ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart Review: January 19th.

We have quite the interesting week here, four new entries as 2026 gets going in earnest but where it's not really getting going is in the top ten where for a ninth week, "Man I Need" by Olivia Dean sits pretty at number one. It's still a streaming behemoth and sales remain decent. Youtube really isn't much of a factor at this point.

"The Fate of Ophelia" by Taylor Swift is is hanging on at number two even as it's streaming and sales are falling away, it's being thratened by stronger songs around it more than posing a threat to our current number one, that threat is coming from "End Of Beginning" by Djo up one to number three, it's got streaming on side and it looks a strong player to take the number one. 

It finally pushed "Golden" by K-Pop Demon Hunters back one spot to number four, it's going to slowly move down which is a shame because I am sick to death of it. 

Hopefully it will mean "So Easy (To Fall in Love" by Olivia Dean can continue it's rise, it climbed two spots up to number five. Raye's "Where Is my Husband" fell back one place to number six and "Ordinary" by Alex Warren slipped back to number seven. 

"No Broke Boys" by Disco Lines and Tinashe remains at number eight and "12 to 12" by Sombr is glued to number nine for another week. 

Rising eight off it's debut to number ten is "Raindance" by Dave feat. Tems.

Losers

So a bunch of older hits lost ground big time this week which is nice to see so let's begin with "Soda Pop" from K-Pop Demon Hunters going flat down eleven to forty six. 

"Espresso" by Sabrina Carpenter fnally going cold down twelve to forty five. "Manchild" by Sabrina Carpenter is giving up down thirteen to forty three. 

"APT" by Rose and Bruno Mars slumped twelve to thirty eight. 

Drop Outs

Glad to see "Internet Girl" by Katseye gone along with "Mystical Magaical" by Benson Boone and "What it Sounds" like from K-Pop Demon Hunters.Also taking it's exit is "I've Seen It" by Olivia Dean. 

Gains

Already mentioned "Raindance" by Dave and Tems entering the top ten but that wasn't the biggest gain of the week that belonged to "Choosin' Texas" by Ella Langley as it jumped sixteen places off it's debut to thirty while in great news "Rein Me In" by Sam Fender and Olivia Dean climbed nine spots to thirty one (My hope is that this song just rules 2026). 

The only other major gain is EsDeeKid's "4 Raws" bouncing up six spot to twenty two.

New Entries

Four new entries this week beginning with...

48. "Think About Us" by Sonny Fodera, D.O.D and Poppy Baskcomb

Yay for Australian artist in the top 50 for a change, its nice to see Sonny Fodera here and "Somedays" is still a terrific song that keeps getting better with every subsequent listen, I also say this because I don't think this song is as good as "Somedays" mostly because the production feels more jarring, blocky and leaves me feeling that the synthetic nature of the production takes away from the impact of the lyrics which is asking this other person that when he or she is touching another man or woman are they thinking about the relationship they have with the singer which reminds me way too much of that Morgan Wallen song "Think About Me" so...nooo. 

29. "Die on This Hill" by Sienna Spiro

Sienna Spiro is a British singer-songwriter that had a break out year in the UK in 2025, now she's landed her first song on the Australian charts and sadly I don't really care for this at at all, it's this sparse piano ballad where Spiro sings about her partner being stubborn and all "I don't give a fuck" but can't let the relationship go because "letting go would feel worse" which cannot be more of a god damn toxic ass sentiment, she KNOWS the relationship is not healthy but is staying in it for what reason? The sex is good? Yeah no...ew.  

19. "Sleepless in a Hotel Room" by Luke Combs

Just me or are the singles for this upcoming new album from Luke Combs been kind of a let down? "Back in the Saddle" was okay as was "Giving Her Away" and now we've got this and...yeah again, it's fine but it just kind of falls flat for me. Combs is alone on tour, unable to sleep and is missing his wife, it's a sweet sentiment but the issue here is that the production is missing something...it feels less homespun and cold (which I admit is probably the point given the subject matter of the song) but why does it feel like Combs voice has a filter on it? It sounds strange considering Combs has one of the best belting voices in country.

11. "I Just Might" by Bruno Mars

Finally, we have to deal with Bruno Mars first solo lead single since 2016. "I Just Might" is the lead single for Msrs new album "The Romantic" out late next month and while this does feel very safe coming from Bruno Mars, it does feel like a good bridge from the sound of Silk Sonic to whatever Bruno has in store on "The Romantic" and this is just pure silly pop fun that Bruno does best. The production is tight, funky and Bruno sounds like he is having a good time.

It's running away with the best of the week. Worst of the week goes to "Die on this Hill" by Sienna Spiro. 

ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart Review: 12th January

 So 2026 is finally starting to gain some rhythm and with that new Bruno Mars single coming next week, we're about to see some movement at the top which is good because yet again...the very top of the chart remains unchanged with "Man I Need" by Olivia Dean remaining at number one for yet another week, 

It held strong on streaming over both "The Fate of Ophelia" by Taylor Swift at number and "Golden" from K-Pop Demon Hunters even though both are nowing pretty much done on streaming at this point. 

This means "End of Beginning" by Djo looks to be the competitor for number one as it jumped ten spots to number four and is one of the biggest gainers of the week, it's got a strong presence on streaming and really just needs another push to get it to number one. Now bare in mind, it's only on the chart because of going viral and will only chart for a further eight weeks so if it's going to get that number one, it had better make it's move soon. 

Rising one place to number five is "Where is my Husband?" by RAYE although that could be due to "Ordinary' by" Alex Warren finally weakening enough to slip two places to number six. 

The second of Olivia Dean's three songs in the top ten "So Easy (To Fall in Love)" remains steady at number seen while "No Broke Boys" by Disco Lines and Tinashe slumped three spots to number eight while Sombr's "12 to 12" slipped one to number nine.

Also down one is "Nice to Each Other" by Olvia Dean to number ten which rounds out our top ten. 

Losers

"Dracula" by Tame Impala finally looks to be on the way out down ten to forty seven while Tate McRae's "Tit for Tat" down ten to thirty eight while "Die with a Smile" slumped eight to thirty seven for Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars. 

K-Pop Demon Hunters also took a hit with "Soda Pop" down nine to thirty five. . 

Drop Outs

So we lost four songs this week with K-Pop Demon Hunters seeing the exits of "Your Idol" and "How It's Done", they took "Bad Dreams" by Teddy Swims and "Too Sweet" by Hozier with them. 

Gains

So I mentioned Djo having the biggest gain the week up ten to number four but we also saw "Sports Car" by Tate McRae up eight to thirty six and "Baby Steps" by Olivia Dean also up eight to twenty five.

Re-Entries

Just one return which is "I've Seen It' by Olivia Dean at number fifty.

 New Entries

Three new entries this week, starting with...

46. "Choosin' Texas" by Ella Langley

I was not expecting to see tong here but I guess it's cross over was inevitable given how much it has blown up in the US with it being at number five at the Billboard Hot 100 but anyway Ella Langley is a American country artist who has seen some success in the US mostly due to collabs with fellow country artist Riley Green however this is Langley's big breakout hit that was in part co written and produced with fellow country stat Miranda Lambert and well...if neo traditional country found a way to break into the mainstream this is certainly the way to do it with a steel guitar driving song about a couple where she's from Tennessee and he is from Texas, they go and visit Texas and suddenly he realizes that his heart belongs in Texas and she realizes that she cannot deny him being where his heart belongs and that while she is heart broken, she understands that his first love is home which is in Texas. Damn good song, chec it out. 

45. "Internet Girl" by Katseye

Another round with Katseye and look...I still have pretty vehement dislike of "Gabriela" and I was dreading the release of this single and it turned out that going into this with a lot of trepidation might have been the best way to go because this wound up being akin to audio torture to listen to, it just sounds incredibly unpleasant from start to finish with the obnoxious delivery of "Haven't you heard? I'm the internet girl" to that overtly processed "Eat zucchini" which reminded me in the worst way of Onision's "I'm a Banana"! This is one of the worst songs I have heard in some time and I will be very glad when it leaves the charts. 

18. "Raindance" by Dave feat. Tems.

Look, I have a feeling this going to become a huge hit given it's rise on streaming and the subject matter so nothing I say here is going to matter even if I actually don't mind the song and think it's kind of sweet even with Dave brand name dropping on the first verse but the sentiments he expressed toward this girl are incredibly cute however the start of the show on this song is Tems, she sells that hook so hard that she made me believe that she is so desperately in love with this guy and when you combine it with the Afrobeat production...I get why people are liking this.

However it's not best of the week, that's going to "Choosin' Texas" by Ella Langley. Worst of the week allso no contest with that going to "Internet Girl" by Kateye.

ARIA Singles top 50 Chart Review: 5th January

 Another quiet week on the ARIA singles chart with there being no new entries so let's just get right into the top ten because "Man I Need" by Olivia Dean consolidated it's hold on the number one slot and really its only strengthened it's hold on streaming, its sales are good and Youtube while not great...is fine.

The top four remains the same with "The Fate of Ophelia" by Taylor Swift at number two (it's not going back to number as it's streaming is starting to slide, "Golden" from K-Pop Demon Hunters at number three and "Ordinary" by Alex Warren at number four.

Streaming isn't letting go of the utterly annoying now "No Broke Boys" by Disco Lines feat. Tinashe which climbed two spots to rebound to number five. Raye's search for a husband on "Where is My Husband" held steady at number six while "So Easy (To Fall in Love)" by Olivia Dean slipped two spots to number seven.

Holding station are "12 to 12" by Sombr at number eight and "Nice to Each Other" by Olivia Dean at number nine.

Finally Sombr's "Back to Friends" is back to the top ten rising one spot to number ten.

Losers

 Olivia Dean's "Let Alone the One You Love slipped eight spots to thirty nine and "Baby Steps" to thirty three while it was the same for "4 Raws" by EsDeeKid which slipped eight spots off it's debut to thirty six. 

Drop Outs

The drop outs were three of the four songs that debuted last week with "It Feels Like Christmas" by Fall Out Boy, "I've Seen it" by Olivia Dean and "Century" by EsDeekid all gone.

Gains

The big gains are all for past hits with "Espresso" up sixteen to twenty seven and "Manchild" up eleven to twrnty four both for Sabrina Carpenter.

"APT" by Rose and Bruno Mars rebounded ten spots to number twenty two. Kehlani's "Folded" is up six to thirty eight which is a new peak for that song.

Re-Entries

Three returns this week and it's a shame I don't really care for any of them with "How It's Done" from K-Pop Demon Hunters back at fifty. "Mystical Magical" by Benson Boone mystically magically pissing me off by returning at forty eight and finally a song that I can only assume got an exception from ARIA to chart under it's new rules due to it going viral. "End of Beginning" by Djo at number fourteen probably due to Djo being in Stranger Things.

So with there being no new entries, that ends the week. Pretty slow way to start off 2026 but with Zach Bryan, Bruno Mars and The Kid Laroi releasing new music on Friday, the chart action might be about to fire up. 

ARIA Singles top 50 Chart Review: 29th December

So final week of 2025 and well...we got something of an interesting week at hand here even if most of the top ten did not move AT ALL so lets dive into all of that because "Man I Need" by Olivia Dean remains at nnumber one, yeah it managed to hold on to it's streaming lead over its rivals despite getting slowly usurped by Christmas music. 

Holding position from two to eight in order are "Fate of Ophelia" by Taylor Swift, "Golden" from K-Pop Demon Hunters, "Ordinary" by Alex Warren, "So Easy (To Fall in Love)" by Olivia Dean, "Where is My Husband" by Raye, "No Broke Boys" by Disco Lines and Tinashe and "12 to 12" by Sombr.

Olivia Dean's "Nice to Each Other" rebounded one spot to number nine, it pushed past "I Run" by HVN and Kaitlin Aragon down one to number ten.

Losers

So I am going to align the top 50 blogs wuth retrospective blogs and do the songs thatl lost big first. Boy, it was a rough week for Tate McRae with "Just Keep Watching" down seven to forty nine and "Sports Car" down nine to forty eight. 

The small mercy of "Dracula" by Tame Impala down six to forty one is a relief. this song is a contender for my worst list...I'll be glad when it's gone, the same goes for "The Days (Notion remix)" by Chrystal down six to thirty three.

"Die With A Smile" by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars slumped eight to twenty seven.

Gains

Three major gains with all three songs hitting new peaks beginning with "Chanel" by Tyla which jumped seven places to fifteen. "Phantom" by EsDeeKid and Rico Ace up ten to twenty one but most pleasingly "Rein Me In" by Sam Fender and Olivia Dean actually jumped eight spots to thirty six! PLEASE PLEASE LET "REIN ME IN" become a hit in 2026.

Drop Outs

We have four major drop outs this week. "Abracadabra" by Lady Gaga, "Luther" by Kendrick Lamar and SZA, "Eternity" by Alex Warren and "How it's Done" from K-Pop Demon Hunters. 

New Entries

Four new entries this week, two of them from EsDeeKid. but we start with...

50. "I've Seen It" by Olivia Dean.

So we're stepping away from the neo soul into some a gentle guitar where Olivia Dean muses on the ups and downs of love, it's a rather reflective song that I am not sure fits with the best songs on "The Art of Loving" but its certainly simple enough that even though it's only five verses and no hook that I can see why it charted. Good song but should be so much better.

45. "Century" by EsDeeKid

This is EsDeeKid's first single from his much anticipated debut album Rebel and while he and the production on this song sound menacing enough (it sounds like a slightly less nihilistic Futture song) but just with more bragging that he got the latest season fashion drop, real diamonds instead of the fake ones everyone else apparently has and he rides around in a Mercedes Benz except again the production doesn't really sell the luxury of any of this, it's too dark, Esdeekid has some talent but he needs to work on finding the right sound to fit his songs because yeah I'm skipping this.

29. "It Feels Like Christmas" by Fall Out Boy

There is a part of me that feels sad that Fall Out Boy couldn't notch a hit via "Love from the Other Side" in 2023 and that a Christmas song from this band is the only slither of rock on the ARIA singles chart right now but alas, what did we get from Patrick Stump and co? Well turns out this  is a cover of the song from The Muppets Christmas Carol movie and was recorded for Spotify  I am going to be kind to this as it is not going to stick around, it's cute, Patrick Stump sounds on form even if I think the vocals can get buried a bit in the mix. It's cute. Check it out if you are curious.

28. "4 Raws" by EsDeeKid

Second go around with Esdeekid this week and again a menacing atomsphere in the production and this time he is rapping about his past, substance abuse and his hidden personality (I've yet to see any actual personality from this guy, what do you mean he has more than one) and really this song is just so short and when none of the bars really come through with much of a bunch other than your standard bragging about riding around in German cars, it leaves me with no reason to care, 

And that wraps the final week of 2025, I am giving worst of the week to "Century" by EsDeeKid...I just  feel like the song is missing something, Best is going to Fall Out Boy for "It Feels Like Christmas"...its cute and a bit cheesy but hey, it's nice to end the year on something a bit camp. 

ARIA Singles Top 50 Chart Review: 22nd December

 So it's really quiet week this week so let's just dive straight into the top ten where for yet another week, it's "Man I Need" by Olivia Dean tremaining at number one thanks mostly to streaming, it held up over "The Fate of Ophelia" by Taylor Swift at nimber two, "Golden" from K-Pop Demon Hunters at number three and "Ordinairy" by Alex Warren at number four. 

Rising one spot to number five this week is "So Easy (To Fall in Love)" by Olivia Dean while RAYE's "Where is My Husband" also climbed one spot to number six, although that could be because "No Broke Boys" by Disco Lines and Tinashe slipped two places to number seven (frankly. I am hoping this song is on the way out).

"12 to 12" by Sombr rebounded one spot to number eight...its streaming has been bouncing around a bit lately.

Returning back to it's debut slot of number nine is 'I Run" by HVN feat. Kaitlin Aragon while down two to number ten is "Nice to Each Other" by Olivia Dean. 

Gains

Up eight sllots to forty is "Sailor Song" by Gigi Perez as it continues to hang around the lower end of the chart.

More annoyingly "Phantom" by EsDeeKid and Rico Ace is up twelve slots to thirty one however at least "Chanel" by Tyla is up nine to twenty two this week...I'm happy it got a gain despite the Christmas/New Year slow down. 

Re-Entries

So we did see "Eternity" by Alex Warren make its unfortunate return at fifty but I am delighted that "Rein Me In" by Sam Fender and Olivia Dean is back at number forty four. 

Losers

Not too many big losers but we did see "How It's Done" from K-Pop Demon Hunters slde nine spots to forty eight.

Drop Outs

Two massive songs dropped out this week with those being chart mainstay "Not Like Us" by kendrick Lamar and Sabrina Carpenter's 'number four hit "Tears"

So with no new entries to review for the second week in a row, that wraps the week up. Final week of the chart year and indeed the final week of the 1994 retrospective, I may have the final week of "All 4 1994" up on Christmas Eve and that is looking rather meaty with Guns 'n' Roses and Madonna among the "new entries", we'll have to see. 

ARIA Singles Top 50 Chart Review. 15th December .

 So this is a pretty quiet week, nothing in the way of new entries which is good because I am kind of beyond snowed under with the amount of work I have to do for this blog and trying to tie up the last few weeks of 1994 as well so I appreciate ARIA giving me a quiet week to work with here. 

Its especialy quiet at the top with "Man I Need" by Olivia Dean spending a fourth week at number one. I don't see what's knocking her offf as it won't be Mariah Carey as "All I Want for Christmas Is You" is relegated back to the on replay chart so Olivia Dean has no competition for the top spot right now.

I would say "The Fate of Ophelia" by Taylor Swift atuck at number two but that's starting to show weaknesses on streaming even if sales are remakably consistent. The same applies to "Golden" from K-Pop Demon Hunters at number three and "Ordinary" by Alex Warren at number four, 

Rebounding two places to number five is "No Broke Boys" by Disco Lines and Tinashe (god damn, the fact Tinashe got a hit out of this instead of some of her hetter music is heartbreaking). Holding steady at number six is "So Easy (To Fall in Love)" by Olivia Dean while "Where is My Husband" by RAYE slipped two pllaces back to number seven. 

"Nice to Each Other" by Olivia also holds at number eight while "12 to 12" by Sombr rebounded one spot to number nine (this song is growing on me so hard) and finally "I Run" by HVN and Kaitlin Aragon moved up one to return to the top ten at number ten. 

Gains

So in terms of major gains outside the top ten, the year end Billboard Hot 100 number one for 2025 "Die With A Smile" by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars rebounded eight to number eighteen while "That's So True" by Gracie Abrams also got a big bounce back up eleven to twenty five...I'm going to blame Spotify Wrapped for both of these. 

Same goes for "APT" by Rose and Bruno Mars which climbed nine spots to thirty and "Messy" by Lola Young up nine to thirty four. 

That said I am not sure if Spotify can be blamed for the ten place gain to twenty seven for "The Days (Notion Remix)" by Chrystal...why?. 

"Chanel" by Tyla rose nine spots to thirty one...maybe Australia is going to give Tyla a second hit...I'd be down for it. 

Re-Entries

We did have four re-entries this week with Kendrick Lamar seeing "Not Like Us" back at forty nine and "Luther" feat. SZA returning at 37...I'll chalk that up to Kendrick being in Australia touring right now. 

The two other new entries can again be pinned to Spotify Wrapped with "Sailor Song" by Gigi Perez returning at number thirty seven and "Abracadabra" by Lady Gaga at twemty nine. 

Losers

EsDeeKid's "Phantom" with Rico Ace was the biggest loser of the week down thirteen places to forty three.

It was a rough week for Tate McRae with "Just Keep Watching" turned off nine places to forty one while "Gabriela'" by Katseye slipped seven to thirty eight and "Dracula" by Tame Impala might finally be done as it slipped seven to forty.

"What It Sounds Like" from K-Pop Demon Hunters fell seven to thirty five. 

Drop Outs.

Four drop outs this week with "Do It" by Stray Kids, "Nobody's Girl" by Tate McRae and "Elizabeth Taylor" by Taylor Swift exiting and unlikely to be back...I'm not complaining about any of those being gone tbh. 

The one drop out I will complain about being gone is "Rein Me In" by Sam Fender and Olivia Dean...this song was a top ten hit in the UK and it deserves better on the Australian charts than this. Just saying.

Anyway with there being no new entries this week, that wraps up our week, I expect things to be quiet until after the Christmas/New Year period especially now the chart is unlikely to be infested wth Christmas songs.

ARIA Singles Top 50 Chart Review: 8th December

 So this week feels odd, sure the top ten is reasonably stable especially at the top with "Man I Need" by Olivia Dean still holding the number one spot mostly thanks to streaming because it's not dominant on sales or Youtube. 

"Fate of Ophelia" by Taylor Swift spends yet another week at number two as it still has some consistent streaming, the same applies for "Golden" from K-Pop Demon Hunters at number three.

"Ordinary" by Alex Warren bounced back up one spot to number four thanks to some resurgence on streaming. The same can be said for "Where is My Husband" by RAYE which also gained one spot to number five.

Both songs pushed past "So Easy (To Fall in Love)" by Olivia Dean which fell back two slots to number six 

Disco Lines and Tinashe hold steady at number seven with "No Broke Boys", a song I am really starting to get sick of...this might make my worst hit songs list. 

The hold steady was also in place for "Nice to Each Other" by Olvia Dean at number eight. 

Then we have what ARIA have said is a new entry but I am going to call a re entry because it's "I Run" by HVN (Haven) just replacing the AI vocals with real vocals from Kaitlin Aragon. I am going to be blunt here and say that Kaitlin's vocals do not work on this song at all...anyway it's in at number nine.

Finally holding onto the top ten by rising one spot is Sombr's "12 to 12" but I do not see that lasting. 

Gains

Only major gain this week is "Phantom" by EsDeeKid and Rico Ace up ten to thirty and "Messy" by Lola Young up seven to forty three.  

Re Entries

So like I said "I Run" returned in the top ten at number nine for HVN and Kaitlin Aragon but we do have three other returns this week. starting with  Hozier's "Too Sweet" at number fifty, "Good Luck, Babe!" by Chappell Roan at forty eight and "Espresso" by Sabrina Carpenter at forty six

Losers

:I am sad that "Rein Me In" by Sam Fender and Olivia Dean isn't getting the traction it so richly deserves as it slipped eight to forty nine. 

Tate McRae saw "Nobody's Girl" slip nineteen spots to thirty eight while "Do It" by Stray Kids slumped fourteen to twenty four (good, that song sucks)

Drop Outs

We saw five drop outs this week with "Anything but Love" and "Trying On Shoes" leaving for Tate McRae while "The Life of A Showgirl" feat. Sabrina Carpenter and "Father Figure" got rissoled for Taylor Swift.

The only exit that I am disappointed about is "Lady Lady" by Olivia Dean, it's a good song that deserved better.

New Entries

One new entry this week, let's dive into

40. "Chanel" by Tyla

 Brand new song from Tyla on the chart and I have to say I am always happy to see her here especially if the song is actually good like this one, now sure the percussion can drive people nuts and I am not sure Tyla's lazy ennounciation helps the song but you know what? There's a smooth coolness to the song that's all about her wanting her lover to treat her like she's a luxury, something he isn't always going to get. Good song. 

Ditching best and worst of the week this week because only one song...next week is who knows? Maybe ARIA will give dispensation for the Christmas songs to flood the top 50, we'll have to see. 

ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart Review: 1st December.

 Uhh...we got a pretty busy week at hand here, multiple new entries and plenty of movement up and down tbe chart in a week that just completely flies in the face of just how incredibly slow the charts have been this year (something that will be discussed during list time in January) but let's not waste anymore time and get to the top ten where for a second week, it's Olivia Dean at number one with "Man I Need", it's got a sizrable streaming margin even if sales and Youtube aren't quite on board yet.

"The Fate of Ophelia" by Taylor Swift remains at number two, this song is number one on sales right now thanks to another ridiculously desperate release of a remix this time from The Chainsmokers. Seriously, Taylor...enough. 

"Golden" by K-Pop Demon Hunters clings on to number three but it's facing competition from "So Easy (To Fall In Love)" by Olivia Dean which gained hard on streaming to move up one to number four.

All of this saw "Ordinary" by Alex Warren slip one spot to number five but I am not sure it's going to stay there because right behind it is "Where is My Husband" by Raye up one to number six, it brushed past "No Broke Boys" by Disco Lines and Tinashe at number seven. 

There's more Olivia Dean in the top ten this time with "Nice to Each Other" up one to number eight and that's not a surprise considering "Opalite" by Taylor Swift fell back one spot to number nine. 

Finally something I never saw coming, a new entry at number ten that i thought was a misprint by ARIA...it's "Do It" by Stray Kids, here on streaming from earlier in the week and I am not expecting this to stic around. 

Gains

Our gains are mostly continued ones for Olivia Dean with "Baby Steps" up six to twenty and "Let Alone the one You Love" up eleven to twenty five while there's deluxe album edition gains for Tate McRae who saw "Sports Car" speed up nine to thirty six and "Tit For Tat" also up nine to thirteen. 

Finally "Rein Me In" by Sam Fender and Olivia Dean is up nine to forty one this week in some positive news for the chart.  Going in the right direction, 

Re-Entries

Just the one return this week and as you can probably guess, it's Olivia Dean with "Lady Lady" back at number forty seven.

Losers.

It was a rough week to be a remaining album track from Taylor Swift's "The Life of  A Showgirl" as "Father Figure" plummeted seventeen to forty nine, the title track with Sabrina Carpenter slipped fifteen spots to forty eight and "Elizabeth Taylor" got slapped with a nineteen spot hit down to thirty seven. 

It was also a rough week for some songs from K-Pop Demon Hunters with "How It's Done" down eight to thirty five and "Your Idol" down  seven to twenty six. 

The one song that wasn't on Tate McRse's deluxe slid seven spots to thirty two that being "Just Keep Watching"

Drop Outs

So we saw two songs from K-Pop Demon Hunters depart with "Free" and "Takedown" both leaving...they both should probably make the year end list, they took album cuts "Wi$h List" by Taylor Swift and "When Did You Get Hot?" by Sabrina Carpenter with them.

Long running hit "Good Luck, Babe" by Chappell Roan also took its exit alongside last week's new entry "Talk of the Town" by Fred Again...feat, Sammy Virji and Reggie.

New Entries

We got five new entries with Tate McRae charting three new songs from the deluxe version of the album so the songs I have decided not to cover are "Trying on Shoes" at forty six and "Anything But Love" at thirty one,

So with that in mind, let's start with...

40. "Phantom" by EsDeeKid and Rico Ace

So EsDeeKid is a British rapper hailing from Liverpool having his break out year even releasing an album in June of this year with this being his first charting song to date and look, I like how menacing the production sounds here, it all fits into the UK drill and grime vibe of the song but the problem here is EsDeeKid himself does not sound remotely convincing or can sell the menace he is going for on this song, the same applies for his cohort here, Rico Ace who is only marginally better and when the lyrics just boil down to EsDeeKid claiming he is focusing on music and his come up...yeah...this ain't as interesting as what these two want you to believe...next!

19.  "Nobody's Girl" by Tate McRae

So I don't think I've made a seceet out of the fact that Tate McRae's music doesn't work for me so I was kind of dreading songs from the deluxe edition of "So Close to What?" (especially as the original album has aged badly) however I actually kind of like this song! Yeah, it's a bit watery, I don't think Tate's vocals sound as good as she thinks they do over this more orchestral beat but I like the lyrics that see Tate embrace being single after a bad breakup and choosing herself for a bit instead of trying to chase another man for what would be another disastrous relationship so yeah while this isn't that good or great...I'll take it this wee beak. 

10. "Do It" by Stray Kids. 

So I am fairly certain this is the first time that Stray Kids have charted in Australia and certainly charted this high, I was shocked this song debuted in the top ten beating out Sombr and Tate McRae. Stray Kids are a K-Pop group featuring eight members all from South Korea so I was curious about this song and why so many people liked it enough for it to chart at number ten...and...I should have curbed some of that curiosity because oh wow...this is messy, its incorporating a lot of sounds from western hip hop and pop before one of the most annoying beat switch ups I have ever heard that features the dying goat from "Mi Gente" (if anyone remembers that song). This song is all beat and no melody and it's not better for it. 

Its easy worst of the week, as for the best of the week...yeah...it's not a great song but "Nobody's Girl" by Tate McRae gets that. Next week? Who knows? I think it could go back to being pretty quiet in the lead up to Christmas, I guess that Haven song "I Run" will be allowed to return given they found a human singer for the song.

ARIA Singles Top 50 Chart Review: November 24th.

Not going to lie this week's ARIA singles chart feels like coming up for air because we do finally have some change at the top, yep, we have a new number one and it comes in the form of "Man I Need" by Olivia Dean, it's got the streaming margin which was no doubt helped by her performance at the ARIA awards on Wednesday night and that helped push it to the top and send "The Fate of Ophelia" by Taylor Swift back to number two.

The song that continues to sour on me in all the ways possible "Golden" from K-Pop Demon Hunters remained at number three while "Ordunary" by Alex Warren refuses to fuck off by being stuck to number four. 

Olivia Dean climbed two places to number five with "So Easy (To Fall in Love)"...I can see this song being a potential number one possibly next month, it did push "No Broke Boys" by Disco Lines and Tinashe back to number six,\

Raye continues to climb with "Where is My Husband" up two to number seven, I am absolutely obsessed with this song right now. Taylor Swifr had a rough week overall as "Opalite' slipped two to number eight. 

Up three to number nine is another Olivia Dean song that being "Nice to Each Other" while "12 to 12" by Sombr hangs onto the top ten at number ten and given it's losing traction on streaming, it' might be a safe bet that it's not here next week. 

Gains

Most of the big gains belong with Olivia Dean with "A Couple Minutes" up twelve to thirteen while "Baby Steps" jumped five to twenty six.

"Birds of a Feather" by Billie Eilish rebounded six to twenty three. Tame Impala also saw a six place boost to twenty eight with "Dracula"

The biggest gain of the week belonged to "The Days (Notion Remix)" by Chrystal up thirteen to thirty seven,

Re-Entries

Three returns this week with "Bad Dreams" by Teddy Swims woken up at forty nine. "Good Luck, Babe" by Chappell Roan at forty six and "Let Alone the One You Love" by Olivia Dean returning at thirty six.

Losers

Not many big time losers this week with maybe the biggest being "Wi$h Li$t" by Taylor Swift down six to thirty eight.

Drop Outs

Not much in the way of drop outs with "I Run" by Haven dropping out after streaming services pulled the song off their services because of illegalities around the vocals on the song. 

The rest are just Taylor Swift album tracks with "Wood", "Ruin The Friendship" and the two worst songs from the album gone those being "Actually Romantic" and "CANCELLED!".

New Entries

Two new entries

50. "Rein Me In' by Sam Fender and Olvia Dean

For as much as I would have loved Sam Fender's "Seventeen Going Under" to be a hit a couple of years ago, I think it's safe to acknowledge that this song is here because of the lady of the moment in the mainstream music scene...Olivia Dean and yeah...this is one of the best pop/rock songs of the year...not that we get much pop/rock on the charts these days but Sam and Olivia actually have some decent chemistry, the hook is sticky as hell and I love how that melody plays as almost a second hook to the song...definitely check this one out. 

47. "Talk of the Town" by Fred Again..., Sammy Virji and Reggie

It always surprises me when Fred again charts a new song and it shouldn't, the guy is a frequent chart presence so we got this new song that features English DJ Sammy Virji and Irish rapper Reggie, I also have to say that this is kind of lousy when Reggie's delivery isn't anywhere near what it needs to be and can get actively distracting also not helped by that beat being nothing to write home about so yeah I'll skip this.

It's the worst of the week. "Rein Me In" by Sam Fender and Olivia Dean easily takes best of the week. Next week...probably a whole load of Tate McRae.  

ARIA Singles Top 50 Chart Review. 17th November.

 Really not much to say about this week because as per the norm lately, "The Fate Of Ophelia" rules at the top of the singles chart making it a sixth week at number one, it ruled on sales and did decently on streaming enough to keep it ahead of "Man I Need" by Olivia Dean which continues to hold strong at number two, its still lagging behind on sales but is leading on Spotify. 

At this point I am ready for anything to knock "The Fate of Ophelia" off number one. Hopefully Olivia Dean can get to that top spot. 

Anyway "Golden" from K-Pop Demon Hunters remains at number three while "Ordinary" by Alex Warren rebounded two spots to number four while "No Broke Boys" by Disco Lines and Tinashe remains at number five.

"Opalite" by Taylor Swift slipped two spots to number six while "So Easy (To Fall in Love)" by Olivia Dean remained at number seven, I expect this to crack the top five soon. 

A new entry in the top ten is "I Run" by Haven, now I do not expect this song to last in the top ten and we'll talk about why in the new entries, this week. 

Raye's "Where is My Husband" jumped one spot to number nine surpassing "12 to 12" by Sombr which looks to be done in the top ten. 

Gains

Biggest gain of the week belongs to Olivia Dean with "Baby Steps" up ten to thirty one.

More annoyingly "That's So Ttue" by Gracie Abrams seems to be on the rebound rising from forty five to thirty nine. 

Re-Entries

Two re-entries with "The Days (Notion Remix)" by Chrystal back at fifty and "Messy" by Lola Young returning at number forty eight. 

Losers

The biggest losers continue to be album tracks from "The Life of a Showgirl" by Taylor Swift with "Cancelled!" down ten to forty nine, "Actually Romantic" slipping eight to forty sjx, "Wood" down ten to forty two and "Father Figure" down seven to twenty seven. 

Drop Outs

We did see one decently big drop out with "Sugar on My Tongue" by Tyler the Creator gone, it took with it "Eldest Daughter" by Taylor Swift and "Pussy Palace" by Lily Allen

New Entries

Just the one new entry this week so let's talk about...

8. "I Run" by Haven

So this song randomly blew up through the week thanks to somehow going viral on Tik  Rok is from a relatively unknown UK electronic act and this might be the lone week it's on the charts as it's been pulled off streaming owing to some rather serious allegations that the song uses some form of AI because of the vocals used. 

Now the song itself is decent enough, it's catchy and it's definitely got a bit of a groove that i can see connects well with audiences so I guess this one is a bit of a damp squib as it is very likely not going to leave the charts and not return.

That was our week, I am not sure whether we are going to get anything new next week so we'll just have to wait and see. 

ARIA Singles Top 50 Chart Review: 3rd November

 Sigh, more than half the top ten are stagnant this week so let's not waste time and get on with this because for a fourth week "The Fate of Ophelia" by Taylor Swift remains at number one and there seems like there is no stoppping this song even though it's lost the streaming lead however Taylor did release a new version of the song on streaming yesterday much to my annoyance but we shan't talk about gaming the charts now, shall we?

It held up over Olivia Dean's "Man I Need" stuck at number two (this deserves a week at number one at least...come on), "Golden" from K-Pop Demon Hunters holding steady at number three, "Opalite" by Taylor Swift hanging around at number four, "Ordinary" by Alex Warren glued at number five and "No Broke Boys" by Disco Lines and Tinashe keeps dancing at number six,

Moving up three to number seven is Olivia Deans "So Easy (To Fall in Love)", this song is getting a run together on streaming, it could climb higher in the weeks ahead. The same could apply for "12 to 12" by Sombr which jumped one spot to number eight, both songs pushed past "Elizabeth Taylor" by Taylor Swift which fell two spots to number nine. 

Finally returning to the top ten this week is "Back to Friends" by Sombr which climbed four spots to number ten. 

Los

Gains

The gains are mostly older song gaining back ground as the Taylor Swift album bomb continues its slow recedation, for example "Daisies" by Justin Bieber rebounded eight spots to seventeen and "Undressed" by Sombr jumped back up nine spots to eighteen. 

"Die With A Smile" by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars got an eight place rebound to thirty seven. 

Losers

Alright, lets get started on the mass losses that songs from Taylor Swift's "The Life of a Showgirl" suffered this week, we begin with "Honey" which sunk another eleven places to thirty nine, "Eldest Daughter" suffered shrinkage down nine to thirty two, "Ruin the Friendship" dropped eight to thirty, "CANCELLED" got stamped down seven more times to twenty eight, nobody's knocking on "Wood" so it's down eight to twenty three, "Wi$h Li$t" dipped eight to twenty one and "Father Figure" is losing its shapely figure down six to fourteen.

The only non Taylor Swift song to lose big chunk of ground was "Dracula" by Tame Impala down ten to fifty but I do expect that to get a Halloween boost next week

New Entrie

Just the one new entry this week, let's talk about...

41. "A Couple Minutes" by Olivia Dean

Considering I absolutely adore "The Art of Loving" and in particular this song, I am pretty happy that Olivia Dean is having a continued impact on the charts and it's for the better because yeah this is such a great song. that oorchestral backing is just majestic as Olivia Dean slides in, the content works well here as she sings about the intimacy of a very brief reunion and discovering that that old connection still has a spark to it. Check this out.

Next week is a bit who knows, could be another quiet one afoot (having far too many quiet weeks on the charts this year). 

ARIA Singles Top 50 Chart Review. 27th October.

 So bit of a quiet week here and honestly sometimes that's not the worst thing and with the chart still readjusting arfter the Taylor Swift album bomb that's going to take it's sweet damn time leaving than we're probably going to see more weeks like it so lets get to the top ten where Taylor Swift holds on to the top spot with "The Fate of Ophelia" thanks to streaming, sales and even some Youtube.

However "Man I Need" by Olivia Dean has climbed one spot to number two and looks to be the obvious challenger should "The Fate of Ophelia" wobble in any way. 

Former chart topper "Golden" from K-Pop Demon Hunters is still a threat as it hangs around at number three for another week however while it's still good on sales, it's starting to lose some streaming margin with the top two. 

"Opalite" by Taylor Swift slipped two places to four because it's not getting a single push right now and that's going to be a problem because right behind it surging back into the top ten up six to number five is "Ordinary"  by Alex Warren and "No Broke Boys" by Disco Lines and Tinashe which also climbed six places to number six, 

 Both "Elizabeth Taylo" and "Father Figure" fell two places to seven and eight respectively for Taylor Swift as again the focus of streaming is turning to "Fate of Ophelia".

I couldn't be happier to see Sombr's "12 to 12" rebound seven spots to number nine...thank god. It's a damn great song. 

Finally completing the top ten this week and becoming Olivia Dean's second song in the top ten "So Easy (To Fall in Love)" rising twelve places to number ten and being our biggest gainer of the week!

Gains

The gains continued for Olivia Dean otuside the top ten with "Nice to Each Other" up seven to sixteen.

A lot of previous top ten hits are also rebounding with "Soda Pop" from K-Pop Demon Hunters hitting up six places to twelve, Sombr's "Back to Friends" recharging six spots to fourteen. 

"Where is My Husband" by Raye climbed six to eighteen this week proving this song is a hit in the making and we need to hurry up to make it happen. 

Re-Entries

 Mixed news on the returns front with the re-entry of "That's So True" by Gracie Abrams at number forty nine being the bad news however in good news "Folded" by Kehlani is back at fifty is excellent news as that song is great. 

Losers

The losers are all Taylor Swift "The Life of a Showigrl" album tracks so let's go through these beginning with "Honey" dripping slowly down eleven to twenty eight, "Eldest Daughter" slumped eight to twenty three "Ruin the Friendship" had it's chart position ruined eight to twenty two, "CANCELLED!" is in the process of being cancelled for being one of Taylor's worst songs of her career as it plummeted eight to twenty one, "Actually Romantic" isn't breaking up with the chart fast enough for my liking but it is down seven to seven while the ode to Travis Kelce's dick "Wood" slipped seven to fifteen. 

Drop Outs

Sad that we did lose "Let Alone the One You Love" by Olivia Dean from the chart this week, it took "Eyes Closed" by Jisoo and Zayn and "Takedown" bv Twice with it so I guess it's not all bad?

New Entries

Just the one new entry this week, time to dive into...

40. "Dracula" by Tame Impala

In the wake of the utterly disappointing new album "Deadbeat", this single crossed over to the charts and I honestly don't have much to say about it other than noting it seems to be all to keenly aware of what the zeirgeist is currently enjoying whch is the lead up to Halloween next week and this is given enough spooky oomph to give those who like spooks and things a reason to add this song to their Halloween playlists but other than that there's not much to this, it feels a lot like Kevin Parker maybe out of ideas, 

Yeah, worst of the week. No best of the week because there's no other new entries....duh. Next week...we'll have to see. 

ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart Review: 20th October

 So the recedation of the Taylor Swift album bomb dominates the news on the AEIA singles chart this week, we got two new entries including another new song from that Olivia Dean album however before we get to that, let's dive into the top ten which is dominated by Taylor Swift still but to a lesser extent, of course "The Fate of Ophelia" by Taylor Swift kept the number one spot, it's safe for now if that streaming doesn't continue to slide and it finally got sales to boost it's margin. 

"Opalite" remains at number two but it's facing an even tougher predicament as it doesn't have sales but streaming is starting to slide and could face threats to it's position from two songs that both rose ten spots this week to retake their positions in the top ten with "Man I Need" by Olivia Dean at nnumber three and "Golden" from K-Pop Demon Hunters at number four, both songs look strong right now and with the surge for Olivia Dean lately...I am certain "Man I Need" will get a good push soon to take number one.

The rest of the top ten are Taylor Swift album cuts with "Elizabeth Taylor" down two to number five likewise for "Father Figure" to number six, "The Life of a Showgirl" featuring Sabrina Carpenter slipped one to number seven, the ode to Travis Kelce's penis "Wood" has started to go flaccid with the public down three to number eight, surprising "Wi$h Li$t" remained steady at nnumber nine amd "Actually Romantic" slipped two to number ten.

Gains'

Honestly the gains outside the top ten are generally just one to six place gains however we did see continued traction for Olivia Dean songs with "So Easy (To Fall in Love)" up seven to twenty two and "Baby Steps" up five to forty one

Losers

So we'll begin with the Taylor Swift album cuts that fell back..."Honey" fell five to seventeen, "Eldest Daughter" stumbled five to fifteen, "Ruin the Friendship" is ruined three spots to fourteen and "CANCELLED!" was the biggest faller of the lot down six to thirteen. 

Other than that K-Pop Demon Hunters also saw a six place loss to twenty eight for "How it's Done"

Drop outs

Two songs fell off this week with 'The Days (Notion Remix)" by Chrystal and Notion and the big drop out this week is "That's So True" by Gracie Abrams...honestly good riddance to both as I really do not like either song. 

New Entries

Two new entries this week, let's begin with...

49. "Let Alone the One You Love" by Olivia Dean

It really is beginning to feel like a slow album bomb with one or two songs from "The Art of Loving" debuting each week and honestly given the album is pretty good I am okay with that and yeah agaun, this one feels like pure warm neo soul that makes "Lose Control" look liike unbreakably stiff cardboard. this is such a warm, cosy neo soul song that Olvia Dean just sounds incredible over, it reminds me a lot of Etta James although Olvia's vocals aren't quite as strong as that. The content here though isn't as cosy and warm, its about an abusive relationship where he is trying to keep her small and under his thumb and she doesn't understand why he is treating somebody he is supposed to love like this and wants to end the relationship understandably. Altogether great song but if you are triggered by talk of an abusive power struggle situation than tread carefully.

47. "Eyes Closed" by Jisoo & Zayn

I was dreading this...Jisoo is the member of Blackpink whose solo work has impressed me the least and Zayn continues to be the guy most known for quitting One Direction and not doing anything all that remarkable musically since leaving said band so these two collaborating was something that didn't raise a lot of interest but we did get this as a result of their collaboration and wow...this song is not only musically underweight but the overprocessing on the vocals over some of the most sterile production I've heard on a song this year. This is just generic and really bland nothingness.

Worst of the week easily Best of the week goes to Olivia Dean (again) for "Let Alone the One You Love"

ARIA Singles Top 50 Chart Review: 13th October. :

 Well...here we go, time for the Taylor Swift show this week and trust me, it's going to be more of a show here on the blog than any kind of show that was actually on Taylor's album"The Life of a Showgirl" but we'll get to that. Let's start with the top ten where to nobody's surprise...it's all Taylor Swift with "The Fate of Ophelia" at number one, it's pretty much the same across the top ten with enormous streaming.

"Opalite" at number two, "Elizabeth Taylor" debuts at number three, "Father Figure" jumps in at number four, "Wood" knocks at number five, the title track "The Life of a Showgirl" featuring Sabrina Carpenter dances in at number six, "CANCELLED!" stamps itself at number seven, "Actually Romantic" irritates at number eight (more on this song in the new entries but safe to say it being this high is infuriating), "Wi$h Li$t" cashes in at number nine and "Eldest Daughter" at number ten. 

Taylor actually has the top twelve with "Ruin the Friendship' at eleven and "Honey" at number twelve. 

Gains

There are no gains to be spoken of this week, thanks Taylor.

Re-Entries

One return this week surrpisingly enough with Teddy Swims at forty five with "Bad Dreams" thanks to his performance at the NRL Grand Final giving this song a sales push.

Losers

Nearly everything that's not Taylor Swift lost in the double digits this apart from from one song that only lost two places so I am going to focus on that one song instead of killing my hands by going through the entire chart so that one song is "So Easy (To Fall in Love)" by Olivia Dean which slipped two to twenty nine...this song would have hit the top twenty this week if not for the Taylor Swift album bomb. Sigh, 

Drop outs

There were thirteen drop outs this week and most of these will return as the Taylor Swift album bomb dies off over the weeks ahead. 

Well, I don't expect "Nobody's Son" and "House Tour" both by Sabrina Carpenter to return but I'd like to see 'Folded" by Kehlani and "Lady Lady" by Olivia Dean come back, both are good songs.

'Jealous Type" by Doja Cat just continues to suffer from Doja's album and itself just having no traction whatsoever. 

We also lost long running hits like "Mystical Magical" by Benson Boone, "Eternity" by Alex Warren, "Messy" by Lola oung, "Sailor Song" by Gigi Perez, "What I Want" by Morgan Wallen and Tate McRae, "Sapphire" by Ed Sheeran (this song still weirds me out with that eyes exploding line) and "Yukon" by Justin Bieber,

Also gone is "Strategy" by Twice because I am surprised anyone remembers that song.

New Entries

So I am not left pulling my hair out by saying the same things about the Taylor Swift songs, I am only going to review rhe songs from the album that wind up being the best and the worst but I will give some general thoughts on 'The Life of A Showgirl" just quickly, fair to say as somebody who liked her last couple of studio albums spanning back to 2019's "Lover", this album left me feeling flat, disappointed and just tired, previous albums saw Taylor's songwriting mature and take on an understanding of why she is the way she is and she got out of her own way with the songwriting instead on "The Life of a Showgirl", Taylor cannot stop spewing immature, cloistered in her own shell garbage and including a song about her boyfriend's privates just adds to the cringe factor that makes returning to this album in any compacity impossible because the immaturity on display is not the kind that makes the album fun at all. 

Anyway let's dive into the new entries we will be discussing as we have already gone through where the Taylor Swift songs landed on the chart but we aren't starting with Taylor Swift because...

46. "Baby Steps" by Olivia Dean

There is a part of me glad we got this song from Olivia Dean this week so it wasn't all just Taylor Swift in the new entries because this song is one of my favourites from "The Art of Loving" where Olivia is taking the first slow "baby" steps out of a broken relationship and learning how to live independent of anyone else including a man and while I am not a huge fan of the stuttered chorus but I do love how 70s soul this sould with it's gentle guitar and piano. I dig this and if you haven't checked out Olivia's album you really should.

8. "CANCELLED!" by Taylor Swift

The rest from here is all Taylor Swift and I wanted to write about the two tracks I feel are symbolic of the problems with this album which are of coursr Taylor's own song writing to the complete mess that the production is thus proving conclusively that Jack Antonoff was never the problem because this album produced by Max Martin and Shellback and it's some of the limpest production to date where the build up on this song amounts to nothing all while Taylor is singing some of her most childish lyrics of her career about how she likes all her friends cancelled and cloaked in gucci and scandal. It's juvenile, immature and you cannot have any fun to this because of the limp ass production. Next!

7. "Actually Romantic" by Taylor Swift

Or perhaps I shouldn't have said "Next' because this is the song where Taylor spectacularly misses the point of  Charli XCX's "Sympathy is a Knife" and comes out looking absolutely insane. "Sympathy is a Knife" is about Charli's own insecurities and anxieties yet here's Taylor going "Ooh aren't you obsessed with me...well that's all a bit romantic to me really" like way to absolutely miss the point of the song you are pissed at, Taylor! Throw in the bland production from Max Martin and Shellback and this song is one of the worst on the worst album of Taylor Swift's illustrious career.

1. "The Fate of Ophelia" by Taylor Swift

So this is the best song on "The Life of a Showgirl" and it's honestly by some margin to me because this is where Taylor actually does show her song writing chops when she's writing about her own issues but rather other people whose lives aren't interconnected with hers and she isn't eating her own tail, this time exploring Ophelia, a tragic figure from Shakespeare's Hamlet and how she lost her agency and pledging herself to an honest and loyal soul mate, its a bit of a twee track but on the trainwreck that is "The Life of a Showgirl", it's one of the better songs...go figure.

However best of tthe week goes to "Baby Steps" by Olivia Dean, as for the worst...ughh...honestly,. "Actually Romantic" by Taylor Swift gets it because it beyond missed the point. 

ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart Review: October 6th

 So I am going to enjoy this week as much as I can because yeah...next week is the Taylor Swift album bomb and it's not going to be pretty at all (nor are my thoughts on that particular album but that can wait) and it none the less will cut a swathe through the top ten next week however we do have this week's top ten to dive into first so let's do that, shall we?

For yet another week "Golden" from K-Pop Demon Hunters remains at number one probably for it's final week as it lost ground on sales and streaming, it will obviously get wiped from number one next week but it's still decently strong.

It held up over "Man I Need" by Olivia Dean at number two which seems the most likely to take number one post Taylor Swift album bomb. The rest of the top five held steady as well with "Ordinary' by Alex Warren at number three, "No Broke Boys" by Disco Lines and Tinashe at number four and "Soda Pop" from K-Pop Demon Hunters at number five.

New entry at number six wth "Tit For Tat" by Tate McRae, now we'll talk about this song's quality later but it's here thanks to some terrific streaming through the week, I am not sure this is going to stick around so high though however it did push "12 to 12" by Sombr back one to seven, "Your Idol" from K-Pop Demon Hunters down one to nunmber eight and "Back to Friends" by Sombr to number nine.

Completing the top ten rising six places to number ten off the back of a boost thanks to the release of the album is "Nice to Each Other" by Olivia Dean...we have more Olivia Dean to talk about later.

Gains

As far as gains go outside the top ten, we did see a huge fifteen place come for "Where is My Husband?" by RAYE to sxteen this week. This song has hit written all over it but other than that no other major gains. 

Losers.

It was a rough week for Sabrina Carpenter with "House Tour" down sixteen to forty six while "Tears" is proving to be something of a disappointment as it slipped nine to twenty one. 

"Sapphire" by Ed Sheeran slumped nine to forty eight.

Drop Outs.

Three drop outs this week with Chappell Roan seeing the exits of both "Good Luck Babe!" and "The Subway" while Sabrina Carpenter's "Go Go Juice' also took it's exit.

New Entries

Three new entries this week. 

41. "Lady Lady" by Olivia Dean

I guess I didn't realize that Olivia Dean had gotten this big, she has four songs on the chart right now including two new songs from her new album "The Art of Loving" and Olivia has been a breath of fresh air on the charts in 2025. This song being the first of two new Olivia Dean songs on the chart and well...this is probably the weaker of the two songs, it's still damn good...it's just the instrument feels kind of oily and the lyrics play to Olivia getting used to changes in her life. It's fine but when the next song exists, it's definitely a weaker cut from the album.

27. "So Easy (To Fall In Love)" by Olivia Dean

Now this is more like it! A smoother jazzy cut where Olivia Dean muses on how easy it is to fall in love and be attracted to somebody and how happy she'd be walking with a man she loves through Central Park, it's a blissful. cozy song that makes me want to curl up by a warm fire with this on repeat. This will play well for Valentines Day and even over the Christmas period. Gorgeous song, check it out!

6. "Tit for Tat" by Tate McRae

I don't think it's any secret that I am not a fan of Tate McRae, her voice generally does nothing for me at all and I still have a pretty big intolerance for "You Broke Me First" but I was curious about this song as I am about most songs that debut in the top ten as top ten debuts have been rare this year and well...this isn't as bad as McRae's previous hits mostly because of that cool, watery production that better supports Tate's voice, it sounds nice even though Tate is telling a guy she is done with him after seeing the way he behaved but she doesn't really go into a lot of detail other than hinting at cheating which makes the song lose some of its pathos for me. Decent song.

No worst of the week again this week because I actually don't mind all three of them however the best of thr week is easy with "So Easy (To Fall in Love)" by Olivia Dean.

Next week...we have to deal with Taylor Swift and The Life of a Showgirl album bomb...it's about to get very messy. 

ARIA Singles Top 50 Chart Review: 29th September

So very little changed this week that I almost wondered whether it was worth doing this episode but turns out we got two pretty good brand new entries so I guess that makes this worth doing but let's get through this top ten quickly because there really isn't a lot to say. 

"Golden" from K-Pop Demon Hunters remains at number one for yet another week as it as strength on sales, Youtube and even still some strength on streamng although that has ebbed a little bit courtesy of "Man I Need" by Olivia Dean at number two which with the album release on Friday could make a strong play for the number one spot. 

These top two don't look like being knocked off at this point right now, there's a healthy gap back to "Ordinary" by Alex Warren which held steady at number three, it was a similar case for "No Broke Boys" by Disco Lines and Tinashe at number four, "Soda Pop" from K-Pop Demon Hunters at number five and "12 to 12" by sombr at number six. 

Then we get to the little bit of movement in the top ten with "You Idol" from K-Pop Demon Hunters up one to number seven, it pushed back "Back to Friends" by sombr to number eight. 

:How It's Done" from K-Pop Demon Hunter jumped three places to numnber nine while "Daisies" by Justin Bieber remained at number ten for another week (go figure, it's one of the better songs in the top ten). 

Losers 

Not too much in the way of losers this week although we did see a twelve place slide for album cut "Go Go Juice" by Sabrina Carpenter to forty eight and a seven place dip for "Jealous Type" by Doja Cat to forty seven (this should get something of a rebound next week thanks to the album dropping on Friday)

"House Tour" by Sabrina Carpenter slipped seven to thirty. 

Gains

The biggest gain of the week belonged to "Sailor Song" by Gigi Perez which got an eight place rebound to forty one but that's the one major gain this week.

Re-Entries

Three re-entries this week with "Good Luck, Babe!" back at forty two and "The Subvway" at fifty both for Chappell Roan.

While "Espresso" by Sabrina Carpenter returned at forty eight.

Drop Outs

Five drop outs this week headlined by "The Door" by Teddy Swims taking its exit to the on replay singles chart. 

Also gone is "The Dead Dance" by Lady Gaga and three Sabrina Carpenter album cuts with "My Man on Willpower", "Sugar Talking" and "Goodbye"/

New Entries

Two new entries this week, starting with...

45. "Folded" by Kehlani

About time this turned up on the Australian charts,  this song is becoming a sleeper hit in the US and I got to be honest, I am glad it is because I think this is Kehlani's best song to date with swell of the multi tracked vocals doing a masterful job with the gentle guitar touches and Kehlani actually sounding fantastic  The content of this song is pretty much Kehlani telling this guy that she has his clothes folded and they are ready for him to come over and collect if he is ready but there's this undercurrent of sexual tension that serves this song well...I dig it either way...good song.

31. "Where Is My Husband?" by RAYE

So I am going to bust out some disappointment that "Suzanne" with Mark Ronson wasn't the hit it should have been earlier this year, come on folks, that song is great and deserved all the acclaim...ugh...moving on because we have Raye's new single here and man, I have never seen a song that feels like it's equipped to be absolutely huge as the year winds down especially with that monster hook and how the song feels like a throwback to the soul of the 60s just given a new lick of paint from Raye to make it fresh and modern, it's a fascinating song even with her singing verses quick in parts that I am not always convinced works but when the song is this infectious,,,who cares.

Raye is getting best of the week for "Where is My Husband?"/ No worst of the week because I don't think "Folded' by Kehlani deserves that, that song is good too!

ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart Review: 22nd September

 A slow week on the chart with no new entries this week and for as much as ARIA brought in these changes I do have to wonder how much these changes have fixed anything. No new entries and the very top of the charts haven't changed so let's get stuck into the top ten where for yet another week "Golden" from K-Pop Demon Hunters remained at number one but streaming is starting to slip so a lot is on that sales margin. 

Remaining at number two is "Man I Need" by Olivia Dean which took the lead on Spotify streaming through the week but does need to start closing that sales margin. Also holding steady at number three is "Ordinary" by Alex Warren and "No Broke Boys" by Disco Linea and Tinashe at number four. 

Also sready this week is"Soda Pop" from K-Pop Demon Hunters, there's questions around the use of AI around the writing of this song which is pretty disappointing to say the least.

Rising seven places to number six is "12 to 12" by Sombr...so glad the public have realized that this song is absolutely fantastic, hope it goes higher. Sombr also saw "Back to Friends" rebounded four places to number seven. 

"Your Idol' from K-Pop Demon Hunters slipped one spot to number eight while "Tears" by Sabrina Carpenter slumped three places to number nine (this song definitely will fall faster than a lot of people expect).

Dropping two places to number ten is "Daisies" by Justin Bieber which is on the down swing.

Gains

So outside of the gains for Sombr in the top ten, we saw a six place gain to twenty for "Just Keep Watching" by Tate McRae while "The Door" rebounded eight spots to thirty for Teddy Swims while "Gabriela" by Katseye got a nine place boost to thirty one.

"Sapphire" by Ed Sheeran rode a twelve place album boost to thirty four for Ed Sheeran and that was about it for our big gains this week. 

Re-Entries

Three retirrns this week, just a shame that none of them are precisely good, "Mystical Magical" by Benson Boone is back at fifty, "What I Want" by Morgan Wallen and Tate McRae at forty eight and "Sports Car" by Tate McRae returned at twenty seven. 

Losers

Most of the big losers are Sabrina Carpenter "Man's Best Friend" cuts so lets start with "Sugar Talking" which fell eleven to forty five, "My Man On Will Power" lost all it's will power this week tumbling seventeen spota to forty four, "Goodbye" waved down eight spots to thirty nine and "Go Gio Juice" lost it's mojo down twelve to thirty six,

Drop Outs

So we lost "The Subway" by Chappell Roan which I think is a fucking travesty for the charts in a lot of ways.

Also gone are two Sabrina Carpenter album tracks, those being "Never Getting Laid Again" and "We Almost Broke Up Again Last night".

And with there being no new entries this week that will wrap things up, lets hope we get some new songs injected into chart.

ARIA Singles Top 50 Chart Review. 15th September. The Sabrina Fallout of Dead Dance

 A much more muted week than I'd expected even the recedation of the Sabrina Carpenter album bomb to be slower than normal for most album bombs but also the mere fact Spotify charts were down for a large chunk of the week which meant that we were spared any impact from Justin Bieber's "Swag II" but anyway enough horsing around, lets jump into the top ten where for yet another week "Golden" from K-:Pop Demon Hunters remains at number one much to my frustration, this song has only gotten actively worse over the last couple of weeks especially with that god awful shrill hook.

However we do have an emerging contender to possibly take over the number one spot, it's "Man I Need" by Olivia Dean which climbed four spots to number two thanks gains on streaming and sales. 

It pushed past former number one "Ordinary" by Alex Warren which fell back one place to number three. "No Broke Boys" by Disco Lines and Tinash held steady at number four while the same is true of "Soda Pop" from K-Pop Demon Hunters at number five.

Sabrina Carpenter's "Tears" fell back three spots to number six after it's debut last week. Kind of curious to see how this song holds up in  the weeks ahead.

"Your Idol" from K-Pop Demon Hunters climbed one spot to number seven whole "Daisies" by Justin Bieber returned to the top ten climbing three places to number eight.

The last two spots in the top ten are songs from K-Pop Demon Hunters holding their places in the top ten with "How it's Done" at nnumber nine and "what It Sounds Like" at number ten. 

Losers

Alright let's blow thtough the songs from the Sabrina Carpenter album bomb that lost big this week as they really were the only songs to lose big  "Manchild" dropped five spots to number twelve, "My Man On Will Power" by Sabrina Carpenter slipped twelve spots to twenty seven, "Goodbye" collapsed five spots to number thirty one, "Sugar Talking" lost fourteen spots to thirty four, "Never Getting Laid" slumped thirteen to forty one and thankfully the biggest loss of the week belonged to "We Almost Broke Up Again Last Night" which utterly went into a twenty place frree fall to number forty seven. 

Aside from that the continued heart breaking losses for "The Subway" by Chappell Roan this week down another six places to forty four.

Gains

So in a way the chart did reset a bit but I am not overall happy with a few of these gains especially for "Gabriela" by Katseye whicb climbed seven places to forty. Teddy Swims celebrated the news he will headline the NRL's Grand Final pre game entertainment by "The Door" rising seven spots to thirty eight. 

What did surprise me is the twelve place rebound for "Die With a Smile" by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars to twenty eight, might have to do with the new entry that we will get to but still. pretty weird to me. 

"Just Keep Watching" by Tate McRae climbed seven spots to twenty six while "Nice to Each Other" by Olivia Dean jumped nine to twenty one. 

Re-Entries

Just one return this week with"Messy" by Lola Young back at forty nine.

Drop Outs

Only two songs left this week with "What I Want" by Morgan Wallen and Tate McRae gone and likely locked on the year end list unfortunately.

The other to go is "Don't Worry, I'll Make You Worry" by Sabrina Carpenter. 

New Entries

Just one new entry this week so lets dive into...

50. "The Dead Dance" by Lady Gaga

The only new entry comes from the soundtrack of the season 2 Netflix show "Wednesday" and if there was somebody who could pull off a somewhat scary song for a show based off the Addams family than it is going to be Lady Gaga, right? Well, yes and no, this song has some seriously tight grooves and is a bunch of fun to dance to but it doesn't quite pull off the spooky aspect as well as it could  so much so it comes across as more campy and maybe too close to the sound that pervaded Gaga's last album "Mayhem". Overall, I don't hate it but I do get the feeling it should be better. 

ARIA Singles Top 50 Chart Review. 8th September

 What do you get when you combine ARIA's brand new rules and a Sabrina Carpenter album bomb? The short answer is an absolute mess and one that doesn't actually answer as to whether ARIA's changes have worked and I suspect we're not going to find out next week because Justin Bieber decided to drop a whole second album/deluxe edition of "SWAG" that will inevitably mean further album bomb chaos on the chart next week. Ugh.

However we'll get to Justin Bieber next week, we've still got the matter of this week's chart to get through so let's get to our top ten where for yet another week, "Golden" from K-Pop Demon Hunters continues to rule the roost at number one and it is a dominant number one across the board here, nothing is touching this song right now.

Former number one "Ordinary" by Alex Warren remains at number two as a result but it's not matching the dominance of "Golden" and really is starting to look a weak number two at this point.

We hit our first sign of the Sabrina Carpenter album bomb at number three with "Tears" arrival, now I don't think this song has the streaming traction it needs to challenge "Golden",  I will have more to say about this song later.

It did push "No Broke Boys" by Disco Lines and Tiaashe back one spot to number four as while it has streaming on board, it's just not getting anywhere near the traction in other channels, the same applies for "Soda Pop" from K-Pop Demon Hunters as it slipped one to number five, 

Rising six places to number six and one of the biggest gainers of the week is "Man I Need" by Olivia Dean, I am happy about this one, glad to see the better song becoming a hit. 

The biggest gainer of the week though is "Manchild" by Sabrina Carpenter which climbed thirteen places to number seven off the back of the album dropping...wish the song was better. 

The rest of the top ten are all from K-Pop Demon Hunters with "Your Idol" down three to eight, "How It's Done" down two to nine and "What It Sounds Like" slipping two spots to number ten. 

Gains

So apart from "Manchild" by Sabrina Carpenter rising thirteen to return to the top ten and "Man I Need" by Olivia Dean up six to number six, there was not a lot in the way of gains thanks to the Sabrina Carpenter album bomb.

Re-Entries

So we did get one return this week with "Gabriela" by Katseye back at number forty seven. 

Losers

Given most of the chart lost hard this week, I am going to limit this to double digit losses this week. We begin with "Die With a Smile" by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars which slumped thirteen to forty while former number one hit "Birds of a Feather" by Billie Eilish slipped ten spots to thirty nine.

What worries me is the sevcenteen place collapse to thirty seven of "The Subway" by Chappell Roan..now I know it's triggered by the Sabrina Carpenter album bomb but this song has been going in the wrong direction for weeks now, we need to correct that, Australia...and urgently.

At least "Yukon" by Justin Bieber slumped sixteen to thirty four and "Beautiful Things" by Benson Boone got slapped down twelve to twenty nine. 

Drop Outs

So given "Man's Best Friend" by Sabrina Carpenter entered the chart in its entirety. we have a sizeable list of drop outs and with the new rules in mind, I am going to start with the songs that dropped out and could return next week, let's begin with Alex Warren with both "Bloodline" feat Jelly Roll and "Carry You Home"  making their exits alongside "Mystical Magical" by Benson Boone and "Azizam" by Ed Sheeran.

Taking their exits and definitely won't be back though and we got major ones here in namely "Lose Control" by Teddy Swims and "Pink Pony Club" by Chappell Roan, they are gone from the top 50 and are now on the new "On Replay" chart.

Joining both those songs on the new replay singles chart are the songs that I have been touting would like "Iris" by Goo Goo Dolls, "Dreams" by Fleetwood Mac, "Something in the Orange" by Zach Bryan, "All The Stars" by Kendrick Lamar & SZA, "Breakin' Dishes" by Rihanna and finally..."Don't Dream It's Over" by Crowded House. 

New Entries

We have a lot of Sabrina Carpenter to talk about so I will endeavour to keep this pretty short overall so not making the top twenty and are neither best or worst of the week..."Don't Worry I'll Make You Worry" at number thihrty two (this song was close to worst of the week), "Never Getting Laid" at number twenty eight, "We Almost Broke Up Again Last Night" at twenty seven, "Goodbye" at number twenty six, "House Tour" at twenty three and "Go Go Juice" at twenty one.

That still leaves us with a meaty chunk of "Man's Best Friend to talk about so let's dive in and get started with...

20. "Sugar Talking" by Sabrina Carpenter

So expect to hear me talk a lot about innuendo but here it's Sabrina getting fed up with men not speaking her love language to her and still trying to slide into her bed through charisma and look, I get it, I hate having guys get in my face and want love when it's not earned or I don't feel the same way about them but I don't know the instrumental just does nothing for me at all here, it just feels so downtuned and doesn't do much. Not bad but not good either...something I expect to be saying a lot lately. 

19. "Nobody's Son" by Sabrina Carpenter

So this song has caused a lot of anger with critics naming this as the worst song on "Man's Best Friend" so let's see if a pair of fresh ears can find something out of the song that's...uhhh, no...I cannot...this song is one of the worst songs I've ever heard from Sabrina Carpenter, it's actually as toxic as anything I heard put across on that godawful Jessie Murph album from earlier this year yet Sabrina Carpenter sells mens mental health and guy who needs space away from his girlfriend as him "crying in bed" with a chrous that sounds straight from a British comedy sitcom with instrumentation playing off very real toxicity in a relationship like its fucking camp...no...just no. Sabrina, you are better than this. 

15. "My Man on Willpower" by Sabrina Carpenter

So this is the song from the album that I mostly dislike because of how muddy and one note the production feels here all while Sabrina complains about this guy in her life having found some self control and disicipline to not go to water every time she wears "slutty pyjamas and that he isn't fawning over her anymore. Look, maybe it's part of the wider joke on the album but maybe dude has had enough of the toxicity and is just ready to move on because yeah, given how painfully dull this song is...I don't blame him

13. "When Did You Get Hot?" by Sabrina Carpenter

So this is one of the songs that goes vaguely close to working where Sabrina goes to a convention with her friends and meets up with a guy she's known for awhile and she realizes that this guy is actually now good looking instead of what he used to be. I think it's nice that a lot of the toxic dynamics that appeared in a few of the songs we discussed previously don't appear here and the line about naked twister back at his place was genuinely funny. Cool song.

3. "Tears" by Sabrina Carpenter. 

Now we finish the week off with a glossy retro disco song from Sabrina Carpenter where she admits to being horny by a guy doing the most basic of house duties to the point 'tears' run down her thigh. I do think its funny but I also wonder how the hell this song is getting radio airplay considering kids are going to ask how on earth tears can fall down thighs. It is the correct choice of single from "Man's Best Friend"

That was the week and yeah, "Tears" gets best of the week here, really didn't have that much competition. Worst is going to "Nobody's Son" even though "My Man on Willpower" is eye roll worthy. 

All 4 1994: 4th September. You Mean Standing Outside the World, Enough is Enough

Alright, no mucking around, let's drive straight into things with the top ten this week because the top three didn't change at all, mostly down to margins being too big to close so "I Swear" by All-4-One at number one, "Love is All Around" by Wet Wet Wet at number two and "100% Pure Love" by Crystal Waters at number three.

"Swamp Thing" by The Grid climbed one spot to number four, its got decent momentum, it's just a question if that momentum can get bigger to catch the top three but for now, it was big enough to push past Big Mountain's "Baby, I Love Your Way" by Big Mountain down one to number five.

Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories are starting to push for a spit in the top fove as "Stay (I Missed You)" climbed one to number six while "7 Seconds" by Youssou N'Dour and Neneh Cherry moved up three to number seven.

Soundgarden's "Black Hole Sun" remains in the number eight hole this week while "Son of a Gun" by JX slipped three places to number nine.

In the best and possibly best news on the charts for 1994, "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" by Elton John got a six place boost to join the top ten at number ten! So so happy to see it here. Let's hope it can rise higher in the weeks ahead. 

Losers

Not really that much in terms of big losers this week although we did see Kulcha's "Don't Be Shy" slide from twenty seven to thirty eight and former number one "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" by Crash Test Dummies slip ten to thirty.

"Only to Be With You" by Roachford slumped from twenty one to twenry nine...bit of a shame this song is on the downswing, it's not bad. 

Gains

Ir's on the gains front that things are interesting because rhere was an eleven place gain for Joshua Kadison's "Jessie" to number seventeen while "Rockin' For Myself" by Motiv 8 feat. Angie Brown rocketed with bullet points from forty one to eighteen,

Up seven splots to thirty is "American Life in the Summertime" by Francis Dunnery while "Regulate" by Warren G & Nate Dogg climbed nine to thirty one. 

Most annoyingly "Afternoons and Coffeespoons" by Crash Test Dummies climbed six places to forty two. 

New Entries

49. "You Mean the World To Me" by Toni Braxton

Surprised we didn't get an immediate follow up single to "Breathe Again" (a song that is good but has become kind of forgettable) and I got to admit I was curious what we'd get going in and yeah, we got a pretty sweet love song combining both piano and guitar but allowing Toni Braxton's vocals to shine and shine they do, there's a passion in the vocals from Toni that really make the song believeable. I dig it. 

48. "No More Tears (Enough is Enough)" by Kym Mazelle & Jocelyn Brown

Ahh, it's been awhile since we dealt with a cover version on in one of these retro episodes but today we get to deal with Kym Mamzelle and Jocelyn Brown's take on the hit duet between Barbra Streisand and Donna Summer, the original hitting number 8 on the Kent Music Report charts in 1979,  

Now it starts out well enough, it starts out favouring soft but strong vocals then dives into this weird Eurodance/disco vibe that really doesn't work especially when in comparision the production helped both Donna Summer and Barbra Streisand but on this cover, it feels like both Kym Mamzelle and Jocelyn Brown are having to sing shout to be heard over the noisy production. 

I'll stick to the original...next!

47. Standing Outside the Fire" by Garth Brooks

So Garth Brooks on the charts and briefly stepping away from being in 1994 mode, I'm going to confess that I cannot find a decent enough version of the song to be able to review this properly. I may also have to do this with any future Garth Brooks songs that chart. Sorry.

43. "Alrabaiye (Take Me Up)" by Amadin feat. Swing

And we end the week with more eurodance because that's the way we want to finish with one of the more screechy and annoying songs I've heard in quite some time and when I say screechy I am talking about the vocals that get increasingly more annoying as the beat that never changes so yeah... this isn't good. Next!

That was our week and the best and worst fall out easily, for the first "Alrabbiaye (Take Me Up" by Amadin feat. Swing...obviously. Best of the week is going to "You Mean the World to Me" by Toni Braxton.