ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart Review 10th August. The One Where I Try To Go As Easy As Possible

 So we got the Ariana Grande album bomb and while I doon't really have a lot to say about the album, I will get to what I have to say about it later so let's dive into the top ten where of course "Choosin' Texas" by Ella Langley continues to rein supreme at number one for another week, it's got streaming and sales on lock at this point and nothing is getting near it.

Not even the album boost for "Hate That I Made You Love Me" by Ariana Grande up four slots to number two, would expect to see this fall back next week however it did push "Man I Need" by Olivia Dean back one to number three and "Rein Me In" by Sam Fender and Olivia back to number four.

The album bomb from Ariana Grande ensured that the album title track and new single "Petal" entered at number five, more on this song later, it did knock "Stupid Song" by Olivia Rodrigo back to number six and "Ordinary" by Alex Warren down three to number seven.

Holding steady at number eight much to my surprise is "Animal" by Katseye, I am okay with it, just surprised. "Earrings" by Malcolm Todd fell two slots to number nine and "The Cure" by Olivia Rodrigo slipped back one to round out the top ten at number ten. 

Losers

So this album bomb didn't force the large scale double digit drops for so many songs this week so I am going to focus on those double digit drops starting with "Noble" by F3miii which slipped fifteen to fifty.

"The One That Got Away" by Katy Perry slipped ten slots to forty six, it was also a ten place drop for "White Keys" by Dominic Fike to forty two. 

"Where is My Husband" by Raye slumped eleven to thirty three and "12 to 12" by Sombr trundled down ten to thirty one. 

"Drop Dead" by Olivia Rodrigo dropped thirteen to twenty nine.

Drop Outs

So because of the album bomb we have a slew of songs dropping out that will in likelihood all be back next week so let's rip through these beginning with "Been By Now" by Morgan Wallen, "Orbiter" by Noah Kahan, "Stateside" by Pink Pantheress feat. Zara Larsson, "Midnight Sun" by Zara Larsson, "I Just Might" by Bruno Mars, "Kingdom of Fear" by Cameron Whitcomb, "Undressed" by Sombr, "Bed on Fire" by G Flip, "Freaked Out" by Fat Papi and prodshushy, "Sailor Song" by Gigi Perez and finally the last of the Olivia Rodrigo album tracks "Honeybee"

Gains

Just the one maor gain this week with it unfortunately being "Bloodstream" by Alyssa Gace which rose eleven slots to eighteen...yay...not

New Entries

So we did get an Ariana Grande album bomb for "Petal" this week so let's go through the debuts that weren't top ten or best or worst of the week. "Nowhere, nobody" at forty eight, 'Warning Signs (interlude)" at forty seven", "never get over me" enters at forty,"freak" at thirty nine "big feelings" at thirty five, "like i do" at twenty two, "stay" at twenty, "all well" at nineteen and "kiss me" at twelve.

All that makes things easier because we now only have two songs to talk about and they are both Ariana Grande songs, beginning with....

43. "Bad Things (Bunny Hop)" by Ariana Grande

So "Petal" as an album is...fine...it's not good but it's not terrible either, if anything is emblematic of an artist making what amounts to be one of the artist's most creatively tired albums to date, I can't imagine Ariana is exactly getting much rest between Wicked and her current tour for her previous album, it kind of reminds me a lot of "The Life of A Showgirl" by Taylor Swift in that both are tired albums from artists who probably should have taken a break post tour/post filming before even writing said albums. 

As for this song, it's one of the better tracks on the album although it's really because it plays close to "Blinding Lights" by The Weeknd in it's sound and even if Ariana's vocals sound tired and bored, I can tolerate this. Good song. At least, it's better than...

5. "Petal" by Ariana Grande.

I knew this was going to be bad when somebody mentioned that it sounded like "7 Rings", a song that I still hate to this very day, and yeah this does remind me of "7 Rings" with that drippy synth line and production that can barely hold itself together and Ariana sounding frail as all hell in the mix. 

I hope time away helps Ariana to get better and time erases this song. 

It's easy worst of the week. "Bad Things (Bunny Hop)" gets best of the week. Keeping the reviews short and sharp this week, really felt uncomfortable even talking about Ariana right now especially with how horrible the discourse around her has been. 

Next week...huh...the fall out and what could be a quiet week. Stay tuned for the next episode of "Pretty Fly (For 1999)" as well!

Pretty Fly (For 1999) 8th August 2 Times in the Wild West.

Alright so we have a bit of a quieter week this week, not complaining as things are for once a bit crazy on the 2026 ARIA singles chart this week with the Ariana Grande album bomb but we still have a full top 50 to look at here so let's dive into the top ten where the top two remain the same as last week with "Last Kiss" by Pearl Jam remaining at the number one spot for a second week ahead of "If You Had My Love" by Jennifer Lopez remaining at number two.

Rising two spots to number three is "Boom Boom Boom Boom!" by The Vengaboys because of course it took advantages of the weaknesses of "Sometimes" by Britney Spears which slipped one spot to number four and "Kiss Me" by Sixpence None the Richer which fell back to number five. 

Shania Twain's "Man! I Feel Like A Woman!" remained at number six this week while "Whien You Say Nothing at All" by Ronan Keating continued it's rise up two to number seven, it did push past "Say It Once" by Ultra down one to number eight, 

"Sweet Like Chocolate" by Shanks & Bigfoot climbed four slots into the top ten at number nine which is pretty sweet for this song while finally "Beautiful Stranger" by Madonna is starting to develop growing pains down four to number ten.

Losers

We did see some big losers this week with "What It's Like" by Everlast down seven to fifty,. "The Animal Song" by Savage Garden dropping from forty two to forty nine and "Honey to the Bee" by Billie Piper hitting the skids down from thirty five to forty eight...ouch!

TLC's "No Scrubs" dived eight to forty one while Geri Halliwell's "Look At Me" slumped seven to thirty and "Why Don't You Get a Job?" by The Offspring slumped from twenty to twenty eight. 

Gains

Not too many major gains this week with "Weir" by Killing Heidi up six slots to thirty eight but the big gain of the week belonged to "All Star" by Smash Mouth as it smashed it's way up from thirty one to seventeen. I am happy about both these songs gaining.

However can we please stop it with the gains for "Stay the Same" by Joey McIntyre, it's up from thirty nine to thirty one this week. Please stop. 

Re-Entries

Two re-entries this week with "Ana's Song (Open Fire)" by Silverchair back at number forty three and weirdly enough Orgy's cover of "Blue Monday" came back at forty five.

New Entries

Just two new entries this week beginning with///

40. "2 Times" by Ann Lee

1999 feels like the year of the chart debutant because we have another one this week in the form of English singer Ann Lee, this being her lead single and well, I am not really digging this at all mostly because Lee's vocals just do not have  any kind of presence or power to them that make me want to go back to this song again. For a dance/electronic song to sound this small scale and kind of twee sounding right down to the high pitched do dos. Not a song I really want sticking around...next!

11. "Wi;d Wild West" by Will Smith feat. Dru Hill & Kool Mo Dee

So we finally got a new single from Will Smith following on from the success of "Miami" earlier in 1999 with this song created for a steampunk film of the same name that Smith starring in and indeed the song is all about Smith's character in the movie Jim West and how he is such a tough stern agent that he cannot be messed with and the song actually samples Stevie Wonder's 1976 hit "I Wiish" rather prominently and you know what? I had an insane amount of fun with this song, Will Smith slides straight into character effortlessly...this is good fun...check it out.

Obviously best of the week goes to "Wild Wild West". Worst of the week going to "2 Times" by Ann Lee because I really cannot stand that song. 

ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart Review. 3rd August. The One Where Forgettable Is the Word

 So this week is a stagnant sludge pool, the top ten barely moved at all apart from the new entry with some questionable quality that entered in the lowe half of the top ten that forced some change but anyway let's dive into it because for yet another week, it's "Choosin' Texas" by Ella Langley at number one and again, it's still dominant on sales and streaming that nothing is getting close to it. 

"Man I Need" by Olivia Dean remains at number two because it's on the downswing on streaming, "Rein Me In" by Sam Fender glued to number three, "Ordinary" by Alex Warren at number four, "Stupid Song" by Olivia Rodrigo at number five, "Hate that I Made You Love Me" by Ariana Grande and "Earrings" by Malcolm Todd remained all remained in the same positions as last week.

The new entry at number eight this week is "Animal" by Katseye, we'll get to the dubious quality of this song later but it's here because of some tremendous streaming so much so it pushed "The Cure" by Olivia Rodrigo back to number ninne. 

Finally into the top ten is "Dai Dai" by Shakira and Burna Boy at number ten, I don't expect this song to last in the top ten.

Losers

"Freaked Out' by Fat Papi and Prodshushy slipped seven spots off its debut to forty nine. 

A whole slew of songs slipped six spots this week including "Kingdom of Fear" by Cameron Whitcomb to forty six, "Honeybee" by Olivia Rodrigo to forty (this is likely the next single that Olivia recorded a video for IMO), "I Knew It/ I Knew You" by Taylor Swift dropped to twenty eight and "Daisies" by Justin Bieber to twenty four

Drop Outs

Four songs dropped out this week with three of them being Gracie Abrams songs in "Hit the Wall", "Good Reason" and "Look At My Life". 

The only other drop out is unfortunately "My Body Isn't Ready" by Sombr, would have liked to have seen this stick around and become a hit. 

Gains

So I am not wild about "Great Expectation" by Sienna Spiro being the biggest gainer of the week up nine to thirty nine bit "Material Lover" did go up six to forty one.

Heck, I am also happy that "Broken Window Serenade" by Whiskey Myers climbed six to forty four.

Re Entries

Two returns this week with "Undressed" by Sombr back at forty seven while "I Just Might" by Bruno Mars returns at forty five

New Entries

Two new entries this week beginning with...

33. "Been By Now" by Morgan Wallen

It;'s probably well worth noting before going any further that I do  not expect either of this week's new entries to stick around much beyond this week and given this Morgan Wallen song debuted low, I do wonder if Australian audiences have moved on from him or maybe its because this song is pretty damn forgettablesludge that doesn't even bother to try to be a country song, it's a pop song and one that doesn't even flatter Morgan Wallen's vocals which sound rougher than they should over the muddy as hell mix. 

As for the content, it's yet aoother sour as hell break up song except the relationship appears to be stuck in some limbo where Wallen realizes that if this girl had of wanted to be with him, they'd be together by now, it just comes across as whiny and when the production is not all interesting...yeah, I'd hope this doesn't stick around.

8. "Animal" by Katseye.

Oh god...I was hoping for something other than Katseye being the other new entry this week, this group's music is just banal noise to me half the time especially this year where they released god damn "Internet Girl" which sounded like Onision's leftovers where he moved on from bananas to zucchini howver much to my surprise, "Animal" is actually fine? It's an Ed Sheeran penned song that I guess he felt weird about recording given the content of the song being what it is and the fact that he is a married father of two, a song about being an animal in the bedroom probably wouldn't go down well given how the general republic reacted to "Shape of You" in 2017 so he handed this song to Katseye.

It turned out to be a good decision for both Katseye and Sheeran, Katseye are definitely more suited to conventional pop music rather than their brand of somewhat chaotic k-pop that doesn't flatter the girls voices whatsoever,,,now Katseye still doesn't know how to harmonise properly but this is a decent improvement on their past efforts, check this out.

"Animal" by Katseye gets best of the week while "Been By Now" by Morgan Wallen gets worst of the week because that song is just forgettable and honestly worthless.

Next week...Ariana Grande album bomb and the discourse surrounding Ariana.

Pretty Fly (For 1999). 1st August. I Don't Want Saltwater In a Wait Weir

 No stuffing around this week, let's jump right into it because we do have a new number one...shame it's "Last Kiss" by Pearl Jam...yeah, I still do not like this song, it feels nothing like what Pearl Jam are capable of but it had a great sales week to dethrone "If You Had My Love" by Jennifer Lopez. "If You Had My Love" slipped bac to number two,.

"Sometimes" by Britney Spears also slipped back to number three as a result and "Kiss Me" by Sixpence None The Richer back to number four. 

Rising four slots to number five is "Boom Boom Boom Boom!" by Vengaboys while "Man! I Feel Like A Woman" by Shania Twain rebounded one to number six.

All this pushed "Say It Once" by Ultra back two slots to number seven likewise for Madonna's "Beautiful Stranger" which also slipped two to number eight.

Much to my surprise rising five of it's debut last week is "When You Say Nothing At All" by Ronan Keating! Must be 'Notting Hill" being popular causing that.

Finally "Get Set" by Taxiride fell two to number ten. Hoping it can hang around in the top ten a lot longer. 

Losers.

"Dear Mama" by 2Pac slipped nine spots to forty six this week while former number one "No Scrubs" by TLC slumped from sixteen to thirty three. 

Gains

The gains this week are on the pretty awful front and they are both from New Kids on the Block alumni with Jordan Knight's "Give It to You" up nine to thirty six while "Stay The Same" by Joey McIntyre rose eleven to thirty nine. Ugh.

Re-Entries

Just one return this week courtesy of "Shimmer" by Shawn Mullins at forty seven.

New Entries

Four new entries this week beginning with...

50. "Happiness" by Regurgitator

The ead single for Regurgitator's third album "....art" and honestly given how much a single like "Polyester Girl" was fucking amazing I was curious to see what this Australian group had up their sleeves for this album and this is a pretty interesting track mostly due to it sounding very indie rock with that guitar and while I do wish the vocals were a bit louder in the mix, I do think this somewhat fits with what the song is going for because the content is all about finding small superficial distractions as coping mechanisms in a world that is increasingly more demanding and the news cycle seems to be getting worse...which yeah feels way too real. 

44. "Weir" by Killing Heidi

The Australian theme continues because we have the debut single from rock band Killing Heidi, it's the lead single for the band's debut album "Reflector" and wow, this song doesn't doesn't waste it's time getting going as the band's frontwoman Ella Hooper croons her way through the verses but absolutely lets rip on the chorus and she sounds incredible. The song appears to be about friendship, growing up and spending time wth those friends on a waterway like the town reservoir or weir. Sweet song, hope this becomes a hit.

34. "I Don't Want to Wait" by Paula Cole

So here have the theme song for the hit TV show Dawsons Creek coming from American singer-songwriter and well I am not really feeling this song, Cole has a nice sounding voice but this instrumental is not doing much for me at all here, I do wish it did something more than just chug along because otherwise it's a pretty standard singer/songwriter cut where Cole sings about not letting history infect the future but live a full and present life in the current times. It's fine enough but I am going to forget this pretty quickly even with it being a TV show theme.

32. "Saltwater" by Chicane feat. Maire Brennan

Ending off the week with an electronic trance track from English producer Chicane who brought Irish singer Maire Brennan onto this song and...this is pretty good. Chicane restrains himself enough on the production to allow Brennan's vocals the space to grow and swell as the song needs, she sounds absolutely incredible. As for the content, well it's more a song that just feels the ocean and it's vibe rather than having any sort of coherent message with lyrics but for electronic/trance songs, this is pretty good. Check it out.

That wraps the week and I dispensing with Worst of the Week for this week as none of these songs really deserve it. Best of the week in a close race is going to "Weir" by Killing Heidi.

ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart Review 27th July. The One With Gracie's "Impact" and World Cup spawns Dai Dai return

 Alright, no time to waste as I am getting this out considerably late this week (thanks procrastinaton and Commonwealth Games) so let's jump straight into the top ten where for yet another week, it's "Choosin' Texas" by Ella Langley at number one and look, it might take a song from Ariana Grande's new album to dislodge this song because it's still insanely strong across the board on sales and streaming. 

Nothing behind it is even remotely capable of challenging with "Man I Need" by Olivia Dean remaining at number two and "Rein Me In" by Sam Fender and Olivia Dean steady at number three.

Continuing it's unfortunate rebound is "Ordinary" by Alex Warren up two slots to number four pushing "Stupid Song" by Olivia Rodrigo back to number five. 

"Hate That I Made You Love Me" by Ariana Grande slipped one spot back to number six but again, it's probably going to be the song that likely challenges our current number one next week. 

Rebounding one slot to number seven is "Earrings" by Malcolm Todd although it would be nice if this song disappeared off the face of the earth, easily one of the worst songs of the year thus far.

Makes it worse when "Earrings" pushes "The Cure" by Olivia Rodrigo back to number eight.  "The Cure" deserves better, Australia...come on.

Holding at number nine is "Dracula" by Tame Impala while Bella Kay returns to the top ten up two slots to number ten with "IloveitIloveitIloveit" 

Losers

"Honeybee" by Olivia Rodrigo slipped seven to thirty four, it's the last of the album tracks on the chart although that wasn't the biggest loser of the week that title belongs to Sombr with "My Body Isn't Ready" sliding thirteen to  number forty three. 

"Midnight Sun" by Zara Larsson fell seven to forty five and "Great Expectations" by Sienna Spiro also thankfully slipping seven to forty eight.

Drop Outs

So seven songs took exits this week with Olivia Rodrigo album tracks "expectations" and "maggots for btains" taking their exits alongside "Undressed" by Sombr, "I Just Might" by Bruno Mars, "American Girls" by Harry Styles, "Opalite" by Taylor Swift and "Fever Dream" by Alex Warren. 

Gains

Not much in the way of gains this week but we did see a nice seven place gain for "Kingdom of Fear" by Cameron Whitcomb to forty which I am reasonably happy about.

Although I am less thrilled that "Bloodstream" by Alyssa Grace which jumped six spots to thirty but oh well swings, roundabouts and all that jazz.

Re-Entries

Three returns this week with "Sailor Song" by Gigi Perez back at forty nine. album release saw "Hit the Wall" by Gracie Abrams back at twenty eight while the recent football World Cup saw "Dai Dai" by Shakira and Burna Boy back at nnumber twelve.

New Entries

Four new entries this week beginning with..

50. "Broken Window Serenade" by Whiskey Myers

So this finally broke through...it's been hanging around on the Spotify chart long enough and frankly I am surprised it's here given Whiskey Myers is an American southern rock and country act with this song released in 2011 from their album "Firewater" and it went viral so how is this song? Well turns out that this is pretty darn great! I love the harmonica and the gentle knock of the percussion over the guitar and while the vocals take some getting used to, they don't take me out of the song especially as this song in it's content is extremely dark detailing this woman who dreamt of life as a Hollywood star but instead sunk into abuse, addiction and depression, addiction would ultimately end this woman's life early and the narrator would wind up placing flowers on her grave...incredibly sad and it hits hard. Damn great song, glad it's here, check it out!

46. "Good Reason" by Gracie Abrams

So I have heard Gracie Abrams new album "Daughter from Hell" and in all honesty, it's probably one of the most forgettable, milquetoast pop albums of 2026, Gracie Abrams struggles to distinguish herself from the rest of the women vying for the public's attention in ther world of pop music and yeah, I would say that it's the case with this song as she continues to wander into the Taylor Swift lane here and remind me that I would really be rather listening to any song from "Midnights" or "Evermore" compared to this song but it's not really a song worth hating, the content is pretty good where Gracie admits she has no good reason for breaking her partner's heart via ending the relationship so yeah, this isn't really all that terrible but it's not great either.

42. "Freaked Out" by Fat Papi, prodshushy

Oh boy, how to explain this one...so Fat Papi is a Kurdish-New Zealand rapper and producer with this song somehow going viral hence it winding up on the singles chart this week and look, I think the instrrumental is pretty solid and the hook absolutely goes off and is quite catchy even if the content really isn't all that interesting, all about this attractive confident woman who moves in an impressive and confident manner and can handle her own money and success. Either way, I am not sure the song is going to stick around long term because it does feel like a bit of a fart in the wind song but I wouldn't mind for now. 

32. "Look At My Life" by Gracie Abrams

Finally wrapping the week with the second of the two Gracie Abrams songs to debut new this week and again, I am not wowed by this and not even the content can save this song because again Gracie Abrams has all the personality of a fucking pumpkin seed when she's singing about her life as a "famous" person that said she isn't helped by the production from Aaron Dessner here because the verses don't lead to a satisfying build into the chorus and again this song really can't escape being a Taylor Swift lesser cut that would have been left on the cutting room floor for Taylor but wound up on a Gracie Abrams album out of sheer indifference, we can do so much better for female pop music.

That was our week and Gracie Abrams gets the worst of the week for "Look at My Life". Whiskey Myers easily runs away with the best of the week for "Broken Window Serenade"

Next week could be pretty damn terrible...Katseye and Morgan Wallen...brace yourselves.

Pretty Fly (For 1999) 25th July. The Hardest Saddest Silence is A Look on Blue Monday

 So things feel on the precipice of change on the chart and I am not sure why because sure...glancing at our top ten, "If You Had My Love" by Jennifer Lopez remains at number one despite somewhat dipping sales numbers, it did manage to hold off a charge from "Sometimes" by Britney Spears which climbed one spot to number two.

This pushed "Kiss Me" by Sixpence None The Richer fall back to number three while "Last Kiss" by Pearl Jam remains stalled at number four.

"Say It Once" by Ultra continues it's climb up the chart by rising on to number five whie "Beautiful Stranger" by Madonna recovered two slots to number six. 

"Man! I Feel Like A Woman" by Shania Twain felt like staying at number seven this week, 

One of the biggest gains of the belongs to Taxiride as "Get Set" jumped a massive TWENTY places to number eight this week. Awesome to see as that song is absolutely great, 

Not so great is the ode to orgasms that is "Boom Boom Boom Boom" by The Vengaboys which jumped from fifteen to number nine.

Also rising into the top ten is "Westside" by TQ which rose three places to numbe ten this week.

Losers

We start the losers with Eminem's "Hi! My Name Is" which stumbled ten spots to forty nine, we need that follow up single soon, Em. 

Savage Garden's "The Animal Song" slumped from thirty four to forty eight while Cher's "Strong Enough" was hit with a ten place plunge to forty seven.

"We Like to Party (The Vengabus)" by The Vengaboys utterly collapsed from twenty five to forty one. Sugar Ray's "Every Morning" hit the snooze button so it went down eight to forty.

If you are wondering what happened to "Don't Cry" by Human Nature given it debuted at number five last week...well it fell from five to twenty nine this week...ouch.

"Thank ABBA For the Music" by Steps, Tina Cousins, Cleopatra, B*Witched and Billie Piper fell nine to twenty eight. 

Gains

So I already mentioned the big rise to number eight for "Get Set" by Taxiride but we also saw a ten place gain off its debut to fourteen for "When You Say Nothing at All" by Ronan Keating.

"Scar Tissue" by The Red Hot Chili Peppers climbed from twenty two to fifteen....sigh...wish I actually liked that song more than I do. 

Westlife's "Swear It Again" breaks into the top twenty up twelve to eighteen this week while "All Star" by Smash Mouth got a ten spot bounce to thirty one

New Entries

Five new entries beginning with...

46. "Saddest Song" by Cherry

We're beginning with the third single from Australian five piece girl group Cherry with this song having been written by acclaimed American song writer Diane Warren that was originally meant for a US r'n'b group called Not Real but I think Cherry's version kind of works especially with the elegant production that does have that element of sadness about it as the group sings about the heartache and pain of hearing a song that meant so much to them when they were in a relationship and now that relationship is over, hearing that song on the radio hurts. Decent pop song but in a year where girl group pop songs are everywhere....yeah I am not sure how much this is going to be remembered.

36. "Blue Monday" by Orgy

So Orgy are an American rock band with their first song to hit the ARIA singles chart being this cover of New Order's 1983 hit "Blue Monday" and well...it sure does exist now, doesn't it?  I have never been one for the original song from New Order but I'll take the somewhat slower and gentler delivery of the lyrics in the vocals over having the lyrics shouted at me like Orgy do in the cover. I really do not have much to say about this so I will move on.

35. "The Hardest Thing" by 98 Degrees

Another debutant act on the chart from out of the USA this week courtesy of four piece boy group 98 Degrees and well, this is where I might need to apologise to Boyzone because dear god, this song might be one of the most boring yet infuriating song about cheating where on the verses he says its killing him to be with his mistress but then says on the hook that it's "the hardest thing" to tell his partner that he doesn't love her any more and show no emotion when she breaks down and starts crying...dude, you are an asshole in song form. Get this dirge shithole of a song off the charts.

25. "Have  A Look"  by Vanessa Amorosi

Beginning to feel like the week of the debutant because we have an Australian singer songwriter Vanessa Amorosi making her first mark on the ARIA singles chart and yeah...I'm kind of not surprised that this debuted as high as high as this because my goodness, Amorosi is an absolute powerhouse vocallist, she can absolutely belt with the best of them especially on the hook where she wants an ex back with her after seeing him with somebody else over this really tight pop/rock groove that Amorosi sounds at home over this production...great song!

19. "Silence" by Delerium feat. Sarah McLachlan

Ending the week with a bit of Canadian trance courtesy of producer Delerium who has brought Canadian music royalty Sarah McLachlan on board for this cut and yeah, this is really good too. I just wish Sarah's vocals were slightly louder in the mix over the instrumentation but she sounds ethereal here. Really this does remind me of big beat era early nineties where this song would not be out of place. Damn good song. 

That wraps our week and the worst of the week is pretty easy, that's going to "The Hardest Thing" by 98 Degrees...just spare me from that horrible turd of a song...please.

However the best of the week is a lot harder with that going to "Have A Look" by Vanessa Amorosi...just beating Delerium and Sarah McLachlan...it was close.

ARIA Singles Top 50 Chart Review. 20th July. The One with a Kingdom Fear of Great Expectations

 This week could be worse...I guess...we didn't get hit by the Future album bomb which is something incredibly merciful but what we got instead is..odd to say the least. Let's get to our top ten where of course for a sixth week, it's "Choosin' Texas" by Ella Langley at number one, it continues to rule sales and streaming with a rod of iron.

The top six actually held position this week with "Man I Need" by Olivia Dean at number two, "Rein Me In" by Sam Fender and Olvia Dean at number three, "Stupid Song" by Olivia Rodrigo at number four, "Hate That I Made You Love Me" by Ariana Grande at number five and "Ordinary" by Alex Warren at number six.

"The Cure" by Olivia Rodrigo rebounded one spot to number seven after getting a small streaming bump, it pushed past "Earrings" by Malcolm Todd which slipped one spot to number eight.

Finally "Dracula" by Tame Impala and "Drop Dead" by Olivia Rodrigo held firm at nine and ten respectively.

Losers

Most of the big losers are still Olivia Rodrigo album tracks with "Maggots for Brains" down nine to forty fpir, "Expectations" slipped seven to forty three and "Honeybee" down ten to twenty seven.

The only non Olivia Rodrigo major loser this week was "I Knew It. I Knew You" by Taylor Swift slipped seven to eighteen.

Drop Outs

Four songs took their exits this week with :"Girls" by Kid Laroi finally making it's exit permanent to the On Replay singles chart.
Also gone are "What Is Wrong With Me?" by Olivia Rodrigo and Robert Smith, "Dai Dai" by Shakira and Burna Boy and "Go" by Chemical Brothers (I suspect this will make the year end)

Gains

Noah Kahan's "Orbiter" climbed seven slots this week to number thirty five. Zara Larsson's "Midnight Sun" jumped six spots to thirty eight.

Losers

Two returns this week with "Material Lover" by Sienna Spiro back at forty two while "Bloodstream" by Alyssa Grace returned at number thirty six. 

New Entries

Two new entries, beginning with...

47. "Kingdom of Fear" by Cameron Whitcomb

So this is an interesting one with this being Cameron Whitcomb;s first song to cross over onto the ARIA singles chart, Whitcomb is a Canadian singer/songwritetr who has notched some decent success in Canada but is only just starting to find his footing worldwide courtesy of this song and yeah, it's a solid enough singer/songwriter cut similar to something that Noah Kahan would write and sing, helps that the instrumental and production is pretty solid with those somewhat twangy sounding guitars and that fast paced drumming that works for me.

As for the content of the song? The dissonance between saying "Yeah, I'm good" while internally struggling with self doubt and anxiety so the content here does cut a lot deeper for me given my personal issues...this is a pretty good song...check it out.

41. "Great Expectations" by Sienna Spiro

so this is the only new Sienna Spiro song from that album to hit the ARIA singles chart and given the previous single "Die On This Hill" is dead set one of the worst songs of 2026 so I have rock bottom expectations for this song and well...those rock bottom expectations were met and then satisfied because my goodness, this song is a dreary bore and slog of a song where she sings about falling in love with the idea of someone rather than who that person actually is which on paper is an interesting idea, just a shame the song does nothing interesting and Spiro sounds like she's whining for most of the song.

I'll pass. 

That was the week and best and worst fall out easy with the worst going to "Great Expectation" by Sienna Spiro and the  best going to "Kingdom of Fear" by Cameron Whitcomb.

Next week...ugh...Gracie Abrams album dropped so we'll probably wind up with something from that charting, we'll have to see.