ARIA Singles top ten/chart review: May 28th Yet another new number one

It's quite a good week to be an Australian especially if you are looking at the very top of the Australian singles chart this week because we've seen something that has been quite a rare thing since The Veronicas spent two weeks at number one with "In My Blood" in 2016...that's right an Australian act is sitting at number one on the ARIA Singles chart this week.

That act is 5 Seconds of Summer who snagged their second number one hit with the title track of their forthcoming album "Youngblood" after "She Looks So Perfect" spent two weeks at number one in April 2014. I honestly hope "Youngblood" does become 5SOS biggest hit as it is a mile better than "She Looks So Perfect" and the good news (at least for me) is that it looks like it may well see a second week at number one.

Post Malone remains stranded at number two with "Better Now", I don't see this song getting to number one though given it's been overtaken on streaming by "Youngblood" this week.

A song that could still return to number one is Childish Gambino's "This is America" at number three but needs sales to start picking up before that can happen.

Calvin Harris and Dua Lipa's UK smash hit "One Kiss" regained lost ground by climbing one place to number 4 pushing Drake's "Nice for What?" down to number 5.

Ariana Grande remains at number 6 with "No Tears Left to Cry", she's already pushing a new song that's reportedly a collaboration with Nicki Minaj.

Delighted to see "Love Lies" by Khalid and Normani bounce back one place to number 7, also gaining a place is "I Said Hi" by Amy Shark at number 8.

Post Malone's "Pyscho" with Ty Dolla $ign fell another two places to number 9 (it's on its way out gracefully)

Finally Anne-Marie arrives in the top 10  with "2002" which went up two places. (Australians must love instantly dated songs),

Gains

The biggest gain of the week was for Billie Eilish and Khalid's song "Lovely" which jumped from 34 to 21 (great news as that song is pretty great) and Khalid's "OTW" feat. Ty Dolla $ign and 6Lack jumped ten places to 27. King Princess has gone from 34 to 26 with "1950".

Dennis Lloyd's "Nevermind" jumped to 29, "Just Friends" by Hayden James and Boy Matthews from 42 to 33, "Shape of You" by Ed Sheeran continues to hang around by jumping 5 places to 40 while Sheeran's newest single"Happier" jumped from 50 to 42. 

Re-Entries

No re-entries this week1

Losers

Most of the biggest losers were the last of the tracks still in the top 50 from Post Malone's album bomb with "Paranoid" down to 37 from 26, "Ball for Me" with Nicki Minaj down to 41 from 36, "Candy Paint" down to 49 from 40.

Utter crap also went down with "Look Alive" by BlocBoy JB and Drake to 44 and "Sad!" by XXXtentacion to 45

Drop Outs.

Gone are "Mine" by Bazzi and "We Got Love" by Jessica Mauboy. I expect "Mine" to be in with a shot of making the year end list.

However I am disappointed to see "Bloom"  by Troye Sivan out..come on Australia, this song deserves better!,

New Entries

The highest new entry of the week belongs to a Korean K-Pop group with BTS entering at 36 with "Fake Love"

Clean Bandit's song with Demi Lovato "Solo" enters at 39 (I hope this song isn't a hit).

The third and last of the new entries is The Backstreet Boys at number 50 with "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" (I don't have any belief that this song will be a hit by the way)

That wraps up the week on the charts

New Music Friday Review: Clean Bandit has a shocker while Pharrell and Camila underwhelm

So New Music Friday can deliver some great new music but on other weeks it can suck donkeys and unfortunately the big names didn't deliver the goods for New Music Friday this time around while an Australian act's comeback does deliver.


Song: Solo
Artist(s): Clean Bandit, Demi Lovato






I got to be honest here, I loved a lot of what Clean Bandit released in 2016 into 2017 be it "Rockabye" with Anne-Marie and Sean Paul or "Symphony" with Zara Larsson so I was looking forward to "Solo" with Demi Lovato and wow, what we got couldn't be any further removed from either "Rockabye" and "Symphony" because this is actually pretty damn awful and the reason for the awfulness is the production wbich has a pretty nice orchestral sound which is surrounded by chipmunk fragments and then "WOOP WOOP WOOP WOOP!" right before Demi starts singing. What a ridiculous way to start a song

The lyrics are as basic as all hell as well with Demi singing about stuffing up a relationship and complaining she's too broken hearted over the breakdown of her relationship to have sex which is very immaturely handled with "I wanna fu-oo-oo!"

This mess is anything bar a jam, I'll stick with Ariana Grande's "No Tears Left to Cry".


Rating: 3/10


And because we're not done with Demi Lovato...

Song: Fall in Line
Artist: Christina Aguilera, Demi Lovato



Given how badly "Accelerate" has tanked on the charts, it really isn't surprising that Christna Aguilera is releasing this feminist power ballad with Demi Lovato and while it's not bad at all, the percussion feels a little heavy and I am not sure why the song needs the male voice in the background (especially as I have heard some women speak that same way to men) however I do get the themes the song is angling for which is allowing women to decide what they want to do with bodies and not to kertow to others expectations,

It's okay without being good or great but I do wish "Twice" was the single even though she released THAT the week after "Accelerate"

Rating 6/10







Song: Sangria Wine
Artists: Pharrell Williams, Camila Cabello



So I was hearing A LOT about this song before it was even released as a single with talk that it was set to be a US summer smash and well...quite honestly for all the hype, I expected better, Pharrell and Camila trying to sing against way too much percussion with little too no melody at least until toward the end of the song where Camila takes control and the only saving grace being that Camila actually sounds a lot better on this song than she did on "Never Be The Same".

"Sangria Wine" is pretty much just a disappointment quite honestly. Would expect better from Pharrell.


Rating: Only marginally better than "Solo" 4/10


Song: Healing Hands
Artist: Conrad Sewell




Conrad Sewell finally has a new recording deal and is back with some brand new music, I am choosing to cover "Healing Hands" because largely it is an excellent song. "Healing Hands" builds through the verse and bridge into the chorus which instead of dropping does what a chorus should do and lift the song, it sounds absolutely amazing courtesy of the production, Sewell singing about how he made an awful mistake pushing a loved one away while  in a relationship but this person has stuck by him despite this and Sewell is vowing to never push this person away. Great song!

Rating: 8/10



Song: Don't Go Breaking My Heart
Artist: Backstreet Boys

As I've already given my opinion on this song, the review is here: http://australianchartattack.blogspot.com.au/2018/05/new-music-friday-review-oh-my-god-they.html

Rating: 8/10


Best of the week: I was all set to give it to the Backstreet Boys but honestly I think Conrad Sewell's "Healing Hands" is just a touch better.

Worst of the Week: Toss up between "Sangria Wine" for being disappointing and "Solo" for just being a terrible song, ehh, it goes to "Solo"

Next week: New Music Friday Review is taking a break but check out Christine and the Queens new single "Girlfriend" and Maggie Rogers "Fallingwater"

ARIA Singles top ten/ Chart Review: 21st May. Another new number 1.

So the chart instability rages for another week, we have a new number one which I called on Twitter and some pretty significant shifts all round...some good, some bad, some really quite dreadful.

The new number one is 'This is America" by Childish Gambino and it looks like it may well be on top of the charts for awhile now given its cultural impact especially with that video and the song itself triggering much discussion. It's also number one in the US right now.

Post Malone defied expectations of a drop with "Better Now" remaining at number 2, this more than likely will now be the next single from Beerbongs and Bentleys given it's traction on the chart.

At number 3 is "Youngblood" by 5 Seconds of Summer and yeah, I am really happy about the fact this song jumped 6 places from 9 last week to reach the top 5, it's the lone 5 Seconds of Summer song that I like!.

Drake's "Nice for What" fell 3 spots to number 4 with the album "Scorpion" due out at the end of next month, I expect this to stick around awhile.Th

The current British number one "One Kiss" by Calvin Harris and Dua Lipa fell one spot to number 5. Not overly surprising given it was starting to fall away on sales.

Also starting to fall away (unfortunately) is Ariana Grande's "No Tears Left to Cry" which dropped 3 places to number 6, hopefully this sticks around in the top 10 because it is a good song.


Post Malone makes his second appearance in the top 10 at number 7 with "Psycho" featuring Ty Dolla $ign, it fell two places to number 5...thank goodness, I am still struggling to understand the appeal of that song.

Another that fell two places was "Love Lies" by Khalid and Normani to number 8, it's on it's way out of the top 10 but still a tad disappointing, would have liked to have seen it go number one instead of Drake.

We have a second Australian artist in the top ten this week with Amy Shark getting her second top ten hit with "I Said Hi" jumping from 13 to 9. Yet again more great news given that song is awesome.

The Weeknd wraps up the top ten at number 10 for another week with "Call Out My Name"

Gains

The biggest gainer this week was unfortunately the dated "2002" by Anne-Marie which jumped from 24 to 12

In good news, "Remind Me To Forget" by Kygo and Miguel jumped from 21 to 17 (why this song hasn't broken into the hot 100 in the US yet is beyond me)

"Nevermind" by Dennis Lloyd jumped from 46 to 35, it looks like being a sleeper hit.


Re-Entries

A couple of re-entries this week with the Eurovision Song Contest last weekend seeing Jessica Mauboy's "We Got Love" being the highest of the two  re-entering songs at 31.
The other is Ed Sheeran's latest single from 'Divide' with "Happier" returning at number 50.

Losers

Unfortunately Troye Sivan's "Bloom fell from 34 to 46 because we can't have nice things stay on the charts for long.

In better news "Freaky Friday" by Lil Dicky and Chris Brown fell out of the top 10 to 14, "Ball for Me" by Post Malone and Nicki Minaj to 36, and "Rockstar" also by Post Malone feat. 21 Savage to 22 and "Candy Paint" to 40.

The other big drops though were mostly bad news with "These Days" by Rudimental, Jess Glynne, Macklemore and Dan Caplen falling to 24, "All the Stars" by Kendrick Lamar and SZA falling to 27, "Youth" by Shawn Mendes and Khalid to 33, "Say Something" by Justin Timberlake and Chris Stapleton to 44, "Mine" by Bazzi to 48,


Drop Outs

The only drop out that's likely to make the year end list is Camila Cabello's "Never Be The Same", she also took Taylor Swift's "Delicate" with it (should return when Taylor tours Australia later this year)

The rest are Post Malone songs from the album bomb with "Spoil My Night" with Swae Lee, "Stay". "Rich & Sad" and "Over Now" all gone.

New Entries

Selena Gomez new single "Back to You" debuted at number 15 this week. I expect this song to be a top ten hit for her and boy, she needs a big hit.

"Playwitme" by Kyle and Kehlani enters the chart at 41 while "Just Friends" by Hayden James and Boy Matthews at 42.

Finally, the unfortunate return of The Chainsmokers to the top 50 with "Somebody" featuring Drew Love at 49.


So that wraps things up. New Music Friday Review to look at the collabs by Clean Bandit with Demi Lovato and also Pharrell Williams and Camila Cabello.

New Music Friday Review: Oh my god, they are back again... Backstreet's back....ALRIGHT!!!

Big week for new music including Selena Gomez and a quartet of female musicians collaborating for a pretty controversial song plus a special review of a freshly released new single from....the Backstreet Boys.




Song: Back To You
Artist: Selena Gomez






Selena Gomez frustrated me the majority of last year because her best work was when she was working in EDM pop be it with Marshmello on "Wolves" (a song I've changed my mind on) and on "It Ain't Me" with Kygo (a song that made my top ten best hit songs of 2017 list) but when she went out on her own she released R 'n' B pop songs that...well...sucked.

The reason why I say that is because her newest single from the second season soundtrack of "13 Reasons Why" is actually pretty darn good, it plays in the EDM pop lane that doesn't stress Selena's vocals and it works so well for her. "Back To You" is allegedly said to be about Justin Bieber but really does it matter when it's a pretty breezy lightweight pop song that just works?


Rating: 8/10


Song: Girls
Artist: Rita Ora, Cardi B, Charli XCX, Bebe Rexha


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So this song has gotten a lot of attention for the lyrics with singers Kehlani and Hayley Kiyoko calling out the song for creating a rather false impression of bi-sexual women which lead vocalist Rita Ora later apologised for but regardless of the lyrical content which is a little obnoxious to be honest. Come on there's more to be bi-sexual than just kissing women, it's a pretty basic song that doesn't really get past hooking up with some woman. I've long ago stopped suggesting choruses need to have a brain or a point.


Rating: 5/10


Song: Temporary Me
Artist: Kings



Well this song reminds me of Andy Grammer in a strange way however Kings lyrics are a bit more blunt than Andy. Overall I get the lyrics which are your standard Kings is jealous of the new man in his ex-girlfriend's life and he feels that this new guy is just a replacement for him and knows that once she's done with him, she'll be back with him...it's a bit pissy if I can be blunt but the problem is with the oddly chipper production which features whistling which sounds awfully out of tune here.


Rating: 6/10



Song: New Light
Artist: John Mayer




John Mayer sounds like he has been inspired by Charlie Puth's new sound (that is working for him) and Fleetwood Mac all in one go but unlike Puth's new direction, this really does not work at all for Mayer. I'd prefer Puth or even Shawn Mendes over this kind of production that is somewhat way too smooth and too slick for Mayer.


Rating: 6/10


Best of the week: "Back to You" by Selena Gomez
Worst of the week: "Girls" by Rita Ora and co. It could have been much better than what it is. Wasted potential.

Next New Music Friday:

"Downtown's Dead" by Sam Hunt
"Fall in Line" by Christina Aguilera and Demi Lovato
"Solo" by Clean Bandit feat. Demi Lovato

That and more tomorrow!

A song that did drop today and will appear on the new New Music Friday playlist is the new single from a 90s boy band whose middle name might as well be 'longevity' because they are still around in an age where boy bands are only meant to last five years tops.

Song: Don't Go Breaking My Heart
Artist: Backstreet Boys






So I can't deny that I am a Backstreet Boys fan and did grow up with songs like "Backstreet's Back (Alright)" and "All I Have To Give" so this could sound very biased when I say that this new single "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" is an unexpectedly funky pop song when by title alone I was expecting a ballad so to hear a song that actually is pretty fresh every time I hear it is pretty sweet.

The guys vocals are on point and the chorus reminds me a little of Mariana's Trench single "Rhythm of Your Heart", it's groovy and it's message to this girl to stop messing around with their hearts.

So yeah, I hope this is a hit, please let this be a hit, Australia, the boys deserve it not just for the song but for the dancing which is perfectly synchronised!.

Rating: 8/10

ARIA Singles top ten/Chart Review: May 14. Normal transmission resumes. Drake back at number one

So the weeks post an album bomb are usually the most interesting ones, how much of the album bomb sticks around and falls out and what rushes in replace what departs from the chart and the results were interesting to say the least and we got a new entry debuting in the top ten but we'll get to that in a second


After a two week break with Ariana Grande and Post Malone each spending a week at the top, Drake returns for another week at number one with "Nice For What?". The last couple of weeks have seen some real instability on the charts, hopefully that continues!

Post Malone does sit at number two but it's with "Better Now", the only Post Malone song to gain ground post the album bomb with a 2 spot gain.

Ariana Grande continues to sit at number 3 with "No Tears Left to Cry", it is a chance of returning to the top of charts though.

Current British number one "One Kiss" by Calvin Harris and Dua Lipa climbed one spot to number 5 (Going on current trends it will go very close to number 1).

"Psycho" by Post Malone and Ty Dolla $ign fell 4 places last week to number 5. Predictable really following the album bomb. Hard to tell now if people will just focus on "Better Now" or if this will rebound (I hope it doesn't)

The terrific "Love Lies" by Khalid and Normani continues to hang around spending a second week at number 6.

Now we get to the highest new entry of the week at number 7 with the US number one this week "This Is America" by Childish Gambino (looks likely to be a long term US number one too), this could well be a major player for number one on the Australian charts give or take a few weeks.


The worst song inside the top ten at the moment remains stinking it up at number 8 "Freaky Friday" by Lil Dicky and Chris Brown. Come on, Australia, I want this song gone.

At number nine, we got a minor miracle with an Australian song breaking into the top ten and being the biggest gain this week with 5 Seconds of Summer's "Youngblood" jumping from 24 to 9 which is great because it's a million times better than "Want You Back"

Round out the top ten is The Weeknd's "Call Out My Name" which had a 3 place drop to number 10.

Gains

I have already mentioned our biggest gain being in the top ten so beyond that...well...there's good news for Amy Shark with "I Said Hi" jumping from 28 to 13!.

Another song that I really love in "Remind Me to Forget" by Kygo and Miguel climbed from 33 to 21, unfortunately it brought along the not so good "2002" by Anne-Marie which jumped from 35 to 24.

"Nothing to Regret" by Robinson jumped ten places to 28, "1950" by King Princess jumped from 47 to 35. More good news really as I like both songs.

I can't say that about "Look Alive" by BlocBoy JB and Drake which jumped from 50 to 42 but they all can't be good.


Re-Entries

As you can imagine there were several re-entries with "OTW" by Khalid feat, Ty Dolla $ign and 6Lack at number 39

"This Is Me" by Keala Settle and the Greatest Showman Ensemble returned at 45 and Ed Sheeran's "Shape Of You" returned for what's likely to be it's 69th and final week in top 50 at number 48.


Losers

So let's deal with all the Post Malone songs that fell hard first, the biggest loser of the week was "Rich & Sad" which fell to 44 from 21, "Spoil My Night" with Swae Lee to 40 from 19, "Over Now" to 50 from 27, "Ball For Me" with Nicki Minaj down to 30 from 14, "Stay" fell from 30 to 43, "Paranoid" dropped from 10 to 26 and finally former chart topper "Rockstar" with 21 Savage fell from 12 to 17.

Kendrick Lamar also saw "All the Stars" with SZA drop from 18 to 23 and Zayn's "Let Me" continues to be a non-starter slipping to 47 (I guess people really aren't keen on that cringy opening line.

Drop Outs

The only two non Post Malone songs to drop out were "KOD" by J Cole and the only real significant drop out "River" by Eminem and Ed Sheeran which spent 20 weeks on the chart.

The Post Malone songs to go were "Same Bitches" with G-Eazy and YG, "Zack and Codeine", "Takin' Shots", "Otherside", "Blame it on Me" and "92 Explorer"


New Entries

So apart from Childish Gambino debuting inside the top ten what else arrived, well most of it's good news because apart from Sia and David Guetta's overproduced "Flames" which broke into the top 20 at number 19, most of the new entries are pretty solid to excellent.

Shawn Mendes entered at 27 with his collaboration with Khalid "Youth" (Shawn deserves better chartm he has released three good songs and the Australian public isn't rewarding him, SHAME!)

Speaking of Khalid, he appears with Billie Eilish with "Lovely" debuting at 32,

Finally, Troye Sivan's "Bloom" blooms for the first time at 34.

So with an array of new singles due to enter the chart this week including the new one from Selena Gomez, the chart is going to have another week of instability ahead.

New Music Friday Review: Christina Aguilera's comeback single disappoints as Troye Sivan goes 80s

We got a mixed bag this week, Troye Sivan continues his album roll out, Shawn Mendes releases another song from his album but this time he isn't alone and the return of two divas Christina Aguilera and Celine Dion.

Let's start with the return of Christina Aguilera...

Song: Accelerate
Artists: Christina Aguilera, 2Chainz, Ty Dolla $ign




This is not a good sign. For one thing the song doesn't make real use of the incredible voice that we all know that Christina Aguilera actually has but instead has her sing-rapping in a staccato style more commonly seen on Migos recent work while 2Chainz and Ty Dolla $ign add their usual nothing to the song, it's different for Christina but "Accelerate" isn't anything that we haven't had drilled into our heads for months now by Quavo, Offset and Takeoff now for months. This song is just so disappointing.


Rating: 3/10


Song: Ashes
Artist: Celine Dion


Celine Dion is back and this time she's teamed up with the movie "Deadpool 2' for the single "Ashes" which is by en large a ballad, it is also perfectly suited to the movie's villain whom the song is about and his rise, Dion sounds absolutely amazing on this song and the production allows her vocals to shine beautifully on what should be a massive soundtrack hit.

Rating: 8/10


Song: Bloom
Artist: Troye Sivan



After the somewhat disappointing chart performance of the lead single "My My My!", Troye Sivan returns with "Bloom" a much better song caked in 80s vibes that almost production wise at least reminds me of Alex Cameron, sure, the lyrics don't play anywhere near what Alex Cameron did on "Forced Witness" but "Bloom" is still a decent song regardless of what it may be about be it LGBT love or not.


Rating: 7/10


Song: Youth
Artist: Shawn Mendes, Khalid



It doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out that Shawn Mendes has definitely improved in terms of his songwriting post the release of Illuminate (his poor second album) and given Khalid is collaborating on anything that moves, this song seems like a good fit for both with it's passionate lyrics, I just wish the production had a little more spark and fire to match the lyrics


Rating: 6/10


Best: "Ashes" by Celine Dion
Worst: "Accelerate" by Christina Aguilera feat. 2Chainz and Ty Dolla $ign

This week:

"Girls" by Rita Ora, Cardi B, Charli XCX and Bebe Rexha
"Back to You" by Selena Gomez
Two new singles from Meghan Trainor even though we didn't ask for them

ARIA Singles top ten/Chart Review: 7th May. Post Malone this, Post Malone that.

J Cole might have cleaned out some of the chart last week with his album but we had a Post Malone "Beerbongs and Bentleys" album bomb to end all album bombs because not since Ed Sheeran's 'Divide" last year has there been this much chaos on the chart courtesy of one album.

The biggest thing is that we have a new number one triggered by the album bomb that Post Malone launched on the chart with his single "Psycho" with Ty Dolla $ign going to number one after what seemed like an eternity at number 2.

Speaking of number 2, Drake's "Nice For What?" regained some ground to leap back up to number 2 and is a possibility to regain number one.

Another possibility to return to number one is last week's number one "No Tears Left To Cry" by Ariana Grande which fell back to number three, I expect this song to regain some of the momentum lost triggered by this Post Malone album bomb.

As you can imagine, Post Malone also has the highest debut of the week with "Better Now' debuting at number 4 (this song has some traction too, it could stick around)

A song that remarkably went up in the face of the Post Malone bomb was "One Kiss" by Calvin Harris and Dua Lipa which climbed one place to number 5.

"Love Lies" by Khalid and Normani slipped 2 places to number 6. Disappointing but hey, it's actually done pretty well regardless.

"Call Out My Name" by The Weekend also slipped out of the top 5, falling 2 places to number 7.

Speaking of falling but not falling fast enough..."Freaky Friday" by Lil Dicky and Chris Brown fell 1 place to number 8 following down Drake's "God's Plan" which fell to number 9.

Rounding the top ten is another new entry from Post Malone with "Paranoid" which enters at number 10.


Gains

The Post Malone show continued in the gains this week because his former number 1 "Rockstar" with 21 Savage jumped from 33 all the way back up to 33.

Seriously though you are lucky to find many gains this week with Amy Shark's "I Said Hi" the best of them up from 34 to 28 and 5 Seconds of Summer's "Youngblood" up to 24 from 26 last week.


Re-entries

There was one re-entry this week at 29 with "Candy Paint" by Post Malone returning because of the album.

Losers

What didn't fall this week? The biggest faller this week was "KOD" by J Cole which fell from 20 to 45 (might have happened anyway with album hype fading). "IDGAF" by Dua Lipa fell fromm 12 to 23, "Meant to Be" by Bebe Rexha and Florida Georgia to 26 from 18.

"Say Something" by Justin Timberlake and Chris Stapleton even fell hard from 22 to 34, the falls get even bigger down at the bottom end of the chart with Anne Marie's "2002" falling from 27 to 35 and Zayn's "Let Me" from 31 to 42. "Nothing to Regret" by Robinson down to 38 from 29 and "Never Be the Same" by Camila Cabello even falling to 39 from 30 despite the release of the remix with American pop-country singer Kane Brown.

Even Taylor Swift wasn't spared with "Delicate" falling to 48 from 37. ("Getaway Car" might have been a better choice of single, Taylor)

Complete crap also took a hit with "Sad!" by XXXtentacion falling to 40 from 25 and "Look Alive"  by BlocBoy JB and Drake falling from 39 to 50.

The one loss that doesn't make sense to me is that of "I Fall Apart" by Post Malone which fell from 23 to 31. Obviously not on the new album but still would have thought that it being by Post Malone, it may have gotten a boost? Oh well.

Drop Outs

With the amount of new Post Malone on the chart, we've got a long list of drop outs this week.

• The Avicii re-entries last week are gone with "Wake Me Up" (featuring Aloe Blacc), "Levels" and "Without You"(with Sandro Cavazza) exiting
• As are "ATM", "Photograph", "Kevin's Heart" and "Motiv8 all from the J Cole album bomb last week. 
• The Post Malone album bomb also cleared off the last of the 2017 songs including "Shape Of You" by Ed Sheeran (Finally! The song is okay but worthy of spending 68 weeks on the singles chart? Come on) and "Havana" by Camila Cabello featuring Young Thug.
• Songs that really haven't had a chance to gain momentum are gone like "OTW" by Khalid featuring Ty Dolla $ign and 6lack and "Zombie" by Bad Wolves.
• Others gone are Pnau's "Go Bang" and 'This Is Me" by Keala Settle and The Greatest Showman Ensemble.

How much of this returns next week when the album bomb recedes remains to be seen.

New Entries

ALL the new entries are by Post Malone. ALL OF THEM.

So I am going to list all the Post Malone songs that entered the chart below the top 10:

• "Ball For Me" featuring Nicki Minaj at number 14
• "Spoil My Night" featuring Swae Lee at 19
• "Rich & Sad" at 21
• "Same Bitches" featuring G-Eazy and YG
• "Over Now" at 27
• "Stay" at 30
• "Zack and Codeine" at 32
• "Takin' Shots" at 36
• "Otherside" at 41
• "Blame it on Me" at 43
• "92 Explorer" at 44

It's normally the next week after the album that gets interesting, how much of the Post Malone album drops off the chart and if it does what replaces it. I'm Post Maloned out so I'll be back with some Troye Sivan for New Music Friday Review.

ARIA top ten / Chart review; 30th May: Ariana Grande gets her first number 1 as J Cole triggers chart chaos

We had a doozy of a week, folks. We've got a new number one, some re-entries and a major album bomb so let's get straight into this without delay.

As I mentioned we do have a new number one with Ariana Grande landing her first Australian singles number 1 with "No Tears Left To Cry" on the song's debut on the chart however I fear with what's oncoming soon, her stay at number one could be rather short lived...I'll explain when we get to it.


Ariana going straight in at number one meant the previous number one "Nice for What" by Drake got pushed back to number 2 and "Psycho" by Post Malone and Ty Dolla $ign back to number 3 but I think "Psycho" holds a chance to make a play for number one following the release of Post Malone's album "Beerbongs and Bentleys" on Friday...an album getting mixed reviews apparently.

Khalid and Normani remained at number 4 with "Love Lies"  as did The Weekend at number 5 with "Call Out my Name"

"One Kiss" by Calvin Harris and Dua Lipa (I still can't bring myself to like this song at all) jumped 3 places to number 6.

"Freaky Friday" by Lil Dicky and Chris Brown jumped 1 place to number 7 but this was all because of the sudden collapse for Drake's "God's Plan" to number 9... a drop of 5 places. Ouch1

"Friends" by Marshmello and Anne-Marie dropped two places to number 9 although with Anne Marie releasing her album on Friday, this song could well see a boost.

Rounding out the top 10 is "The Middle" by Zedd, Maren Morris and Grey which fell two places to number 10.

Now let's look at the rest of the chart

Gains

With there being an album bomb from J Cole, big gains are hard to find but 5 Seconds of Summer managed to achieve the biggest gain of the week with "Youngblood up 20 places to 26.

In further good news, "I Said Hi" by Amy Shark rose 4 places to 34 (Please let it be a hit. PLEASE)

"I Like it' by Cardi B feat. Bad Bunny and J Balvin arrived at number 16.


Re-Entries

The tragic and sad death of Avicii saw "Wake Me Up" with Aloe Blacc return at 14, "Levels" at 24, "Without You" with Sandro Cavazza at 36 and "Hey Brother" at 38

Losers

The most substantial loser this week was Bad Wolves with their cover of The Cranberries "Zombie" falling to 42 from 26

"This is Me" by Keala Settle and The Greatest Showman Ensemble fell hard to 50 from 36

"Delicate" by Taylor Swift took a hit as well as it fell 7 places to 37.

Pnau's "Go Bang" remains the only Australian song to crack the top ten but it fell hard to 49 from 35.

"River" by Eminem and Ed Sheeran fell from 22 to 28 while "Never Be The Same" by Camila Cabello fell 9 places to 30. Post Malone's "Rockstar" with 21 Savage fell ten places to 33 (should get a boost from the release of the album).

Drop Outs

As you would expect in a week with plenty of new entries, there is a LOT of songs that dropped out, let's start with the 2017 songs that got forced off like "Feel It Still" by Portugal, The Man, "Silence" by Marshmello and Khalid (that may very well make the year end list for this year), "Wolves" by Marshmello and Selena Gomez,  "New Rules" by Dua Lipa and "Let You Down" by NF.

Also gone are songs released this year that may make the year end list like "Pray for Me" by The Weeknd and Kendrick Lamar, "I Miss You" by Clean Bandit and Julia Michaels, "Finesse" by Bruno Mars and Cardi B and "We're Going Home" by Vance Joy.

Nicki Minaj's underwhelming "Barbie Tingz" is gone taking with it "Plug Walk" by Rich The Kid (thank goodness), "Wasted Times" by The Weeknd and "You Are the Reason" by Calum Scott


New Entries

Already mentioned Ariana Grande's "No Tears Left to Cry" being the highest debut at number one so let's deal with the J Cole songs that turned up first of all beginning with "Kod" at 20, "ATM" at 32. "Photograph" at 41, "Kevin's Heart" at 46 and finally "Motiv8" at 47.

Of the other new songs that aren't J Cole's? Well there's "2002"  by Anne-Marie at 27, Dennis Lloyd has his first ARIA singles chart hit with "Nevermind" at 42, "OTW" by Khalid feat. Ty Dolla $ign and 6lack at 44.

I expect most of the J Cole to be gone next week replaced by Post Malone. Joy. Anway, the race for the top is gonna get interesting as to whether "Psycho" can knock "No Tears left to Cry" off number one.

Just a reminder, no New Music Friday Review, might have my top 10 best hit songs from 2003 up next week some time so we'll see.

New Music Friday Review; Liam Payne and J Balvin try to create the 2018 "Despacito" and new Ariana Grande

Song: Familiar
Artists: Liam Payne, J Balvin


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I truly believe that "Despacito" has begun a serious trend of English/American artists teaming up with Latin music stars to attempt to find a hit given Liam's last single with Zedd "Bedroom Floor" really did tank hard and well, I am not sure that "Familiar" is the hit that Liam wants or needs, oh sure its catchy and the lyrics aren't THAT bad, they are all about getting to 'know' that hot girl's body with the typical latin pop instrumentation and production, I can't say I am overtly crazy about the song though.

However this trend of people trying to create the 2018 "Despacito" needs to stop and soon.

Rating: 6/10


Song: Babe
Artists: Sugarland, Taylor Swift





American country act Sugarland are back and this time they have released a song that was an off cut from Taylor Swift's album "Red" and yeah you can kind of tell the song is an off cut for Taylor Swift with the lyrics (kind of a step back from '1989' given that she was young at the time) but given Jennifer Nettles really is an impressive vocallist, this song does sound better than it had any right to be especially with Taylor only singing backing vocals. Not expecting this to be a hit but would welcome it if it does happen. Decent song.

Rating: 7/10




Song: 2002
Artist: Anne-Marie



Just me or is Anne-Marie becoming one of those frustrating artists who you know is capable of better than what she releases and her new single '2002' is a case in point an instantly dated song making references to songs that don't come from the year 2002 eg: Britney Spears 1999 hit "Baby, One More Time" and its all set to the same guitar riff that doesn't change or do anything different, it's all very clunky so I'll pass on this and hope it doesn't become a hit.


Rating 4/10


Song: No Tears Left to Cry
Artist: Ariana Grande



I am not going to go into the whole thing to do with the awful events in Manchester and how this song deals with it and the whole debate over whether or not it should have been a ballad because I'd rather talk about how much fun this song is and it's about freaking time we got a song that was pure fun on the charts, heck, "No Tears Left to Cry" is a jam in many ways that is reminiscent of late 80s early 90s Janet Jackson (Look up "Runaway" and you'll get what I am talking about). I really enjoyed this and hope it's a mega hit for her.


Rating: 9/10


Best of the Week: "No Tears Left to Cry" by Ariana Grande

Worst: "2002" by Anne-Marie


No New Music Friday review for releases on Friday 25th April, not all that interesting a week. Check out "Time" by Gretta Ray amd "Brooklyn in Summer" by Aloe Blacc.

Next week:
"The Way I Am" by Charlie Puth (he has released pretty much half of his album "VoiceNotes" now)
"Bloom" by Troye Sivan (Out May 3)
"Hunger" by Florence and The Machine (Out May 3)
"You Can Cry" by Marshmello, Juicy J feat. James Arthur
"Jump" by Julia Michaels
"Accelerate" by Christina Aguilera

Beyond that who knows!