Mediaweek editor James Manning takes a look at the ARIA Charts for the week starting July 2.
• Singles: 5SOS two weeks from chart history, but Drake beckons
• Albums: Prolific Canadian rapper Drake has another chart topper
Singles
Nine new singles entered the top 50 this week – but eight of them belonged to Drake! They were tracks from his new album Scorpion. Despite the flood of new material from the Canadian rapper, he was unable to dislodge 5 Seconds Of Summer from top spot.
The Sydney-based pop quartet is at #1 for a seventh consecutive week. They are two weeks away from equalling the previous longest run at the top held by Justice Crew and their tune Que Sera, which logged nine weeks topping the chart in 2014. What 5SOS have done though is rank equal third-longest at #1 alongside Kylie’s Locomotion, John Farnham’s You’re The Voice and Pseudo Echo’s Funky Town, which all held at #1 for seven weeks.
Drake’s highest chart debut this week was at #3 with Don’t Matter To Me featuring Michael Jackson. He also debuted in the top 50 this week with Nonstop (#5), Emotionless (#12), In My Feelings (#15), 8 Out Of 10 (#27), Mob Ties (#28), Talk Up (featuring Jay-Z) (#33) and Can’t Take A Joke (#36). ARIA noted only Ed Sheeran and Post Malone have scored more debuts in a single chart week, jointly holding the record with 13 each.
The only other artist to make the top 50 on debut this week is Sydney singer-songwriter Dean Lewis at #19 with Be Alright. This is a track from his forthcoming album. His chart best is Waves in 2017, which peaked at #12.
Albums
The top 10 got a clean-out this week with five new entries while there were another two new arrivals inside the top 50.
The newcomers to the chart this week:
#1 Drake with Scorpion: This is his second ARIA #1 album and the first since Views in May 2016, which was his other chart topper.
#2 Florence + The Machine with High As Hope: The British band’s fourth album – two of which made it to #1 while the other made it to #3.
#3 The Rubens with Lo La Ru: Menangle’s finest have charted with their third album after their self-titled debut hit #3 in 2012 and Hoops made it to #2 in August 2015.
#4 Gorillaz with The Now Now: The sixth album from Damon Albarn’s virtual band, with four of those albums finding a home in the top 10. The previous album Humanz was released just over a year ago and peaked at #4. The new set features contributions from Snoop Dogg and George Benson.
#10 Bullet For My Valentine with Gravity: The sixth album from the Welsh metal band and the fifth to go top 10.
#15 Hillsong Young & Free with III: The third studio album following Youth Revival, which peaked at #3 in 2016.
#29 Pendulum with The Reworks: The Perth drum and bass band plunder their back catalogue and return to the chart for the first time since 2010.
Special mention to Guns N’ Roses this week with Appetite For Destruction charging back into the top 10 after an impressive 169 weeks on the chart. The new chart action comes from a 30th anniversary reissue. Surprisingly, the album has never charted higher than #7, which is where it peaked in 1988. Guns N’ Roses’ Greatest Hits returned to the top 50 at #35 after 424 weeks on the chart!
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Top photo: Drake (credit: Anton Mac)