Top ten worst hit songs of 2018

We’ve reached the end of 2018 which means it’s time to sort out the crap from the great so let’s begin with handing the crap what they deserve…the top ten worst hit songs of 2018, now unlike last year where I had five dishonourable mentions, I won’t be doing that this year with the reason being most people move on and mostly forget the terrible stuff, heck I haven’t thought about the majority of my worst hits of 2017 list apart from the top 3.

Now for the most part I didn’t mind a lot of the songs that became hits this year on the ARIA charts however many disturbing trends showed up this year including the music industry reducing itself to grave robbery to ensure hits on the chart, some incredible laziness across rap and hip hop and pop songs that exacerbated a lot of pop music’s issues…all of which will be discussed here.

Here’s a reminder of the rules.

1.       
      Must have made ARIA’s end of year list.

2.      
         For a song to make this list, the song must have elements that are deeply annoying or even infuriating to land on this list. Being dull or overplayed on the radio is not enough to piss me off.

3.     
      No XXXtentacion or 6ix9ine will appear here because it’s just a given that both would appear here otherwise, yes, both made some pretty awful music but it’s not worth giving XXXtentacion’s music any attention given it’s now purely the music going down the path of grave robbery plus both are going to make everyone’s worst lists – after all “FEFE” by 6ix9ine and Nicki Minaj is a partial birth abortion masquerading as a song but these lists can get boring if we all put the same songs on them.

4.       
      This is my opinion only. My opinion shouldn’t stop you from enjoying the songs I write about here today.

Let’s get the show on the road with making something obvious, this song is crap. C-R-A-P, am I making myself cleafr

10. “Friends” by Marshmello and Anne Marie

We’re starting this list with a song that I admit to somewhat liking on first listen but after repeated listens soured on me quickly because I realized that this song was talking down to me as though I am some dumbarse who is expected to take this bottom feeding nonsense without questioning it. Anne-Marie has had enough of a guy trying to force a romantic relationship that she doesn’t want, and she lets him know by giving us all a lesson on how to spell the word ‘friends’. Geezus christ.

The song just comes across as incredibly juvenile and given it’s possible that the guy just isn’t over her yet it’s not the most mature way to tell him that she isn’t interested and only wants to friends. I nearly scream GROW UP at the radio when this song comes on, it’s that juvenile and petty, it’s ridiculous.

So while Anne-Marie and Marshmello were giving out spelling lessons, we were dealing with Post Malone’s brand of trap music.

9. “Psycho” by Post Malone feat. Ty Dolla $ign

It feels like there has been an influx of songs this year using the word “Psycho’ and unfortunately, we’re here to discuss a song that is pretty god damn awful. Post Malone’s whining vocals over a beat that doesn’t change or do anything apart from drone on and on. The lyrics are just about the usual things in trap music like cars, girls, his immense wealth and a ridiculous list of brand names that it would be considered farcical if he wasn’t getting paid for the endorsements during his songs and oh there’s a reference to domestic violence where Ty Dolla $ign mentions hitting a woman who wants to have his children…just charming.

This song was a NUMBER ONE hit for some ungodly reason.

So moving on from this mess of a song, we run straight into somebody who was ubiquitous in 2018, as if it wasn’t predictable, hello Drake.

8. “In My Feelings” by Drake

Ugh, in a year that featured entirely way too much bad Drake at number one than what is healthy with “God’s plan” being a nothing of a song, “I’m Upset” being terrible (it missed the list because I forgot about it until now) and “Nice for What” being saved by that Lauryn Hill sample , this was a sign that Drake had run out of ideas and boy, it showed here on this fragment of a song which features terrible production and only became a hit because of some ridiculous dance meme that was popular for a couple of weeks before sputtering out and this song collapsed like the dead weight it is and I want a long break from anything Drake related although with a Drake-Migos mixtape and another Drake album both apparently coming next year, I don’t hold hope that that break is coming any time soon.

You might remember that I mentioned Post Malone earlier, well in 2018, he became big enough to see wannabes arrive on the charts with the first being this painful imposter.

7. “Lucid Dreams” by Juice WRLD

I know people were more pissed off by “All Girls Are the Same” (quite rightly) for being an absolute turd of a song but this one was the one that became a hit for some unknown reason because this song is just a pure disgusting blame it on the woman bitchfest, JuiceWRLD complains that he can’t change the world he is with so he is going to have to replace her and also seems keen on not letting the girl move on with her life because he comes across like an obsessed stalker like manic.

His obsessive stalker type behaviour is over a beat that makes Post Malone’s music sound like what Britney Spears was singing in the late 90s. Ugh.

2018 was the year of pop artists going country and of the two, one of those songs got extremely popular for no good reason.

6. “The Middle” by Zedd feat. Maren Morris and Grey

I adore Maren Morris which makes it painful for me to put her on this list but I can’t lie, this song drove me up the wall with its mediocre production that it may as well have been a “Stay” rip off (I didn’t like Zedd’s “Stay” feat. Alessia Cara either by the way) with the ticking clock noise that permeates that song like it does this one. Also the lyrics don’t really even tell a story where Morris wants this guy to meet her in the middle but for some reason the guy wants no part of it, maybe in this case, it might be better for Morris to leave the guy the hell alone.

Speaking of alone…. There was a song doing it solo and doing it badly too.

5.“Solo” by Clean Bandit feat. Demi Lovato

I feel terrible putting Demi Lovato as she really isn’t the reason why this song is an awful slice of EDM pop, its actually the most juvenile song about sex that was released this year with it’s incredibly annoying “whoop whoop whoop1” to cover up swear words in the chorus underlining the issues that have been around in pop music for the last couple of years, not to mention the fact Demi has to sing through a ton of annoying chipmunk like sound effects that make the song. The entire production is extremely juvenile. Clean Bandit, you are so much better than this song.

For the mess of noise this song was, at least it didn’t suffer from laziness unlike….

4. “No Brainer” by DJ Khaled feat. Justin Bieber, Chance the Rapper and Quavo

Believe me, this isn’t the last example of laziness that we’ll get to but in 2018, DJ Khaled got to the point of self parody when he decided to go down the path of lazily reproducing “I’m the One” for 2018 by bringing back Justin Bieber, Chance the Rapper and Quavo, the only one missing from “I’m the One” part 1 is Lil Wayne because Lil Wayne completely lost the plot on part 1. Bieber may well be the best part in handling the hook but that’s not saying much when he delivers a completely unenthusiastic effort, Quavo drops a verse that can be heard on most Migos tracks on Culture II while Chance the Rapper delivers a verse that isn’t at all interesting, this song just reeks of non effort and laziness.

So after all that, what could possibly be worse?

3. “In My Mind” by Dynoro feat. Gigi D’Agostino

Oh god, I would love to know who the hell thought this drippy miserable song which features Gigi D’Agostino repetitively singing the same things repeatedly over this absolutely horrible beat beat that is impossible to dance to or even remotely groove to. Seriously, this song makes me question what happened to the fun in music because it’s not there in this song that’s for sure. Hopefully songs like this don’t chart in 2019 and what’s in my mind and in my head ain’t this song.

My number two pick won’t surprise anyone…well it shouldn’t as it will be on plenty of people’s worst hits lists…for good reason.

2. “Meant to Be” by Bebe Rexha and Florida Georgia Line

First question, what’s is the point of accrediting Bebe Rexha as the lead artist on this faux-country pop song (anyone who says its country should be handed the last Kacey Musgraves album so they can find out what real country music is) especially Florida Georgia Line sing on most of the song leaving Bebe Rexha to just one verse and chorus. Enough can be said about Bebe Rexha’s pathetic little girlish  sounding voice complaining that she has had enough of guys not treating her right placing her at the cross roads with the duo Florida Georgia Line, she’s giving them the signal to back off and leave her alone but Florida Georgiia Line want her to give into them, it’s just icky from a content standpoint when the Me Too movement is around…yeah,…yuck.

So that leaves just one song and I must say I changed my mind a zillion times over it but when I listened to this song again and yeah it had to land at the top of this list for good reason.

1       1. “I Love It” by Lil Pump and Kanye West

If you looked up the word ‘lazy’ in the dictionary this song would be the musical definition of the word, a song with half assed production involving trap and lyrics that alternate from being stupid to outright gross. Kanye’s verse is the most basic rap verse I have heard, it’s almost like he is trying hard to lower himself to Lil Pump’s level and as for Lil Pump, he handles the hook which basically insults the young woman and her boyfriend and repeating the line “I love It”

None of this song is remotely funny and it shows that Kanye really did do his best to lose any respect he did have. This song and a couple of others on this lit is music for those who appreciate music that appeases the lowest common denominator, it’s a whole new level of lazy garbage that I thought at least Kanye wasn’t capable of.

Let’s hope for better next year.

ARIA Singles Top Ten/ Chart Review: 24th December:Ariana holds number 1 as challengers rise.

So this week was a bit of chaos especially with Christmas music and a whole slew of returns and new entries to the chart, it felt a bit crazy but none the less, let's start where we always do and that is with the top ten and no surprise that it's a sixth week at the top for "Thank U, Next" by Ariana Grande but I am not certain that she will get a seventh week at number one especially as she has been overtaken on streaming and the song has fallen back on sales.

The first of those challengers appears to be "Sunflower" by Post Malone feat. Swae Lee has the song jumped four places to number 2 this week on the back of strong streaming and with sales starting to back it up, there are signs that this could be a challenger for number one.

Also emerging as a strong challenger is Ava Max's European smash "Sweet but Psycho" which jumped two places to number 3.

What aren't challengers are "Without Me" by Halsey which dropped two places to number four and "Shotgun" by George Ezra which also fell two places to number 5.

"Nothing Breaks Like A Heart" by Mark Ronson feat. Miley Cyrus continues to climb, this week it's up two places to number six.

Former number one "Shallow" by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper slipped three places to number four as it gradually falls away.

Unfortunately "Sicko Mode" by Travis Scott feat. Drake is up one to number eight because anhything involving Drake has to be a thing apparently.

In much better news, the mediocre "Happier" by Marshmello and Bastille slipped two places to number 9 while "All I want for Christmas is You" by Mariah Carey rose 5 places to number 10.

Gains

Christmas meant big gains for Wham's "Last Christmas" which jumped to 18 from 34. Kian's "Waiting" jumped 5 places to 30 bit apart from those there wasn't much in the gains department.

Re-Entries

Three re-entries this week with the highest of those being "Do They Know It's Christmas" by Band Aid 80 at number 37.

"Close to Me" by Ellie Goulding feat. Diplo and Swae Lee returns at 49 and strangely enough "I Said Hi" by Amy Shark at 50.

Losers

The biggest loser was unfortunately "Leave A Light on" by Tom Walker which had its lights turned off and sent tumbling down to 48 from 36.

"Arms around You" by XXXtentacion feat. Lil Pump, Maluma and Swae Lee fell eight places to 33...Good.

Also good that "Zeze" by Kodak Black feat. Travis Scott and Offset fell to 28 from 22.

Sadly "Bohemaian Rhapsody" by Queen also took a hit down to 34 from 27.

Drop outs

Not that unhappy about the drop outs although said to see both "Come out and Play" by Billie Eilish and "Always Remember Us This way" by Lady Gaga gone but when they are taking the underwhelming "Woman Like Me" by Little Mix feat. Nicki Minaj and outright awful like "Bad" by XXXtentacion, "Mama" by 6ix9ine feat. Nicki Minaj and Kanye West and "In my Feelings" by Drake...I ain't complaining.

New entries

The biggest new arrival this week was of course Ariana Grande's "Imagine" at 15 and because it's Christmas, Ariana's pretty cheesy "Santa Tell Me" enters at 40 (should be gone next week) while "Saturday Nights" by Khalid is the final new entry at 41.

So it remains to be seen if "Thank u Next" can get a 7th week at number one or not but the challengers are coming, we'll find who gets the final number one for 2018 on Saturday.

ARIA Singles top ten \ Chart Review: 17th December: NBLAH reaches top ten

So this week was a pretty quiet one in terms of new entries but we got one hell of a busy week here somehow.

Just no movement right at the very top where "Thank U, Next" by Ariana Grande spends it's 5th week at number one, I still believe that this song will finish the year at number one in Australia,


Halsey's "Without Me" remains at number two for another week but I am not certain of this song's prospects of knocking "Thank U, Next" from number one, it still has good streaming but it doesn't seem enough to challenge "Thank U, Next" right now and digital sales appear to be dropping off.

A song that continues to hang around is former number one "Shotgun" by George Ezra at number three, the song has completely fallen away on streaming so it's probably no chance of returning to number one.

Another former number one lies at number four that being "Shallow" by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper but it's not a threat for number one.

The song that is looming as a challenger for number one is "Sweet But Psycho" by Ava Max which jumped three places to number 5, it's presence on streaming and on digital sales is continuing to build rather impressively, heck, it pushed "Sunflower" by Post Malone and Swae Lee down one place to number six and "Happier" by Marshmello and Bastille down to number 7.

We have a new arrival to the top ten with "Nothing Breaks Like A Heart" by Mark Ronson and Miley Cyrus up nine places to number eight which I am absolutely delighted about as the song is just fantastic.

It pushed "Sicko Mode" by Travis Scott down two places to number 7 and "Eastside" by Benny Blanco feat. Halsey and Khalid down two places to number ten.

Gainers

Former number seven "High Hopes" by Panic! At The Disco was the biggest gainer of the week leaping back up to 24 from 37. (Don't mind that song quite honestly).

The Hilltop Hoods look set to have a big hit with "Leave Me Lonely" up twelve places to number 26.

"Last Christmas" by Wham also gained hard this week up from 47 to 34 which isn't surprising considering Christmas is around the corner.

"Going Bad" by Meek Mill feat. Drake jumped up to 33 from 42 because people can't seem to get enough of Drake right now.

Strangely enough "Perfect" by Ed Sheeran is up 6 places to 46...this song has been on the chart for pretty much the entire year!

"Leave A Light on" by Tom Walker returns to the top 40 at 36 from 41 and "This Feeling" by The Chainsmokers and Kelsea Ballerini refuses to go away by elevating from 44 to 37.

Re-Entries

XXXtentacion's album release saw the return of the single "Bad" at number 35 but apart from that there really isn't any XXXtentacion to talk about...thank goodness.

Also back for some reason is "Lost in Japan" by Shawn Mendes at 38.

Finally for no discernible reason "In My Feelings" by Drake is back at number 49. (Australia, really?)

Losers

It wasn't a good week for 6ix9ine with "Mama" feat. both Nicki Minaj and Drake being the biggest loser down from 22 to 50...good.

Also down hard is "Come Out and Play" by Billie Eilish which fell off it's debut at 28 to slide down to 45.

"Woman Like Me" by Little Mix feat. Nicki Minaj crash landed at 47 down from 33.

"Waiting" by KIan slithered down six places to 30.

Drop Outs

It was relatively good news on the drop out side of things with 6ix9ine's "Kika" feat. Tory Lanez dropping out taking with it "Taki Taki" by DJ Snake feat. Ozuna, Selena Gomez and Cardi B.

Also gone is "Close to Me" by Ellie Goulding feat. Diplo and Swae Lee which is the better of the three songs that left the chart this week.

So with no new entries this week that wraps up this week's chart review. The chart for the week starting 24th December will be released on Saturday at 5pm.

Have a Merry Christmas everyone.

ARIA Singles Chart top ten/chart review: 10th December 2018: 6ix9ine shows up as Ronson/Cyrus debut in top 20

Oh folks, this week was a rough one, sure, we traded out some crap but wow, some absolute junk also debuted on the chart, there's a story or two in terms of what arrived on the charts and what got jumps up the chart but we'll get to that in a minute but first the top ten...

Well, really...there's no change at number one with "Thank U, Next" by Ariana Grande holding firm, it looks to have lock on number one for another few weeks barring a complete collapse, this song should see out the year at number one.

Halsey's "Without Me" is the new number two this week after jumping two places, I don't expect this song to go number one witb there being songs rising below it making out to be more convincing challengers for top spot.

What aren't challengers are "Shotgun" by George Ezra at number three and "Shallow" by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper which dropped two places to number four as the hype for "A Stat is born fades away.

Arriving in the top 5 is "Sunflower" by Post Malone and Swae Lee which rose one place to number five (I am desperately trying to convince myself the song isn't good)

It swapped with "Happier" by Marshmello and Bastille which dropped number 6.

Then we have our biggest gain for the week with the worst song from Travis Scott's album "ASTROWORLD", "Sicko Mode" jumping 7 places because I guess we just have to copy America trends, right?

Ava Max's 'Sweet But Psycho" adds Australia to it's list of countries where it's hit the top ten as it jumped five places to number 8.

Two songs I either like or don't mind round out the top ten with "Eastside" by Benny Blanco feat. Halsey and Khalid down two to number 7 and "Let You Love Me" down two to number 10.

Gains

So apart from the big gains for Travis Scott and Ava Max to reach the top ten, there wasn't much that gained big. There was a four place gain for "Waiting" by Kian which has reached number 24 and "Ruin My Life" by Zara Larsson is up four to 36 (a song I still can't get to liking) and in the other piece of good news for Australian music, Hilltop Hoods new song "Leave Me Lonely" jumped up to 38 from 42 (I think this song has a solid chance of being a hit)

Re- Entries

Of course it's that time of year when Christmas music starts to reach the charts because of streaming which means "All I want for Christmas is You"  by Mariah Carey is back at number 14 and "Last Christmas" by Wham is back at number 49.

Losses

It was a blood bath this week with "Always Remember Us this Way" by Lady Gaga dropping from 21 to 39 because the movie hype is fading and people are moving on but that doesn't explain why "High Hopes" by Panic! At the Disco lost hope down to 37 or "This Feeling" by The Chainsmokers and Kelsea Ballerini dropped from 31 to 44 (in the latter's case, the song is crap so maybe understandable)

"A Million Dreams" by Pink slipped ten to 48.


Drop Outs

I'm sad to see "I'll Never Love again" by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper gone as well as "Another One Bites the Dust" by Queen.

Not really bothered that "Happy Now" by Kygo feat. Sandro Cavazza and "There's No Way" by Lauv and Julia Michaels are also gone. Didn't really care for either song.

However I am happy to see utter crap like "Falling Down" by Lil Peep and XXXtentacion, "Bad" by XXXtentaction (probably will be back next week with the album having been released) and "In My zFeelings" by Drake gone.


New Entries

Let's begin with the good stuff that debuted, the excellent "Nothing Breaks like a Heart" by Mark Ronson feat. Miley Cyrus enters at 17 to be the biggest debut of the week, I expect this song to be huge in 2019.

"Close to Me" by Ellie Goulding feat. Diplo and Swae Lee enters at number 50.

6ix9ine somehow had two songs land on the chart wth "Mama" feat. Nicki Minaj and Kanye Wrest entering at number 22 and "Kika" feat. Tory Lanez at number 30.

Meek Mill's song with Drake "Going Bad" enters the chart at  number 42.

So this week turned out surprisingly busy, am still expecting a quieter time over the next few weeks as the charts slow down for Christmas but we'll see. I'll be interested to see if "Sweet But Psycho" can can break into the top five and indeed whether or not "Nothing Breaks Like a Heart" can jump into the top ten. We'll find out on Saturday at 5pm

ARIA Singles top ten/ Chart review: 3rd December: Rita Ora enters top ten, big move up for Sheck Wes

The charts are starting to slow down for the Christmas/New Year period and this week seemed to continue that slow down with just three new entries and omly a couple of changes to the top ten and somehow I wish there was some big changes because the top ten feels pretty stagnant apart from one song that entered the top ten

However there was no change at the top with another week at number one for "Thank U, Next" by Ariana Grande and with the song doing well all over the place, I don't see it being challenged unless a certain new song released on Friday can get the numbers to challenge it...

"Shallow" by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper spends another week at number two but it's challenge for number one looks done with "A Star is Born" hype slowly starting to fade.

"Shotgun" by George Ezra rode a week of hype surrounding his performance at ARIA Awards to return to number 3, it jumped past Halsey's "Without Me" which dropped back to number four.

"Happier" by Marshmello and Bastille, "Sunflower" by Post Malone and Swae Lee and "Eastside" by Benny Blanco feat. Halsey and Khalid all remain at 5, 6 and 7 respectively.

We have a new arrival to the top ten and it's one I predicted with "Let You Love Me' by Rita Ora jumping four places to number 8. Guess that ARIA Awards performance paid off for her but hey it's the best of the songs that she has released from Phoenix as singles so I'll take it.

"Be Alright" by Dean Lewis remains at number nine while "Body" by Loud Luxury feat. Brando drops two to number ten.

Gainers

The biggest gainer this week came from "Mo Bamba" by Sheck Wes because people love trap artists singing out of tune as that jumped ten places to 29.

"Sweet But Psycho" by Ava Max looks like it may well break into the top ten soon as it jumped nine places to number 13. This song reminds me more of Lady Gaga's early career than it probably should..

Lukas Graham continue to have a sleeper hit with "Love Someone" up nine places to 22.

Morgan Evans "Day Drunk" jumped back into the top 40 up eight places to 35.


Losers

The losers are hard to explain but lets start off with the fact that there was an eleven place drop for "This Feeling" by The Chainsmokers feat. Kelsea Ballerini to 31. Maybe people have finally worked out it was a pale imitation of an already awful song.


Pink's "A Million Dreams" continues its yoyo existence also dropping eleven places to 38.

Really also not complaining that "Bad" by XXXtentacion dropped 9 places to 47 after just 3 weeks on the chart (3 weeks too many for grave robbing trash) while his song with Lil Peep "Falling Down" slipped four places to 48. (My god there's some absolute garbage down the lower end of the chart this week)

Sadly, "I'll Never Love Again" by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper fell eight places to 43. Would rather this song be a hit over some of the crap above it!

"Woman Like Me" by Little Mix feat. Nicki Minaj lost its gains from the release of 'lm5" so that is down four places to 30.

Drop outs

Disappointed to see Silk City and Dua Lipa's collaboration "Electricity" drop out. Really would have liked that song to have become a hit.

"Somebody to Love" by Queen also dropped out because hype for "Bohemanian Rhapsody" movie is fading.

The one song of the three that dropped out that will probably make year end "Ocean" by Martin Garrix and Khalid which peaked at number 12.

New Entries


So the highest new entry comes from the rather highly popular at the moment, Billie Eilish with "Come Out and Play" at number 23 (even though it's not her best song, check out 'Bellyache")

Australian rap legends Hilltop Hoods snag another chart entry with "Leave Me Lonely" at number 42

Finally "Happy Now" by Kygo feat. Sandro Cavazza enters at number 50/


That wraps up the week and given Friday saw the release of the new collaboration between Mark Ronson and Miley Cyrus (get used to it, you are going to be hearing this song everywhere, it's got the potential to be as big as "Uptown Funk" given the chord the song is striking with a lot of people) and possibly Meek Mill's collaboration with Drake off his album "Championships" may enter too. We'll find out on Saturday when ARIA releases the chart for the week of 10th December

ARIA singles top ten/Chart Review: November 26. Quiet week as Ariana keeps number one

This week can best be described as quiet what with only one new entry and one leaving, it was one of those weeks of relative calm on the chart at least until the fall out from the ARIA awards strikes over the next week and that is coming.

What it did mean is that the top ten didn't change all that much, "Thank U, Next" by Ariana Grande holds onto number one for another week and really given it still leads on streaming, I'd be surprised if it lost number one for awhile.

"Shallow" by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper sits steady at number two as does "Without Me" by Halsey at number three.

Am expecting "Shotgun" by George Ezra which remained at number four this week to get a rebound off the back of Ezra's performance the ARIAs.

"Happier" by Marshmello and Bastille, "Sunflower" by Post Malone and Swae Lee and "Eastside" by Benny Blanco feat. Halsey and Khalid remain at 5, 6, and 7 respectively.

The only change to the top 10 is "Body" by Loud Luxury feat. Brando jumping one place to number 8 pushing "Be Alright" by Dean Lewis to number 9 but again like "Shotgun", "Be Alright" will likely rebound off the back of Lewis performing the song last night.

At number 10 is Billie Eilish's "When the Party's Over" to wrap up the top ten.


Gains

Pink had the biggest gain this week with her re-imagined version of "A Million Dreams jumping 20 places to 27.

Ava Max's break out hit "Sweet But Psycho" jumped from 28 to 22, this song has got momentum now so I wouldn't be surprised to see this in the top ten before the year is out.

Imagine Dragons song "Bad Liar" jumped from 29 from 35 which can be explained as being due to the album. Speaking of albums being responsible, the continually underwhelming "Woman Like Me" by Little Mix feat. Nicki Minaj went up four places to 26.

Lukas Graham's rather awkward "Love Someone" jumped 6 places to 31.

The absolute garbage that is "Mo Bamba" by Sheck Wes is somehow breaking into the top 40 by jumping up to 39 from 42.

In better news, "Lovely" by Billie Eilish and Khalid jumped to 40 upon its return and kind of makes sense given Eilish has a top ten hit right now and people are wanting to see what else she has done. (Check out "Bellyache")


Losers

I am fine with most of our big losers, the biggest being "Falling Down" by Lil Peep and XXXtentacion down ten to 44 while XXXtentacion's "Bad!" fell hard off it's debut last week (good) to 38

Kanye and Lil Pump's 'I Love it" dropped to 32. Kanye's featured on a new 6ix9ine song with Nicki Minaj....just joy...not.

Unfortunately it wasn't all good news though with the good "Electricity" by Silk City feat. Dua Lipa down to 49 and the decent "I'll Never Love again" by Lady Gaga and Bradley Coooper down to 35.

Drop Outs

Only one song dropped out however I kind of expect to see it back soon, that drop out was "Breathin'" by Ariana Grande. I am not sure if it will make the year end list but we'll see.

 New Entries
Only one new entry to speak of this week with that being "Ruin My Life" by Zara Larsson which enterred at number 42.

So that wraps up a rather quiet week on the ARIA singles chart. I am expecting a shake up to the top ten with the ARIAs though. Rita Ora's "Let You Love Me" is in prime position for a run at the top ten but we'll have to wait til Saturday 5pm to find out if it does get there.

ARIA Chart top 20 ranked: Spring 2018.

So this is a new thing I am going to be doing toward the end of each season which means four times a year, I am goimg to rank the ARIA chart top 20. Mainly doing it to check the overall health of the chart and that there are some genuinely awesome songs within the top 20.

How the ranking works is that there are 6 levels that range from 0/5 being absolute shit to 5/5 being excellent, these will turn into points and make a total score for the ARIA singles top 20 and yeah it may provide hints as to what might make my year end best and worst hits lists of the year.


So with that explained, let's begin at the bottom of the barrel and clean up the absolute crap first off.


Absolute Shit (0/5)

20. “Arms Around You” by XXXtentacion, feat. Lil Pump, Maluma and Swae Lee (Currently: 17)

This song is a slice of atrocious grave robbery which I strongly object to. Hate the music industry is attempting to continually make money out of somebody who wasn’t a good person or wrote decent music. This song is trash anyway.



19. “Sicko Mode” by Travis Scott feat. Drake. (Currently: 16)

Here because it’s the worst song off “ASTROWORLD” and I am so god damn tired of Drake



Bad (1/5)



18. “In My Mind” by Dynoro (Currently: 13)

I know this song has been a major hit around the world especially in Europe, but I cannot understand or see the appeal of it, the production and the vocals are just so ridiculously grating and horrible, its close to unlistenable.



17. “This Feeling” by The Chainsmokers feat. Kelsea Ballerini (Currently: 20)

Can we just stop the practice of female country artists jumping in the studio with z-grade producers like The Chainsmokers to produce garbage like this song? Kelsea Ballerini, you are so much better than this crap



16. “Happier” by Marshmello and Bastille (Currently: 5)

Ehh. This song is a confused mess and Bastille doesn’t sound good over Marshmello’s EDM beat.



Mediocre (2/5)


15. “Without Me” by Halsey (Currently: 3)

This song lacks balance eg: what did the guy (presumably G-Eazy do for her), its all about Halsey taking credit for G-Eazy’s career and also the beat lacks anything substantial to make this relationship melodrama that Halsey regularly indulges in interesting. It’s not bad by any stretch…just painfully mediocre.



14. “Sunflower” by Post Malone and Swae Lee (Currently: 6)

I want to like this because of the melody and Post Malone’s cadence isn’t bad per se but the fact this is about being an arsehole to a woman kind of puts me off so yeah, I guess it fits in with the mediocre crew.


13. “Thank U, Next” by Ariana Grande (Currently: 1)

Oh wow, this song is pulling from Mariah Carey hard and I got to be honest I am not a fan of this at all. I get why she’s released and all of that but yeah not a fan at all especially when she has done better this year with “No Tears Left to Cry”.



12. “Body” by Loud Luxury (Currently: 9)

This song annoys me less than the others that I consider to be mediocre largely however that does change how the vocals just go that extra mile to be irritating and it does feel like there’s not a lot of depth to the song.



Decent (3/5)

11. “Better” by Khalid (Currently: 11)

This has been a year where I have come to really like Khalid while I wouldn’t say “Better” is the best song on the “Suncity EP”, there’s still plenty to like about the song with it’s somewhat melancholic R ‘n’ B production and Khalid’s vocals are almost way too relaxing.



10. “Be Alright” by Dean Lewis

This song has faded one me hard in recent weeks, it’s still a good song but some of the lyrics and even the vocal tone of the song feels off in a way that I never actually picked up on when I was head over for the song.



9. “Let You Love Me” by Rita Ora (Currently: 14)

Am in two minds as to whether I actually like this song or not. Rita Ora has this habit of songs that I like but never ever really stick with me or that stick with me but are downright atrocious. Ehh, it’s in the decent category for now.



8. “Always Remember Us This Way” by Lady Gaga (Currently: 15)

I got to be honest here, this is a song I don’t remember all that much from having listened to the A Star is Born soundtrack, its still good and Lady Gaga just kills vocally.

Good (4/5)

7. “When The Party is Over” by Billie Eilish (Currently: 10)

I can’t lie, it’s been kind of amusing watching everyone fawn over Billie Eilish this year when she was dropping fantastic songs last year but yeah while this song doesn’t quite reach my love of “Bellyache” or “Lovely” (feat. Khalid), this is still a good song.



6. “Eastside” by Benny Blanco feat Halsey and Khalid

My mind hasn’t changed on this song, I still really think it’s a good song that doesn’t quite reach great given the lack of chemistry between Halsey and Khalid.



5. “Shallow” by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper (Currently: 2)

This song is sooo close to being a great song to me, I can’t explain why I merely think it’s just good at the moment but it’s close to great. Consider this my 4.5



Excellent (5/5)

4. “Shotgun” by George Ezra (Currently: 3)

It’s the sort of cheery pop song that just kind makes me smile, we could do with some more pop in this vein. I get why some don’t like it but for me, I really dig the hell out of it and I am glad it went number one.



3. “Promises” by Calvin Harris and Sam Smith (Currently: 12)

This is a bit of a surprise considering I have mixed feelings on both but Sam Smith sounds amazing on this song especially with Calvin Harris’s production and while the Jessie Reyez giggle and “tonight” are annoying to a degree, it’s not quite enough to stop me loving this song



2. “Youngblood” by 5 Seconds of Summer (Currently: 19)

Thank goodness, this didn’t leave the top 20 last week, I still love this song, it’s got plenty of momentum and energy. I do wish sometimes that the chorus had a big rock guitar riff but the money isn’t in rock music, I get it but even with that it doesn’t stop me enjoying a pretty kick ass song.



1. 1. “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen (Currently: 18)

Yeah, I would have been in trouble if this wasn’t number one but I’ll make it short and sweet, this song is a rock classic. Happy to see it back on the ARIA singles chart even if it’s because of the Freddie Mercury biopic.




Score: 55/100







Comment: Better than I expected. As I have said I have been reasonably happy with how things have gone on the ARIA charts this year but worrying that there’s still a lot of awful to mediocre songs on the chart right now.

ARIA Singles Chart/Chart Review: 19th November: Ariana takes number one as Queen arrives in the top 20

Well as it turned out it was only a matter of time as we have a new number one and we have a couple of surprises one of which oddly looks like sticking around awhile.

So let's get to the top ten where we find "Thank U, Next" has taken the number one spot giving Ariana Grande her second number one in Australia this year and of her career. "Thank U. Next" is the 12th single to hit number one in Australia this year.

"Shallow" by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper remains right behind it at number two and still remains a chance of reaching number one.

"Without Me" by Halsey climbed one place to number three but she needs digital sales to get on board with her however it did push back former chart topper "Shotgun" by George Ezra to number four.

"Happier" by Marshmello and Bastille spends another week at number 5.

What is starting to show signs of being a possible number one is "Sunflower" by Post Malone and Swae Lee which jumped one place to number six, it's doing well on streaming so it wouldn't surprise me if it got to the top 2 or 3.

"Eastside" by Benny Blanco feat. Halsey and Khalid was pushed back to number seven but its a song that is starting to fade naturally.

The next two songs stayed where they are that being "Be Alright" by Dean Lewis at number 8 and "Body" by Loud Luxury at number 9.

Billie Eilish returns to the top ten at number 10 with "When the Party's Over" - this song has grown on me a lot in recent weeks.

Gainers

No big surprise that Ariana Grande had the biggest gain of thr week with "Breathin'" up from 49 to 38 given she released the video for that song.

The Freddie Mercury biopic is having an effect on the charts hence we got "Bohemian Rhapsody" up from 26 to breaking into the top 20 at 18 which is to no end awesome!

What isn't awesome is that also breaking into the top 20 is "This Feeling" by The Chainsmokers feat. Kelsea Ballerini which climbed four places to 20.

Charli XCX and Troye Sivan continue to party because "1999" is up five places to 23.

"Sweet But Psycho" by Ava Max has broken into the top 30 at number 28 up from 33.

Unfortunately people think "Mo Bamba" by Sheck Wes is worth anything so it went up to 42. WHY?


Re- Entries

So I mentioned Queen earlier amongst the gainers, well they have two other songs inside the top 50 which I know ARIA say they are new enttries but the fact that they were on a previous incarnation of the pop chart means they are probably re entries with the two song being "Another One Bites the Dust" at 39 (originally peaked at number 5 in 1980) and :"Somebody to Love" at number 50 (originally peaked at 15 in 1976).


Losers

The biggest loser this week is from the A Star is Born soundtrack with "I'll Never Love Again" down to 26 from 19.

"In My Feelings" by Drake slipped to 48 from 41 as he warns all and sundry that if we're not totally sick of him by now, we will be in 2019 because there's another album coming.

Sadly, "Electricity" by Silk City feat. Dua Lipa slipped six places to 40.

"Day Drunk" by Morgan Evans fell to 43 from 36.

Drop outs

Only really upset by the loss of "Suncity" by Khalid feat. Empress of. It was a good song.

However I am delighted that "Sad!" by XXXtentacion is gone however it will unfortunately make year end list as will "Beautiful" by Bazzi feat. Camila Cabello.

Also out is "Fire/Reprisal" by Peking Duk.

New Entries

Speaking of XXXtentacion, he has the heighest new entry this week with "Bad" debuting at 31 while Imagine Dragons "Bad Liar" debuts at 35

That wraps up the week and yeah, I think Ariana will likely get a second week at number one but we'll find out on Saturday afternoon.

ARIA Singles top ten/Chart Review: November 12th. Ariana arrives as a slew of songs return

Well this week did surprise me because we got a whole slew of songs returning down, only two new entries and honestly what happened at the very top also surprised me so let's get stuck into that top ten, shall we?

Much to my surprise, "Shallow" by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper held onto number one due to digital sales being pretty darn excellent.

It's nearest challenger is the title track of Ariana Grande's fifth album "Thank U Next" at number two, now this song is doing very well on streaming but it isn't matching "Shallow" for digital sales dominance so if streaming falls away, I am not sure this song is a player unless those sales start picking up.

That leaves "Shotgun" by George Ezra down a place at number three in a tight spot, it'd still be a challenger for number one if it's streaming hadn't fallen away hard recently.

Streaming is also the same problem for Halsey's "Without Me" which rose number four, sure it's digital sales are okay but I am not sure it's going to get much higher than number four.

"Happier" by Marshmello and Bastille is finally starting to show signs of exiting the top ten as it slipped two places to number 5 but it unfortunately also took Benny Blanco's "Eastside" featuring Khalid and Halsey down with it. "Eastside" slipping two to six.

Staying steady this week is "Sunflower" by :Post Malone and Swae Lee at number seven, a song that I expect to see stick around in the top ten for awhile.

All the changes saw Dean Lewis's "Be Alright" go down two places to number 8, it's on its slow way out of the chart.


"Body" by Loud Luxury feat. Brando stumbled one place to number 9 while rounding out the top ten is 'Promises" by Calvin Harris feat. Sam Smith.


Gainers

Biggest gainer of the week is the very early Lady Gaga souding song "Sweet but Psycho" by Ava Max, it's not a bad song and also not surprise considering how well it is doing in Europe.

"Sicko Mode" by Travis Scott and Drake broke into the top 20 by jumping up from 21 to 18.

For some reason "There's No Way" by Lauv and Julia Michaels climbed to 37 and "Ocean" Martin Garrix and Khalid went from 42 to 39.

Re-entries

It was a busy week on that front so let's start with the good songs that re-entered because the highest re-entry come from Queen with "Bohemian Rhapsody" at number 26, the song originally charted on the Kent Music Report charts in 1976 peaking at number 1 and then returned in 1992 to peak at number 5.

In other good news, "Lovely" by Billie Eilish and Khalid is back at 46 and "Breathin'" by Ariana Grande at 49.

The bad news lies with XXXtentacion's "Bad" returning at 48.



Fallers

Pink's re imagining of "A Million Dreams" from The Greatest Showman soundtrack tumbled hard to 43.

"Suncity" by Khalid and Empress of tripped down to 45 from 34 while "Beautiful" by Bazzi and Camila Cabello

People are finally growing tired of "I Love It" by Lil Pump and Kanye West because that slipped to 22 from 16.

Drop outs

The onlt drop out that I am really disappointed about is "Healing Hands" by Conrad Sewell exiting but it should make the year end.

As should "Jackie Chan" by Tiesto feat. Dzeko, Preme and Post Malone.

Others gone are "Kiss and Make up" Dua Lipa and Blackpink, "Venom" by Eminem, "Lucky You" by Eminem feat. Joyner Lucas and "MIA" by Bad Bunny and Drake.


New Entries

There was one other new entry to the top 50 besides the arrival of Ariana Grande's "Thank U, Next" and unfortumately the song isn't any good, it's "Mo Bamba" by Sheck Wes.

That wraps it up for the week, I have no idea what's coming up or what will enter the charts.

ARIA Singles top ten/Chart Review: 5th November: "Shallow" remains number one but for how long?

Things are about to get interesting...well...not this week but with Ariana Grande's sales and streams for "Thank U, Next", I get the feeling things are about to heat up but as for this week well it was pretty much same old at least at the very top where "Shallow" by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper remains at number one for a second week, right now, it's a numbers game as to whether "Shallow' can hold off "Thank U Next" for number one, really it could all come down to how many people streamed "Thank U, Next" on a paid streaming account.

"Shotgun" by George Ezra remains at number two but I expect it to get pushed back hard, digital sales are excellent but really with it's streaming falling away and stronger songs behind it, this should really start to fall away hard.

At number three is "Happier" Marshmello and Bastille. Really, I don't see this song going much higher now. Same said for "Eastside" by Benny Blanco feat. Halsey and Khalid at number four.

Speaking of Halsey, "Without Me" is our first mover this week as it jumps three places to number 5. It's weird to see a Halsey solo jaunt in the top 5 to be honest but she did push former chart topper "Be Alright" by Dean Lewis back to number six (it debuted at number 94 on the Hot 100 in the US this week).

Then we have the big story in our top ten with "Sunflower" by Post Malone and Swae Lee jumping from 13 into the top ten at number 7. I suspect this song might be a top 5 hit in the making.

"Body" by Loud Luxury feat. Brando rose one place to number 8.

Khalid's "Better" fell three places to number 9 as the hype for his recent EP falls away.

While "Promises" by Calvin Harris and Sam Smith also fell three places to number 10.

Time to look outside our top and look at the big movers of the week.

Gainers

Well the biggest gainers were songs off the "A Star is Born" soundtrack with "I'll Never Love again" by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper up to 15 from 32 and "Always Remember Us this Way" by Lady Gaga up six places to 12

Despite everything I said last week, "Woman Like Me" by Little Mix feat. Nicki Minaj got a boost off the back of the video to rebound to number 24.

"Better Now" by Post Malone is somehow rebounding back up the chart, it's back ato 28 from 31.

Another big mover that I am actually happy about is "1999" by Charli XCX and Troye Sivan u to 29 from 46. Yay!


Losers

The biggest loser this week was "Venom" by Eminem which plummeted to 43 from 25.

Sadly, "MIA" by Bad Bunny feat. Drake fell nine places to 49 (I don't mind the song quite honestly) while "Jackie Chan" by Tiesto feat. Dzeko, Preme and Post Malone fell 8 eight places to 50.

"Beautiful' by Bazzi feat. Camila Cabello fell from 27 to 35. "Leave A light on" by Tom Walker also slipped six down to 30.

Finally two songs I like in  "Rise" by Jonas Blue feat. Jack and Jack down to 25 and "High Hopes" by Panic! At the Disco down to 22 from 15.

Drop Outs

Only three drop outs this week and I am a bit uncertain as to whether any of them will make the year list, that being "Killshot" by Eminem, "Born to Be Yours" by Kygo and Imagine Dragons and "I'll be There" by Jess Glynne.

New Entries

Music grave robbery has the highest new debut this week with XXXtentacion teaming u with Lil Pump, Maluma and Swae Lee for "Arms Around You" at 14. Gets worse when it's been announced that a new XXXtentacion song is being released tomorrow.

The songs from the soundtrack of "The Greatest Showman" are being re-imagined so we've got Pink's "A Million Dreams" at 26.

Finally, the best of the new entries is Ava Max's European smash "Sweet But Psycho" at 46.


So that wraps up this week and yeah, all eyes are going to be on what happens with number one, it seems like a straight fight between Ariana Grande and Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper but who knows?

The chart for the week beginning 12th November is announced on Saturday afternoon at 5pm.

ARIA Chart top ten/Chart Review: 29th October: Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper rocket to number one

Well, when I said last week that "Shallow" by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper was going to be a big mover up this week, I didn't ever think it would be the major disturbance to the top ten in the way it has and that's not counting another new arrival in the top ten which we'll get to in a moment.

So let's get to that top ten, shall we? We have a new number one this week that being "Shallow" by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper which jumped from 17 to take the number one spot., it's Cooper's first number one single and it's Lady Gaga's first since "Born This Way" topped the chart in 2011. It's long prospects at number one? Well, that's a vexed question because while it's ruling digital sales, streaming isn't quite there yet.

"Shallow"'s rise to number one meant that George Ezra's "Shotgun" got pushed back to number two, I fully expect this song to start to fall away because it's not as healthy across the board as some of it's rivals.

A contender for the number two slot is "Happier" by Marshmello and Bastille at number 3, this song is pretty healthy across the boardeven though there are questions over the quality of the song.

Benny Blanco has a new song coming on November 2nd with Calvin Harris but his current hit "Eastside" feat. Halsey and Khalid slipped two places to number four and really this song is in an awkward place.

Former chart topper "Be Alright" by Dean Lewis slipped one place to number five this week and is now under threat from Khalid's "Better" which jumped three places to number six although that's probably because he just released a new EP called "Suncity"

All this pushed "Promises" by Calvin Harris feat. Sam Smith down 2 places to number seven.

A song that is dominating on streaming at the moment for some reason is Halsey's "Without Me" which jumped two places to number eight

Hell, it pushed "Body" by Loud Luxury feat. Brando back two places to number nine although I expect it will rebound.

Finally, we have the highest placed debut on the charts this week at number ten with "When the Party's Over" by Billie Eilish, it's her second top ten hit after "lovely" with Khalid but her first solo and this has traction going forward, I expect this to hang around the top ten for awhile.

Gainers

So outside of "Shallow" which was this week's biggest gainer, there really wasn't much that gained big time, I guess there's a two place jump for "Day Drunk" by Morgan Evans to 35.


Losers

A LOT of songs lost ground this week so I am only going to go through the songs that lost big time, "Healing Hands" by Conrad Sewell was the biggest loser this week as it fell hard from 33 to 48 (that song should make the year end list so not worried).

"Killshot" by Eminem also took a tumble down to 45 as did "Lucid Dreams" by Juice WRLD down to 44 (Good, the latter will make the year end list because way too many thought we needed more Post Malone sound alikes on the chart)

"Jackie Chain" by Tiesto feat. Dzeko, Preme and Post Malone (speak of the devil) got karate chopped down to 42.

"Fire/Reprisal" by Peking Duk burned down seven places to 38.

The unsurprising loss came from "Woman Like Me" by Little Mix feat. Nicki Minaj which fell from 23 to 34 (honestly the song is really mediocre, not surprised it fell).

Also happy to see "I Love It" by Lil Pump and Kanye West drop six places to 12. The sooner that song is gone the better.

Drop Outs

We got some BIG drop outs this week with only one or two of them being any good so let's start with the bad songs dropping out of the top 50 that will likely make year end list that being "Sad!" by XXXtentacion and "No Brainer" by DJ Khalid feat. Justin Bieber, Chance the Rapper and Quavo.

Then there's songs like "Praise the Lord (Da Shine)" by A$AP Rocky feat. Skepta and "Never Ever" by The Rubens feat. Sarah which have a question mark over whether they will make the year end list.

The only song that dropped out which probably won't make the year end is "Breathin'" by Ariana Grande.

Finally the excellent song that I am so happy will make year end list is "Lovely" by Billie Eilish and Khalid.

New Entries

We got seven new entries, I already have mentioned the new entry for Billie Eilish at number 10 but at number 13, we have "Sunflower" by Post Malone feat. Swae Lee (I expect this song to jump into the top ten next week)

Then we have two songs from "A Star is Born soundtrack with "Always Remember Us This Way" by Lady Gaga debuting in the top 20 at number 18 and "I'll Never Love Again" by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper entering at 32. Given the way these songs are performing on digital sales, we won't be saying goodbye to them any time soon.

We did get one entry from Khalid's EP that I mentioned earlier with the title track "Suncity" with Empress Of entering at number 30.

Dua Lipa teamed up with k-pop girl group Blackpink for the entry at number 33 called "Kiss and Make Up"

Finally "1999" by Charli XCX and Troye Sivan arrives in the top 50 at number 46. I really like this song so happy to see it here.

Wow. What a week and I don't think it's going to slow down with Pink having released a re-imagining of a song from "The Greatest Showman soundtrack", BTS working with Steve Aoki, and not to mention, the return of Ellie Goulding. I don't expect "Shallow" to lose number one though but we'll see. ARIA will announce the chart for the week starting 5th November on Saturday.

New Music Friday Review: 19th October. Zara Larsson, Major Lazer working with Tove Lo

Song: Ruin My Life
Artist: Zara Larsson





We start of this week's new music review with the lead off single for Zara Larsson's second album, a song I was kind of excited about however I can't be the only one feeling let down a little, right? For a start, Zara sounds totally devoid of any personality that made her a joy to listen to on previous hits and the chorus is just really painfully reptetive asking him to ruin her life and nights because she misses him. It's just a painfully mediocre song.



Rating 5/10


Song: when the party's over
Artist: Billie Eilish





This is the second single from Billie Eilish's debut album s and it is a dark one at that which features Eilish, backing vocals and sparse piano and strings as Eilish sings about her anger at this person in life and needing space from said person where she just wishes they would leave her the hell alone. Its a good song but its definitely not as good as "Bellyache" or "you should see me in a crown".

Rating 7/10



Song: Sunflower
Artists: Post Malone feat. Swae-Lee




This song is for the new Spiderman movie and while I don't mind the production, the grooves in this song are pretty awesome however the content of this song really does render this song kind of mediocre if I am to be honest and probably forgotten within weeks but given the streaming figures for this song, I'd not be surprised if it becomes a hit

Rating: 4/10


Song: Blow That Smoke
Artist: Major Lazer, Tove Lo




So I am not a fan of either artist. Major Lazer's "Lean On" was one of the more annoying hits of recent times while I've never cared for Tove Lo so much like in the recent past with Calvin Harris working with Frank Ocean and Migos on "Slide" last year, could "Blow that Smoke" by Major Lazer feat. Tove Lo work for me? Well honestly I think it does in that it feels like the perfect song to jump around to by the pool, its not bad. Hopefully becomes a hit.

Rating: 8/10


So yeah "Blow That Smoke" is the best song of New Music Friday would love to see this become a hit.

ARIA Singles Chart top ten / Chart Review: 22nd October:

So let's get stuck into this week because plenty happened including a whole slew of new entries (not sure how many of them are any good though) and the top ten looks mildly interesting unless you glance at the very top of the chart where yes, "Shotgun" by George Ezra remains at number one for a fifth week despite not dominating anywhere.

"Eastside" by Benny Blanco feat. Halsey and Khalid remains at number two but it's facing a challenger to that slot and that comes from our new number three "Happier" by Marshmello and Bastille which jumped one place this week, this song has momentum behind it, it pushed "Be Alright" by Dean Lewis to number four.

"Promises" by Calvin Harris and Sam Smith returned to the top 5 at number 5, a climb of one place, it effectively switched with "I Love It" by Lil Pump and Kanye West which slipped to number 6 as the hype behind that song mercifully fades.

Also switching was "Body" by Loud Luxury feat. Brando which went up to number 7 while "In My Mind" by Dynoro slipped back to number 8.

Khalid's second entry in the top ten, "Better" remains at number nine while his 'Eastside" counterpart Halsey enters the top ten also for a second time with "Without Me" jumping one place to number 10,


Gains

The biggest gainer this week was Eminem's "Venom" which sucked up enough poison to go up from 37 to 25.

"Shallow" by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper is continuing to climb toward the deep end of the charts by jumping to 17 from 25 last week. (Good because that song is excellent)

Right behind it is Rita Ora's "Let You Love Me" which climbed nine places off its debut to number 18. In fact, the debuts last week mostly all had big gains this week with Lukas Graham had a big climb as well with "Love Someone" up ten places to 36 and :"Day Drunk" by Morgan Evans up 11 to 37.

"Taki Taki" by DJ Snake feat. Ozuna, Cardi B and Selena Gomez climbed four places to 24.

Kian broke into the top 30 at 29 as "Waiting" jumped two places.

Losers

There were plenty of big losers this week but none bigger than "No Brainer" by DJ Khaled, Justin Bieber, Chance the Rapper and Quavo which dropped all the way down to 45 from 21! Not surprising as the song really is a rip off of a song from last year and DJ Khaled has been threatening to become a parody of himself.

Drake's "In My Feelings" fell from 18 to 17 as we all try to get away from his feelings. Enough is enough.

:Eminem's 'Killshot" stumbled 10 places to 34.

Ariana Grande's "Breathin'" fell from 42 to 35 while "Happy Now" by Zedd feat. Elley Duhe slipped to 41 from 36.

"Ocean" by Martin Garrix and Khalid fell flat as the tide rode it down to 28 from 23.

"Jackie Chan" by Tiesto feat. Dzeko, Preme and Post Malone got karate chopped down to size to 32 from 26.

The "Electricity" went out a little on Silk City and Dua Lipa as that song slipped four places to 28.


Drop Outs.

Absolutely no issues with any of the drop outs this week with both "Goodbye" by Jason Derulo feat. David Guetta, Nicki Minaj and Willy William and "Natural" by Imagine Dragons gone after 5 weeks.

While the only song (unfortunately) likely to make the year end list is "FEFE" by 6ix9ine feat. Nicki Minaj and Murda Beatz which exited after 11 weeks


New Entries

Let's see what replaced the songs that dropped out, the highest debut is the pretty awful "ZEZE" by Kodack Black feat. Travis Scott and Offset (we're giving a rapist a top 20 hit? Come on Australia, we're better than this) which arrived at number 15. Ugh.

The underwhelming "Woman Like Me" by Little Mix feat Nicki Minaj entered at number 23. I'll be surprised if it goes much higher than this tbh.

The best of the new entries is probably "MIA" by Bad Bunny feat. Drake at number 40...I still think the song is okay and probably the best song that Drake has been involved with all year.


Anyway that wraps up the chart for the week. Got new Zara Larsson to review along with new music from Zayn, Billie Eilish and Sam Smith teaming up with Brandi Carlile. May also slip in some Jon Bellion too.

As for the chart, well the new one is released at 5pm on Saturday and I suspect Halsey's "Without Me" will make a move up as will "Shallow" by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper.

New Music Friday Review for 12th October: Little Mix and Nicki Minaj team up, Meg Mac returns as female empowerment is the word

Song: Woman Like Me
Arists: Little Mix, Nicki Minaj



So here we have the lead single from Little Mix's upcoming fifth album titled "LM5" and am I the only one who is more than a little underwhelmed by this song? It's got these annoying whooping noises however the chorus is catchy and does a lot of the heavy lifting but than we get to a pretty lazy Nicki Minaj verse where she is just flexing, it sounds like a verse she'd drop on any song she's collaborated on, it seems really tacked on and kind of unnecessary.

Rating: 6/10


Song: I'm Still Here
Artist: Sia


Sia's new single "I'm Still Here" is aimed at being a big summer anthem quite clearly even though I am not convinced some of the production choices are quite right even though it does make for quite haunting ballad and Sia is conserving a lot of her vocal power and it works well as she sings about overcoming hurdles and keeping on moving forward despite setbacks. Its actually not all that bad a song.

Rating: 7/10


Song: MIA
Artists: Bad Bunny, Drake





 So I groaned when I learnt Drake who is rapidly joining the ranks of over exposed celebrities in 2018 and given Bad Bunny hasn't impressed me in the past, I wasn't looking forward to this song but much to my surprise, this actually really isn't bad especially given it actually turns out to be a love song and Drake and Bad Bunny want their girls to tell everyone that they are with them and in love. The instrumentation is stereotypically Spanish but for a song feat. Drake, it's not a bad reggaeton song...it's at very least tolerable.

Rating: 7/10


Song: Light On
Artist: Maggie Rogers





 If there was a song that I want to be a hit, it is this one. "Light On" centres around Rogers own self doubt and is coming to grips with the world and herself as she acknowledges her friends and family. It's all set to a pretty damn great electronic pop beat. Love it, love it. Bring on that debut album in January 2019.

Rating: 9/10


Song: Give Me My Name Back
Artist: Meg Mac



I mentioned the return of Little Mix earlier and the powerful "Give Me My Name Back" is a some way to announce the return of one of the break out female singer songwriters Meg Mac and really, this song is incredible and it won't get the attention it deserves given Meg Mac is really only known by people in Australia. Lyrically very moving and resonant, "Give Me My Name Back" is definitely a song that I will be returning to.

Rating: 9/10

Best song of the week is Meg Mac's "Give Me My Name Back"...only just though. I just think Meg nails the nuance of a poweful female statement.

ARIA singles top ten/ Chart Review: 15th October.

So let's not muck around here, it was a pretty busy old week this one with a lot of movement...just not at the very top with George Ezra's "Shotgun" spending a fourth week on top of the ARIA charts, it's also very likely to get a fifth week on top despite signs it will lose number one on digital sales.

Sitting at number two is Benny Blanco's "Eastside" feat. Halsey and Khalid and really it's really getting to the point of going to number one or fall away as new songs enter the chart especially considering some songs that are gaining swell.

Former number one Dean Lewis impressively hangs on at number three for another week.

"Happier" by Marshmello feat. Bastille climbed one place to number four switching places with Kanye West and Lil Piump's "Love It" which slipped to number five.

"Promises" by Calvin Harris and Sam Smith remains at number six (bit of a pity that it seems unlikely this song will go to number 1 as it is a pretty good song)

Which brings us to a new arrival in the top ten and one that I kind of expected even if the song isn't all that good, "In My Mind" by Dynoro which climbed six places to number 7. Ugh. Hopefully it doesn't go much further.

"Body" by Loud Luxury feat. Brando jumped two places to number eight, this song could break into the top 5 if all goes well for it, hell, it' forced Khalid's "Better" back to number nine.

The yoyo effect continues for Jonas Blue's "Rise" feat. Jack and Jack which fell three places to number 10.


Gainers

Well the big gainer this week was unfortunately the abysmal "Taki Taki" by DJ Snake feat. Ozuna, Cardi B and Selena Gomez which jumped from 41 to 28.

"This Feeling" by The Chainsmokers feat. Kelsea Ballerini jumped from 23 to 17 because radio realized they love a "The Middle" rip off. "Sicko Mode" by Travis Scott feat. Drake returned to the top 20 at number 19. Tom Walker has his first top 20 hit in Australia with "Leave the Light On" rising four places to numbe 20

Triple J Unearthed star Kian rose seven places to 31 with "Waiting" which is great news, good to see young Aussie talent get a shot on the charts.

Re-Entries

"Venom" by Eminem retuened to the chart at number 37.

Losers

Speaking of Eminem, he also had the biggest loser this week with "Lucky You" feat. Joyner Lucas falling hard from 19 to 34.

There were several heavy losers this week including Jess Glynne's "I'll Be There" which fell ten places to number 43. Similar for "Praise the Lord (da Shine" by A$AP Rocky feat. Skepta which skidded down ten places to 44.

"No Brainer" by DJ Khaled feat. his "I'm The One" posse minus Lil Wayne continues to underwhelm down to 23 (seriously get this limp rip off of a previous bad song off the charts).

"Healing Hands" by Conrad Sewell fell to 32 from 26 but it should make year end list which makes me very happy indeed.

"Breathin'" by Ariana Grande continues it's slow fall down to 35 from 27.

"Born to Be Yours" by Kygo and Imagine Dragons slipped down nine places to 39. "Natural" by Imagine Dragons dropped from 39 to 47.

Finally "FEFE" by 6ix9ine feat. Nicki Minaj is on its way out finally as it fell seven places to 50.


Drop Outs

Unsurprisingly both Lil Wayne entries are gone, "Don't Cry" with XXXtentacion and "Mona Lisa" with Kendrick Lamar, they took Alesso's "Remedy" with them. None of those songs will make the year end list

However there were some big hits this year to drop out, Ariana Grande's two biggest songs from the Sweetener era which was short and dramatic with former number one "No Tears Left to Cry" and former number 5 "God is a woman" gone. Both will make year end list, as will '2002" by Anne-Marie.

"I Like It' by Cardi B feat. Bad Bunny and J. Balvin is another question altogether though, it peaked at 14 and remained on the chart for 25 weeks so we'll see what happens I guess.


New Entries

Pretty rare for a non album bomb week to have six brand new spanking entries, we begin this week's dose of new entries at number 11 with Halsey's "Without Me'...meh, I barely remember the song tbh.

The first song from the "A Star is Born" soundtrack has hit the charts that being "Shallow by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper arrives at number 25 - I expect this song to jump into the top ten next week and is the best song of the six new entries

Rita Ora's new single "Let You Love Me" enters at 27. Interested in this song's chart performance to be honest. I am somewhat ambivalent toward the song, doesn't generate a lot of interest for me to be honest.

Lauv and Julia Michaels (pretty predictable really)  team up for this week's new entry at number 41 with "There's No Way"

Lukas Graham return to the Australian charts for the first time since 2016's "Mama Said" entered the chart at number 42 and exited the next week in July 2016, their newest single "Love Someone" entering at number 46.

Finally, the last of the new entries is "Day Drunk" by Morgan Evans at number 48.

So that finishes this week's chart review. Will "Shallow" jump into the top ten? Can George Ezra stay at number one? Where will "Woman Like Me" by Little Mix and Nicki Minaj debut? All those questions and more will be answered when ARIA releases the singles chart for the week beginning Monday October 22nd on Saturday at 5pm AEDT. 

New Music Friday Review 5th October: Charli XCX feat. Troye Sivan, Halsey

Song: 1999
Artists: Charli XCX, Troye Sivan




So I will admit this song hit me right in the sweet spot, a song where Charli XCX and Troye Sivan wish they could jump in a time machine and go back to 1999, a feeling that in the past more often as I get older I and plenty of others as they get older could go back and live in a particular year.

Unlike with the references Anne-Marie made in '2002' (a song that I have come around on a little bit), Charli XCX rattles off Britney Spears "Baby One More time", drive around wearing Nikes and listening to Eminem while Troye Sivan sings about dancing around to Michael Jackson as a kid in 1999.

Even better the production sounds like something that could have been made in the year 1999 but sounds as modern as anything. It's a genuinely good song, check it out and the hilarious video clip whch sees Charli and Troye impersonate Leonardo Di Caprio and Kate Winslet in Titanic, Eminem and the Spice Girls however I do wish that they'd pulled out an impersonation of Britney's Baby One more time" clip seeing as there is an actual reference to that song within this song.


Rating: 8/10


Song: Sucker Punch
Artist: Sigrid




How hasn't this young lady had a hit in Australia yet? She's been putting out some of the best pop music around the world in the last couple of years and yet we haven't given her a hit, even the United Kingdom give her a hit with "Strangers" and like with that song "Sucker Punch" is a ridiculously quirky and fun pop song about love akin to that sucker punch in the stomach that this guy is giving her.

While it's not as good as "Strangers", it's still a lot of great fun which we need more of in modern pop music.

Rating: 7/10


Songs: TINTS
Artists: Anderson Paak, Kendrick Lamar




Okay, I can't lie, this song seems like another attempt to copy Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars huge hit "Uptown Funk" or similar to what Bruno Mars ttried to achieve with his last album (if you didn't know you could be confused and think that Bruno Mars had released a new song) but my god, this song is also just a ball of retro fun in a song that talks about getting a car's windows tinted.

Rating: 8/10


Song: Without Me
Artist: Halsey






There was bound to be a song about heartbreak from Halsey given the year she has had with the rather overtly publicised break up and subsequent reunion with rapper G-Eazy. The first real issue I have with this song is the framing, it's Halsey going on about everything she did for this guy just for him throwing it back in her face, there's no acknowledgement of what she may have done to trigger the end of this relationship - it does take two for a relationship to form or fall apart, either way there's no real balance in the framing of this song which makes it really hard to believe to be quite frank.

Rating 5/10


Anyway that's it for this week. Best is going to "1999" by Charli XCX and Troye Sivan (that song does hit a sweet spot for me, I can't lie). No more worst song as there's point in that kind of thing to me anymore.

Will be checking out the new Little Mix song where they've teamed up with Nicki Minaj (Uh oh), new Sia and the newest single from Maggie Rogers.

ARIA Singles top ten/Chart Review: 8th October: Body breaks into Top Ten

This week felt pretty normal or at least normal in the sense we got two new songs from Lil Wayne's new album hitting the chart and a bit of scattered movement that wasn't surprising.

Also equally as unsurprising is the top of the singles chart where "Shotgun" by George Ezra reigns supreme at the top for a 3rd week and look with it ruling digital sales and doing okay on streaming.

"Eastside" by Benny Blanco feat. Halsey and Khalid remains at niumber 2 and is looking like a chance at being the year's longest bridesmaid without going to number 1.

"Be Alright" by Dean Lewis remained at number three and "I Love It" by Lil Pump and Kanye West remains at number four.

The first of the changes to the top ten is the pretty average "Happier" by Marshmello feat. Bastille up one place to five, it swaps with "Promises" by Calvin Harris feat. Sam Smith down one place to number 6.

"Rise" by Jonas Blue feat. Jack and Jack continues its yo-yo like performance in the top ten, up two places tonumber 7.

There's the first of two new arrivals to the top ten at number 8 with Khalid continuing his run of top ten hits in Australia with "Better" jumping four places.

"High Hopes" by Panic! At the Disco drops one place to number nine.

Rounding out the top ten is the second of the new arrivals to the top ten, the song that has been a smash hit elsewhere around the world, "Body" by Loud Luxury feat. Brando rising from 14 to number.



Gainers

So apart from Khalid and Loud Luxury gaining big into the top ten, what else gained? "This Feeling" by The Chainsmokers feat. Kelsea Ballerini (or known as the rip off of "The Middle" by Zedd, Maren Morris and Grey) went from 49 to 23.

"In My Mind" by Dynoro went up from 18 to 13.

"Electricity" by Silk City feat. Dua Lipa powered up from 26 to 22 while "Leave A Light On" by Tom Walker went up from 27 to 24,

"Praise the Lord (Da Shine)" by A$AP Rocky feat. Skepta shone its way up 6 places to 34.

Losers.

The big loser this week was Eminem's "Killshot" which shot itself in the foot down to 17 from 11 last week.

"Falling Down" by Lil Peep feat. XXXtentacion lived up to its name by dropping out of the top ten to number 11 presumably because people have worked out it's a load of grave robbing garbage.

"Jackie Chan" by Tiesto feat. Dzeko, Preme and Post Malone stumbled down four places to 25 which was the same sized fall for the Post Malone impersonator Juice WRLD's "Lucid Dreams" which ended up down at 25.

"Happy Now" by Zedd feat. Elley Duhe isn't so happy as it slipped to 32 from 28.

"Never Ever" by The Rubens feat. Sarah went down four to 36 as did "Natural" by Imagine Dragons to 39.

Drop Outs

Not really bothered about any of these dropping out. "God's Plan" by Drake is gone but will probably end up being the year end number one single.

"Nevermind" by Dennis Lloyd also followed but is also likely to make the year end chart.

Also gone are "Wake up in the Sky" by Gucci Mane feat Bruno Mars and Kodak Black and "The Ringer" by Eminem are also gone.

New Entries

So as I mentioned before Lil Wayne saw two new songs enter the chart and both of them are collaborations with "Mona Lisa" feat. Kendrick Lamar at number 42 (said to be one of the best songs on the album) and because Lil Wayne can't help jumping on the train of grave robbery so teaming up with XXXTentacion for "Don't Cry" at number 50.

The biggest new entry of the week though is "Taki Taki" by DJ Snake feat. Ozuna, Cardi B and Selena Gomez. I really don't want this song becoming a hit.

Finally, Alesso's "Remedy" enters at number 49.

That completes this edition of the chart round up expect new entries from "The Star is Born" soundtrack, Halsey and maybe even the new collaboration between Charli XCX and Troye Sivan.

ARIA singles top ten/chartreview: 1st October: George Ezra holds number one as a piece of grave robbery debuts top ten

This week felt predictable to a large degree even down to the point of the new entry to the chart inside the top ten (which we'll get to), there's a bit that happened though and it's quite interesting to say the least.

"Shotgun" by George Ezra remains at number one for a second week courtesy of digital sales doing well and a pretty good week on streaming.

"Eastside" by Benny Blanco feat. Halsey and Khalid returns to number two and is likely to be one of the longest running number two singles of the year alongside "Girls Like You" by Maroon 5 feat. Cardi B.

"Be Alright" by Dean Lewis slips one place to land at number three

"I Love It" by Kanye West and Lil Pump has taken residence at number four thus soiling the top ten which was in excellent condition up til here. Even worse they have released a radio edit which doesn't improve the song one iota. This song was number one in New Zealand last week, Kiwis, you guys have better taste in music than this muck!

In better news, UK number one "Promises" by Calvin Harris feat. Sam Smith remains at number 5.

Marshmello and Bastille climb two places to number 6 with "Happier" for some strange reason. I don't see the appeal of that song whatsoever.

That brings us to the newest piece of garbage/artistic grave robbery to darken the top ten since "Don't Matter to Me" by Drake feat. Michael Jackson. "Falling Down" by Lil Peep and XXXtentacion has entered the chart at number 7 and is this week's highest debut. Fuck this trash and to the people who brought this, why?

However in good news, Panic! At The Disco climbed one place to number eight, this song is sticking around in the top ten which is great news.

What is unlikely to stick around in the top ten is "Rise" by Jonas Blue feat. Jack and Jack whch fell two places to number 9.

"Girls Like You" by Maroon 5 and Cardi B round out the top ten at  number 10 after a four place drop.

Gains


The biggest gainer was Tom Walker's "Leave A Light On" which jumped from 41 to 27 this week. I really would like to see this song become a hit as it's pretty excellent.

Also making a big move up was Jess Glynne's "I'll Be There" which climbed nine places to 30.

"In My Mind" by Dynoro jumped from 25 to break into the top 20 at 18 (this song looks likely to be a huge hit in Australia just as it has been in Europe, I can't say I care for it though).


Re-Entries

This week sees the return of "God's Plan" by Drake at number 50. Don't ask me to explain that one

Losers

Biggest loser this week was again Eminem with "The Ringer" falling from 31 to 48.

Also a big fall for "God is a Woman' by Ariana Grande going from 27 to 41. Ouch. Not surprising though given she's already in the studio again working on her fifth album. Also "Breathin'" took a hit falling from 19 to 24.

"Natural" by Imagine Dragons fell from 28 to 35.

Drop outs

Only one drop out of any real note here with "I Said Hi" by Amy Shark leaving the top 50 after 23 weeks on the chart peaking at number 6

The rest are Eminem cuts like "Kamikaze" and "Not Alike" feat Royce Da 5'9". Machine Gun Kelly's pretty ordinary Eminem diss "Rap Devil" and the biggest hit of last year 'Shape of You" by Ed Sheeran which refuses to go away.


New Entries

So outside of the artistic grave robbery inside the top ten at number seven, we got Eminem's reponse to Machine Gun Kelly "Killshot" debuting at number 11 which may well be the best of the new entries this week.

The other two new entries are pretty ordinary. "Wake up in the Sky" by Gucci Mane feat. Bruno Mars and Kodak Black enters at 46 and "This Feeling" by The Chainsmokers feat. Kelsea Ballerini at 49.


That wraps up the week, am expecting "A Star is Born" soundtrack to start impacting the chart with "Shallow" by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper to debut (could well be a top ten debut as well) and maybe a couple of other assorted songs arrive on the chart...not sure about Lil Wayne. We'll find out on Saturday at 5pm

New Music Friday review is back: Taki Taki is Yucky Yucky

After a couple of months break I have decided to bring back New Music Friday review, largely because there's two releases that I felt in need of review. I am going to do a ARIA Chart top 20 ranked very soon so to catch up with some of the songs that I haven't reviewed while giving New Music Friday review a break but lets get started with a brand new reggaeton song that some a predicting to be a huge hit.

Song: Taki Taki
Artists: DJ Snake, Ozuna, Cardi B, Selena Gomez


This song has been earmarked for sometime as being a huge hit what with break out star of the last two years rapper Cardi B and pop songstress Selena Gomez on board, it was bound to be pretty good, right?

Sadly, its not. The title is an apparently made up word and the production from DJ Snake is pretty ordinary what with the recorder that really does get old about 20 seconds into the song and generally it's all pretty underwhelming.

However the biggest issue with "Taki Taki" comes in the lyrics because the song plays off on sexual suggestion which I guess is okay however what is not okay is a line coming from Ozuna's verse where he sings "Her booty blow up like Nagasaki" meaning this young woman's backside is going to blow up like the atomic bomb dropped on the Japanese city of Nagaski during the 2nd World War and killed an estimated 80,000 people which is something I hope is NEVER repeated, I cannot stress enough how disrespectful and appalling this lyric is from Ozuna and the fact that the record label green lit the song for release without demanding the lyric be changed means they should stand condemned as well. Sadly seems most media have failed to notice the disgusting line.

Let's not make this tasteless and near enough to offensive piece of garbage a hit if we can help it, please because if it does become a hit, it's probably going to be an automatic pick for my top 3 worst songs of the year.

Rating: 2/10


Song: Honey
Artist: Robyn



Robyn is back with the title track of her forthcoming album and I will say that it is better than the previous track I talked about...a mile better actually. There's a nice build and energy through out the song that makes it feel reminiscent of an early 90s dance pop song only the sound feels very much more refined. It's a pleasant listen, not sure how much I am going to come back to it though.

Rating 7/10'

ARIA top ten/chart review 24th September: George Ezra rides Shotgun to number 1

Well this week didn't pan out as bad as I thought it would, that's not to say I ain't worried about some songs that are coming including one song in the top ten that is a shot at going number 1 (unfortunately) and we got a new number one that I really like,

That new number one is "Shotgun" by George Ezra, it's already been a huge hit in the UK and now it's finally gone number one here in Australia. "Shotgun" is Ezra's first number one single, his previous best was "Budapest" which reached number 5 in July 2014 while "Shotgun" is the tenth song to hit number one in Australia this year.

The previous number one for five weeks, "Be Alright" by Dean Lewis slipped back to number two this week and I would expect this song to slowly start falling away soon.

This all saw "Eastside" by Benny Blanco feat. Halsey and Khalid slip back to number three, now this probably isn't going to reach number one unfortunately (it's a pretty good song so kind of annoyed that it won't reach number one like it has in New Zealand).

What has a chance of hitting number one because it's dominating on streaming at the moment is the unbearably unimaginative and pretty damn awful 'I Love It" by Kanye West and Lil Pump (Uthe lyrics of this song are asinine, we'r

The current US number one "Girls Like You" by Maroon 5 feat. Cardi B fell back to number 6 as it gradually leaves the chart.

"Rise" by Jonas Blue feat. Jack and Jack jumped up two places to number 7, I doubt it can make top five but hey I'll be happy if it does as it is a decent song.

"Happier" by Marshmello feat. Bastille jumped 5 places to be a new arrival to the top ten at number eight.

"High Hopes" by Panic! At The Disco remains in the top 10 despite a one place drop to number 9.

Rounding out the top ten is former number one "Youngblood" by 5 Seconds of Summer awbich fell four places to number ten, I expect this song to be fighting it out with "Be Alright" by Dean Lewis  for ARIA song of the year come the ARIA Awards in November.

Gains

:The biggest gainer this week was the European smash "In My Mind" by Dynoro which busted up to number 25 from 41. Could be a future number one.

Speaking of big dance hits elsewhere starting to rise up the charts, "Body" by Loud Luxury feat Brando jumped from 25 to 14. I expect this song to break into the top ten next week.

"Electricity" by Silk City feat. Dua Lipa also enjoyed a good rise up to 24 from 33 while "Natural" by Imagine Dragons rose 9 places to 28 (I am meh about that song, a stereotypical Imagine Dragons song really)


For some inexplicable reason "Goodbye" by Jason DeRulo feat. David Guetta, Nicki Minaj and Willy William jumped 12 places to 36.

Kian's "Waiting" got a decent 12 place boost to 38. Great news for the young Aussie artist!


Re-Entries

"Shape Of You" by Ed Sheeran is back again to spend a 79th week on the chart at number 50. What the hell? Maybe it's time for ARIA to look at a recurrent rule.

Losers

Eminem lost hard this week with "The Ringer" the biggest loser of the week down to 31 from 18 last week, "Kamikaze" fell to 23, "Not Alike" with Royce Da 5'9" down to 44.

Ariana Grande announced she was going to be taking a long break as "God is a Woman" fell 7 steps down from heaven's gates to 27.

"Fire/Reprisal" by Peking Duk lost it's fire in flaming out to 32. "Better Now" by Post Malone slipped to 33 from 28 and the generally crappy "FEFE" by 6ix9ine feat. Nicki Minaj dropped to 34/


Drop Outs

The only drop out I am a little disappointed about is "I Wanna Know" by NOTD feat. Bea Miller. That song was pretty good so kind of sad to see it fall out.

That siad not sorry to see "Solo" by Clean Bandit and Demi Lovato gone...good riddance to atrocious garbage, both Clean Bandit and Demi Lovato are capable of so much better.

The other two that fell out were Eminem "Kamikaze" album tracks those being "Fall" and "Greatest"


New Entries

Highest debut of the week went to Khalid's "Better" at number 15 which isn't surprising considering it seems that Australia appears to love the guy.

Now a song that has done well overseas and has finally debuted on the Australia charts at 41 is Tom Walker's 'Leave a Light On". Seriously, number 1 in France and also hit the top 10 in a number of countries around Europe, the song is an unhinged load of awesome. Check it out.

Finally we end it with Machine Gun Kelly's diss track toward Eminem "Rap Devil" debuting at 45.

Next week we'll see the probable top ten debut of Eminem's response to MGK called "Killshot", Avril Lavigne could also turn up with her comeback track called "Head Above water". I do expect George Ezra to retain number one.

My Thoughts on "Head Above Water" by Avril Lavigne

Ever since Avril Lavigne promised new music toward the end of 2016, I will admit to be a little impatient and very excited to hear what she and others had been working on in the studio even despite the fact I was not impressed with her self titled album which was released in 2013 apart from a couple of songs like 'Here's to Never Growing Up" so part of me was wary.

However before we even talk about the music we need to talk about the fact that Avril hasn't released any music since 2015 when she released "Fly" for the Special Olympics and had various guest appearances on other people's songs in 2017 so why the long wait? Quite simply, Avril had been diagnosed with Lyme disease, a horrid disease that is carried by black legged and deer ticks that had left Avril bedridden, and as she wrote in her emotional letter to fans announcing the release date of the first single from her 6th album, had left her 'accepting death'. 

So that leads us to the first taste of the new album which still doesn't have a name, the lead single called "Head Above Water" which is an emotional, empowering piano ballad that makes Avril's vocals the star and that's almost immediate because Avril sounds absolutely stunning on this song to the point where I'd dare say her voice has improved A LOT given the five years away.

I know a few people were wanting a loud, brasive rock song as the lead single but given what Avril has been through that was NEVER going to be the case, it was always going to be a ballad.

The lyrics are to a degree simple but that's always been Avril's strong point, she's never needed to make complex songs to connect with her fans take songs like "Here's to Never Growing Up" and even her first major hit "Complicated" where both really get to the point and that is the same with "Head Above Water" where Avril tells her story about her determination in fighting lyme disease with the support of God which makes a heck of a lot of sense, having a brush with death naturally would bring a person closer to whatever religious figure is in their lives and coming to grips with their own mortality and reaching acceptance that they may well die. 

Moving away from the lyrics and to the overall sound of the song and just where it fits in terms of Avril's discography, I actually see "Head Above Water" as being a song that could have made her second album "Under My Skin" as it bares a lot of the hallmarks of some of the songs from that album and it's also a sign that Avril has matured as a person.

I really like "Head Above Water" a lot, am hoping it becomes a hit in Australia and around the world because my goodness it deserves it and if it can also draw attention to the horror that is lyme disease than we're all going to be better for it. Thank you Avril.