ARIA Singles Chart Top Ten/Chart Review: 15th March. Hold On, Scary Hours 2 Open with a BANG!

 Well we didn't quite get the shake up the top ten was needing but there were certainly some changes just not in the top six so let's rip through those so we can get to the more interesting parts of this week.

"Heat Waves" by Glass Animals spends a third week at number one thanks to consistently strong streaming, it's place at the top was never really threatened by Drake at all, it kept "Drivers License" by Olivia Rodrigo at number two for another week, this song might be about to fall away...it's starting to look shaky on streaming which could mean "Without You" by Kid Laroi returns to number two with stronger streaming but's stuck at number three...for now.

The same could be said for "The Business" by Tiesto as it has both sales and streaming momentum but wasn't enough to overhaul to margin to the songs above it. Same goes for "Calling My Phone" by Lil Tjay and 6lack which remains at number five and "Goosebumps" by HVME and Travis Scott stalled at number six (thank goodness).

At number seven is the first of three ARIA singles charts new entries for Drake this week off the back of the release of his "Scary Hours 2" EP with "What's Next", I will talk about this song later but streaming and some sales got it here and with that streaming support fading and sales basically already dying...I don't see this sticking around which is not a good sign for "Certified Lover Boy"

Rising two places to number eight is "Cover Me in Sunshine" by Pink and Sage Willow Hart as it continues to be a sales monster and continues to quietly and rather consistently do decently on streaming. 

Heck, it pushed past "Save Your Tears" by The Weeknd down two to number nine and "Levitating" by Dua Lipa feat. DaBaby down one spot to number ten as its on its way out anyway.

Gains

Continued momentum for "Astronaut in the Ocean" by Masked Wolf which climbed five spots to number 11 while Giveon's "Heartbreak Anniversary' climbed four places to number 25 (this song has the makings of being a top ten hit) however the biggest gain of the week belonged to "Friday" by Riton and Nightcrawlers feat. Mufasa and Hyperman as it climbed twelve places to number 29...ehhh.

Losses

So with six new entries this week, there are a lot of losers like with former top ten hit "So Done" by The Kid Laroi down five to 18 while Justin Bieber's "Anyone" slipped seven to 21 (this should rebound post the album release. More on Bieber in the new entries).

While Ava Max's momentum with "My Head & My Heart" completely stalled out as it stumbled six places to 27.

Down eight to 32 is "Paradise" by Meduza feat. Dermot Kennedy while "34+35" by Ariana Grande sputtered down eight to 33 and Ariana's former chart topper "Positions" fell seven to 38. The "Booster Seat" is running out of room for Spacey Jane as the song slipped eight to 35.

"We're Good" by Dua Lipa slipped seven places to 33 while the same goes for "Last Lover" by Sigala feat. James Arthur which skidded down seven to 32.

'Dreams" by Fleetwood Mac dropped six to 36 (Frankly I am amazed its still even on the chart at this point)

"Whoopty" by CJ slipped eleven to 39 while "Love Songs Ain't for Us" by Amy Shark and Keith Urban continues to suffer from streaming not getting behind as it fell eight to 40 this week.

"Therefore I Am" by Billie Eilish stumbled five places to 41 while "Lemonade" by Internet Money and Gunna feat. Don Toliver and Nav plunged six to 43.

"Looking for Me" by Paul Woolford, Diplo and Kareen Lomax took a ten place hit to 45 while it looks like "Dance Monkey" by Tones and I's run on the chart is close to an end after a mammoth 95 weeks on the chart as it fell six spots to 49

Drop Outs

So the top 50 said au revoir to "Holy" by Justin Bieber feat Chance the Rapper (only briefly, will return due to the album release) and 2020 hits like "Roses (Imanbek remix)" by Saint Jhn and "Dynamite" by BTS.

Also gone are new arrival from last week "Josh" by Peach PRC and "One too Many" Keith Urban and Pink. I am fine with both of those gone tbh.

The only drop out I am unhappy about is "Prisoner" by Miley Cyrus and Dua Lipa and when you see the first of the new arrivals, you'll understand why.

New Entries

There's six of them this week so I'm going to endeavour to keep them pretty short because this blog entry is starting to run long so let's unfortunately begin with...

50. "Bang!" by AJR

Well I guess this had to turn up eventually...right...I mean, it was top ten in the US and is currently lodged in the top 20 in New Zealand so it was only a matter of time before it turned up here, it's AJR's second ARIA charting single after "I'm Ready" reached number 5 in August 2014 but anyway let's get to the quality of "Bang" and really this song is more in the basket of being a vaudeville sketch except you can't get a laugh out of it, there's no groove apart from awful backing vocals and chipmunk noises, combine that with rather immature lyrics about leaving childhood and becoming an adult...speaking of which you'd hope AJR could grow as song writers but that doesn't seem to be the case. 

Looks it's not as bad as anything on "Neotheater" or "The Click" but its still intolerable so...next...

26. "Lemon Pepper Freestyle" by Drake and Rick Ross

So to begin our exploration of Scary Hours 2 EP songs we have this freestyle from Drake and Rick Ross and its probably the one I like the least of the three with a sample of Quadron's 2013 song pressure serving and a dreary trap piano serving as the instrumentation as Drake and Rick Ross brag about their lavish lifestyles, Drake talks about raising his son while Rick Ross claims he is social distancing not just for COVID reasons but also to avoid 'snitches'. It's not precisely bad but its not exactly good either so yeah...let's move on. 

19. "Hold On" by Justin Bieber

So a new single from Justin Bieber from his upcoming sixth album "Justice" and yeah I kind of like this but that liking comes more for the instrumental which is this fizzy pop/rock thing with guitars and drums, its just a shame that the lyrics kind of hold it back as they are the least interesting part of the song with Bieber's empty platitudes to this girl and about we all make mistakes which makes the song feel like he is remaking "Sorry" again but hey at least the chorus is catchy and I still like this enough to give it a pass.

15. Wants and Needs by Drake feat. Lil Baby

So this is is probably the best song from the EP mainly because it's Drake and Lil Baby sharing verses where both talk about their wants and needs and how they balance out in life. Of course both are going to brag about all the luxury items they have, Drake references a Mercedes Benz car from the video for 'Laugh Now, Cry Later", an expensive watch and then mentions that he should be acting more conservative due to being raised as Jewish and jokes he should probably be going to Kanye West to confess his sins.

As for Lil Baby, he goes on about his love of group sex, says he is not the GOAT and then brags about making lean and losing a large sum of money in Las Vegas and at the end of his verse says "YOLO"...all this is set to a pretty interesting kind of watery trap production with the flows from both Drake and Lil Baby being pretty good...I'll take this. It's good.

13. "Leave the Door Open" by Bruno Mars, Anderson Paak & Silk Sonic

Well then ever since this collaboration and single was announced I was excited, mostly because I knew the potential that could be reached here, it's one of the biggest hitmakers of the 2010s teaming up with an aetist who should already be a superstar in the mainstream but because the general public decided they rather make Drake big, Anderson Paak has always felt like he has been on the cusp of being a mainstream star but never quite getting there however with this song, he finally got a charting song so how is the song?.

Let's not mince words here, "Leave the Door Open" is phenomenal, the production is lush, grand and allows both Anderson Paak to show off his charisma and charm in the verses before Btuno Mars just belts on the hook, it's the best Bruno has sounded since maybe "24k Magic" or "Versace on the Floor". The sound sounds like a 70s throwback love song but still has many modern elements that refresh the sound so that it's not going to sound dated. I vannot wait to hear this song live.

7. "What's Next" by Drake

Final song this week and I am going to endeavour to keep this brief because this song is Drake bragging  about his ability to send songs to number one on the Hot 100, his continued success and substantial wealth thanks to his rap career over production that Drake maintains a solid flow over...honestly this production suits him pretty well however the bar in the chorus "On Valentines Day, I had sex, okay?" did take me out of the song, it's not bad but when "Needs and Wants" is better...I don't see the need for this song.

That wraps up the week and both the best and worst fall out easily, the worst of the week is going to "Bang!" by AJR but I dispensing with dishonorable mention and giving two honourable mentions with :"Needs and Wants" by Drake and Lil Baby getting one and the other going to "Hold On" by Justin Bieber however "Leave the Door Open" by Bruno Mars, Anderson Paak and Silk Sonic just run away with the best of the week and frankly it's actually one of the best songs to hit the chart this year.

Next week, we may well get the debut solo single from Blackpink's Rose, one of the two new Imagine Dragons songs and a collab between Wiz Khalifa and Empire of the Sun, we'll find out when the chart updates on Saturday at 5pm AEDT.