew. I officially joined our social department in 2015 as an assistant producer, and I’ve worked on the BRITs ever since.” What’s the best thing about your job? “I have an amazing team who love pop culture, internet culture, and the talent we’re working with and posting about. We get to share our excitement for all the amazing stuff going on! One of my favourite things is being at the forefront of the fans’ conversations – we know exactly what they want because they’ll tweet us dozens of times a day to tell us. They are so dedicated and we don’t take that for granted. The best bit is when it all comes together and we’re given the opportunity to create something exclusive with talent that we know fans will go wild for and remember as a moment we gave them.” Tell us your best behind the scenes secret? “One time Drake DMed us on Instagram and the whole team lost their shit. We almost left him unread because we couldn’t think of a good reply – luckily we managed to pull ourselves together and regain our professionalism.” What’s your dream job? “I’m lucky to be able to say that working on the BRITs was my dream job when I was younger. I even have tweets from 2010 to prove it.” ZOSIA’S RECOMMENDED TRACK:

Viewpoint: Legendary PR Jonathan Morrish looks back at 40 BRITs ceremonies

The two questions I’m always asked, when I tell people I’ve attended every BRITs are: ‘How much have they changed?’ and ‘What’s your favourite moment?’ Well, one thing ...

Opinion

Neighbourhood Watch: Benny Scarrs and Jack Foster on the incredible rise of Dave

I’m trying to think of that really big, bold statement to make. Who do we need to send a message to, Jack?” Benny Scarrs looks across at Jack ...

Interviews

subscribers only

Hitmakers: The songwriting secrets behind the BRIT-nominated Ladbroke Grove

AJ Tracey’s million-selling garage monster Ladbroke Grove was one of 2019’s biggest hits. Here, producer Conducta tells its story, from late night Deliveroo sessions and sampling Jorja ...

Interviews

subscribers only