ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart Review: 2nd February

 So let's rip and tear into this week on the ARIA singles chart because yeah, we finally saw some real change in the top ten just not at number one where for yet another week, Olivia Dean's "Man I Need" ruled the roost, it's got streaming on board hard where it got boosted alongside its sales thanks to the impact of Triple J's Hottest 100 ( a common story for a lot of what we saw on the chart this week).

It held up over a new entry at number two...yep, it's "Aperture" by Harry Styles which had a strong start on sales and streaming but tumbled backwards during the week, we'll discuss why in the new entries a bit later. 

"Where is My Husband" by Raye held firm at number three while "So Easy (To Fall in Love)" by Olivia Dean rebounded two spots to number four. 

Songs like "The Fate of Ophelia" by Taylor Swift suffered a three place fall to number five as it did not benefit from placement on the Hottest 100, the same applies to "End of Beginning" by Djo which slipped two places to number six. 

"No Broke Boys" by Disco Lines and Tinashe climbed two spots to number seven thanks to it's placement in the top ten of the Hottest 100 while "Golden" by K-Pop Demon Hunters slumped three places to number eight.

"12 to 12" by Sombr got a two place rebound back into the top ten up to number nine. It's really obvious what made the Hottest 100 and what wasn't shortlisted or voted in just by what gained or lost this week)

Finally "Ordinary" by Alex Warren slipped three places to number ten and at this point, I have to kind of hope people are done with this song.

Losers

It was a rough week for EsDeeKid with "Phantom" featuring Rico Ace down ten to fifty while "4 Raws" slumped ten to thirty one. 

Luke Combs suffered continued losses with "Sleepless in a Hotel Room" slumping thirteen spots to forty four. 

Finally "Opalite" by Taylor Swift could do with a boost from a music video sometime soon because it's down seven to twenty two. 

Drop Outs

You won't find me complaining too hard about the drop outs this week because we finally saw the permanent exit of "Beautiful Things" by Benson Boone to the On Replay singles chart. Good fucking riddance.

Also gone are "Soda Pop" from K-Pop Demon Hunters and "Messy" by Lola Young, both have had very good runs on the chart...I'm fine with them both being gone.

The only one I am bit unhappy about is the exit of "Plastic Cigarette" by Zach Bryan

Gains

Again these big gains were fuelled by Hottest 100 so we had "Rein Me In" by Sam Fender and Olivia Dean up nine to break the top twenty at twenty! I am so happy to see this becoming a genuine hit.

"Victory Lap" by Fred, Again, Skepta and Plaqueboy Max up eleven spots to sixteen.

Re-Entries

Two returns this week with neither song being all that good, "Fame is a Gun" by Addison Rae back at thirty nine and "Dracula" by Tame Impala somehow back at twenty six.

New Entries

Two new entries this week, starting with...

24. "Dancing 2" by Keli Holiday

So Keli Holiday is actually just a psuedo name for Adam Hyde who is one half of Australian electronic duo Peking Duk with this song written about his unexpected connection and love...radio star Abbie Chatfield and yeah, I am going to lie I like it...A LOT, it's a song that just hits in all the right places even if I think there's some Gang of Youths "Angel in Real Time" vibes going here but it works to the song's favour because Holiday is absolutely selling the shit out of this song, he has found that connection and joy in his life and it's felt in the way the strings played high and happy singing the praises of love found. Pretty good song...hope it sticks around. 

2. "Aperture" by Harry Styles

So the big new single from Harry Styles, the first from his new album "Kiss All The Time. Disco Occasionally" (horribly clunky and honestly terrible album title) and I will admit some curiosity...I was hoping Harry would lean back into the more rock sound from his self titled debut but instead what we got was a electronic song that honestly is incredibly underwhelming in a number of ways, for one thing, where's a defiantly memorable melody to this, it's full of buzzy noises that just lead to nothing....what is Kid Harpoon doing on the production here? Then there's the writing which again, it's giving nothing memorable for me to grip onto or a reason to go back to this song.

If Harry wants to make electronic music, can he actually work with producers who understand electronica? Maybe Calvin Harris or someone becauxe this song does not work for me whatsoever.

Yeah, easy worst of the week for "Aperture" by Harry Styles. Best of the week is easily going to "Dancing 2" by Keli Holiday. I hope "Aperture" does not stick around, that song is really disappointing coming from Harry. Next week...I suspect Noah Kahan but otherwise we could be in for a quiet week...oh wait...the Grammys are on on Monday afternoon.