ARIA Singles Top 50 Chart Review. 8th September

 What do you get when you combine ARIA's brand new rules and a Sabrina Carpenter album bomb? The short answer is an absolute mess and one that doesn't actually answer as to whether ARIA's changes have worked and I suspect we're not going to find out next week because Justin Bieber decided to drop a whole second album/deluxe edition of "SWAG" that will inevitably mean further album bomb chaos on the chart next week. Ugh.

However we'll get to Justin Bieber next week, we've still got the matter of this week's chart to get through so let's get to our top ten where for yet another week, "Golden" from K-Pop Demon Hunters continues to rule the roost at number one and it is a dominant number one across the board here, nothing is touching this song right now.

Former number one "Ordinary" by Alex Warren remains at number two as a result but it's not matching the dominance of "Golden" and really is starting to look a weak number two at this point.

We hit our first sign of the Sabrina Carpenter album bomb at number three with "Tears" arrival, now I don't think this song has the streaming traction it needs to challenge "Golden",  I will have more to say about this song later.

It did push "No Broke Boys" by Disco Lines and Tiaashe back one spot to number four as while it has streaming on board, it's just not getting anywhere near the traction in other channels, the same applies for "Soda Pop" from K-Pop Demon Hunters as it slipped one to number five, 

Rising six places to number six and one of the biggest gainers of the week is "Man I Need" by Olivia Dean, I am happy about this one, glad to see the better song becoming a hit. 

The biggest gainer of the week though is "Manchild" by Sabrina Carpenter which climbed thirteen places to number seven off the back of the album dropping...wish the song was better. 

The rest of the top ten are all from K-Pop Demon Hunters with "Your Idol" down three to eight, "How It's Done" down two to nine and "What It Sounds Like" slipping two spots to number ten. 

Gains

So apart from "Manchild" by Sabrina Carpenter rising thirteen to return to the top ten and "Man I Need" by Olivia Dean up six to number six, there was not a lot in the way of gains thanks to the Sabrina Carpenter album bomb.

Re-Entries

So we did get one return this week with "Gabriela" by Katseye back at number forty seven. 

Losers

Given most of the chart lost hard this week, I am going to limit this to double digit losses this week. We begin with "Die With a Smile" by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars which slumped thirteen to forty while former number one hit "Birds of a Feather" by Billie Eilish slipped ten spots to thirty nine.

What worries me is the sevcenteen place collapse to thirty seven of "The Subway" by Chappell Roan..now I know it's triggered by the Sabrina Carpenter album bomb but this song has been going in the wrong direction for weeks now, we need to correct that, Australia...and urgently.

At least "Yukon" by Justin Bieber slumped sixteen to thirty four and "Beautiful Things" by Benson Boone got slapped down twelve to twenty nine. 

Drop Outs

So given "Man's Best Friend" by Sabrina Carpenter entered the chart in its entirety. we have a sizeable list of drop outs and with the new rules in mind, I am going to start with the songs that dropped out and could return next week, let's begin with Alex Warren with both "Bloodline" feat Jelly Roll and "Carry You Home"  making their exits alongside "Mystical Magical" by Benson Boone and "Azizam" by Ed Sheeran.

Taking their exits and definitely won't be back though and we got major ones here in namely "Lose Control" by Teddy Swims and "Pink Pony Club" by Chappell Roan, they are gone from the top 50 and are now on the new "On Replay" chart.

Joining both those songs on the new replay singles chart are the songs that I have been touting would like "Iris" by Goo Goo Dolls, "Dreams" by Fleetwood Mac, "Something in the Orange" by Zach Bryan, "All The Stars" by Kendrick Lamar & SZA, "Breakin' Dishes" by Rihanna and finally..."Don't Dream It's Over" by Crowded House. 

New Entries

We have a lot of Sabrina Carpenter to talk about so I will endeavour to keep this pretty short overall so not making the top twenty and are neither best or worst of the week..."Don't Worry I'll Make You Worry" at number thihrty two (this song was close to worst of the week), "Never Getting Laid" at number twenty eight, "We Almost Broke Up Again Last Night" at twenty seven, "Goodbye" at number twenty six, "House Tour" at twenty three and "Go Go Juice" at twenty one.

That still leaves us with a meaty chunk of "Man's Best Friend to talk about so let's dive in and get started with...

20. "Sugar Talking" by Sabrina Carpenter

So expect to hear me talk a lot about innuendo but here it's Sabrina getting fed up with men not speaking her love language to her and still trying to slide into her bed through charisma and look, I get it, I hate having guys get in my face and want love when it's not earned or I don't feel the same way about them but I don't know the instrumental just does nothing for me at all here, it just feels so downtuned and doesn't do much. Not bad but not good either...something I expect to be saying a lot lately. 

19. "Nobody's Son" by Sabrina Carpenter

So this song has caused a lot of anger with critics naming this as the worst song on "Man's Best Friend" so let's see if a pair of fresh ears can find something out of the song that's...uhhh, no...I cannot...this song is one of the worst songs I've ever heard from Sabrina Carpenter, it's actually as toxic as anything I heard put across on that godawful Jessie Murph album from earlier this year yet Sabrina Carpenter sells mens mental health and guy who needs space away from his girlfriend as him "crying in bed" with a chrous that sounds straight from a British comedy sitcom with instrumentation playing off very real toxicity in a relationship like its fucking camp...no...just no. Sabrina, you are better than this. 

15. "My Man on Willpower" by Sabrina Carpenter

So this is the song from the album that I mostly dislike because of how muddy and one note the production feels here all while Sabrina complains about this guy in her life having found some self control and disicipline to not go to water every time she wears "slutty pyjamas and that he isn't fawning over her anymore. Look, maybe it's part of the wider joke on the album but maybe dude has had enough of the toxicity and is just ready to move on because yeah, given how painfully dull this song is...I don't blame him

13. "When Did You Get Hot?" by Sabrina Carpenter

So this is one of the songs that goes vaguely close to working where Sabrina goes to a convention with her friends and meets up with a guy she's known for awhile and she realizes that this guy is actually now good looking instead of what he used to be. I think it's nice that a lot of the toxic dynamics that appeared in a few of the songs we discussed previously don't appear here and the line about naked twister back at his place was genuinely funny. Cool song.

3. "Tears" by Sabrina Carpenter. 

Now we finish the week off with a glossy retro disco song from Sabrina Carpenter where she admits to being horny by a guy doing the most basic of house duties to the point 'tears' run down her thigh. I do think its funny but I also wonder how the hell this song is getting radio airplay considering kids are going to ask how on earth tears can fall down thighs. It is the correct choice of single from "Man's Best Friend"

That was the week and yeah, "Tears" gets best of the week here, really didn't have that much competition. Worst is going to "Nobody's Son" even though "My Man on Willpower" is eye roll worthy. 

ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart Review: 1st September

 So this is the final week before everything changes for the ARIA singles chart going forward so before we dive into this week's goings on on the ARIA singles chart, let's dive into the changes that will hit the singles chart next week with ARIA announcing a few months ago that songs that were released two years or more ago will be jettisoned from the top fifty and onto an "On Replay Chartt" however ARIA will give special provision to older tracks that are going viral so what that means is songs like "Don't Dream It's Over" by Crowded House, "Dreams" by Fleetwood Mac and "Iris" by Goo Goo Dolls are spending effectively their last week in the ARIA top fi

Now we've got that all out of the way, let's get to the top ten and really...it's not even a story this week as that barely moved, of course, "Golden" by from K-Pop Demon Hunters remained at number one this week now that could come under fire from Sabrina Carpenter next week expecially if  Carpenter's album doesn't get a big push behind it. 

Ultimately the impending Sabrina Carpenter album bomb might be bad news for a few songs hoping to make a play for number one with "Ordinary" by Alex Warren remaining at number two, "No Broke Boys" by Disco Lines and Tinashe at number three and "Soda Pop" from K-Pop Demon Hunters at number four.

Then we get to the only move inside the top ten with "You Idol" by K-Pop Demon Hunters moving up one to number five, it pushed "Daisies" by Justin Bieber back to number six (I am actually considering this song for my year end best list given how slow this year has been for the hits). 

Holding steady at number seven is "How It's Done" from K-Pop Demon Hunters while it's pretty much the same thing for "What It Sounds Like" also from K-Pop Demon Hunters at number eight, "Back to Friends" by Sombr at number nine and finally "Free" by K-Pop Demon Hunters at number ten. 

Gains

The better Olivia Dean song "Man I Need" has exploded up the charts off it's debut last week racing up a massive thirty one places to number twelve. 

Unfortunately the worst song from "Don't Tap the Glass" continues to gain traction for Tylor the Creator with "Sugar On My Tongue" up eighteen to nineteen. 

Re-Entries

Two returns this week with "Mystical Magical" by Benson Boone back at forty six while "Bloodline" by Alex Warren and Jelly Roll is back at forty one

Losers

Biggest loser this week was "Don't Dream It's Over" by Crowded Houser at number forty six but with the new chart rules coming, it's going to exit anyway otherwise there's not a real lot here on the losers front. 

Drop Outs

The drop outs aren't unexpected here with "Which Ones?" by Drake and Central Cee and "Jump" by Blackpink exiting.

Also exiting having made the year end list for 2025 are "Messy" by Lola Yound and "Luther" by Kendrick Lamar and SZA.

"I Remember Everything" by Zach Bryan and Kacey Musgraves jumped off the top fifty before it was pushed off by ARIA.

New Entries

Three new entries this week, let's get keep things rolling with...

48. "Strategy" by Twice

Another song from Twice debuting on the chart, this one has been around awhile even with a guest feature from Meghan Thee Stallion although the version with Meghan isn't tbe one that charted here and she would have been handy here because geez this retro glossy sound that comes off as too overly polished is not a good fit for Twice and doesn't even match the lyrical content of the song where Twice are trying to get this guy's attention and have crafted out a "strategy" to get him, it's all a bit childish and that production just does not help. Next!

45. "Breakin' Dishes" by Rihanna

People miss Rihanna that much that they are desperate enough to chart older songs, in this case, I don't mind because this song is from an era of Rihanna I absolutely love where she's kicking ass in pop rock and really making it work, this song is from the album "Good Girl Gone Bad" released in 2007 and featured the hits "Disturbia" and my favourite Rihanna song "Shut Up and Drive". Now I will say that unless Rihanna's label can prove that this song is a viral hit and deserves to stay on the chart, it will get booted next week.

Which is a shame because I think this is a pretty good song overall especially with Rihanna's bratty charisma that reminds me a lot of Avril Lavigne although I will say I am concerned that lyrics where Rihanna is leaning toward domestic violence isn't exactly a good thing and some of the production doesn't hold up that well in 2025 especially that weird noise tbat underpins the song but I still dig this given what it is trying to do. Check it out if curious.

28. "Jealous Type" by Doja Cat.

"Born Again" by Lisa, Doja Cat and Raye is one of my favourite pop songs of the year and apart of it is because of Doja Cat's singing before jumping into a rap verse, Doja proved herself to be versatile on that song so would that also prove to be true on the lead single for her 80s inspired album "Vie"? Well yeah and I think she absolutely nailed it, it's glossy, it's got groove and Doja Cat is not shying away from admitting that she's the one to get jealous over men who are with girls who are not her, now sure that reads as a little possessive but Doja Cat is owning it and she's well aware of the dynamic and she doesn't want to end up hurting this dude with her behaviour. I love this song...check it out!

All up that was our week, not a bad one but best and worst do fall out easily with worst going to "Strategy" by Twice and best of the week to "Jealous Type" by Doja Cat.

ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart Review: 25th August.

 Look, let's just get stuck into this week because again...it was another pretty slow week apart from the two new entries and the fact that K-Pop Demon Hunters have almost taken over the entire top ten. 

Speaking of K-Pop Demon Hunters and the top ten, let's get to that because "Golden" by K-Pop Demon Hunters cast remains at number one and...unless Sabrina Carpenter can bring an absolute belter of an album bomb, I don't see what's knocking off this song from number one until Taylor Swift eithet releases a lead single or drops her album in October, it's dominant on sales, streaming and even on Youtube. 

Alex Warren held steady at number two with "Ordinary" albeit on now faltering margins ahead of "No Broke Boys" by Disco Lines and Tinashe which rose one spot to number three,. 

"Soda Pop" by cast of K-Pop Demon Hunters rose one spot to number four, in fact the Netflix show helped push "Daisies" by Justin Bieber back two spots to number five. 

"Your Idol" held steady at number six as did "How It's Done" at number seven both for K-Pop Demon Hunters. 

"What It Sounds Like" by K-Pop Demon Hunters bounced up one to number eight, it pushed back Sombr's "Back to Friends" to number nine (I expect this to get a sizeable boost back up the chart with Sombr having dropped an album yesterday)

Finally K-Pop Demon Hunters bookend the top ten with "Free" up four spots to number ten.

Gains

Sombr's "12 to 12" got a seven place gain to number seventeen...I expect this to go top ten and become a massive hit. 

We've got more Olivia Dean to discuss in the new but her previous single "Nice to Each Other" climbed a massive twenty one spots to twenty four! I am not sure why, it could be off the back of people liking the new single and wanting to hear what she has done previously. 

Losers

Blackpink's "Jump" is jumping the wrong way down eight to number fifty while "Messy" by Lola Young down nine to forty nine.

"Azizam" by Ed Sheeran slipped six to number forty six while it was the same sized slip for "The Door" by Teddy Swims as it slammed into door forty four on the chart.

However I am pissed that "The Subway" by Chappell Roan continues to go in the wrong direction down six to sixteen. Ugh, the fact that such a great song continues to slide says a lot about the stale and sragnant nature of the charts in 2025. 

Drop Outs

Not complaining about losing "Mystical Magical" by Benson Boone...that song can stay out of the top fifty if you ask me. Also gone is "Mr Brightside" by The Killers.

New Entries

Two new entries, starting with...

43. "Man I Need" by Olivia Dean

So given "Nice to Each Other" continues to give me the ick every week it's on the chart but I guess second time lucky right? Well yeah, this is actually pretty good! It's got this nice gospel sound even if it doesn't quite get there., she just wants this guy to be the man she needs in her life and to be on the same page as her. Its definitely a cute song and worth checking out. Olviia Dean, you've redeemed yourself here.

37. "Sugar On My Tongue" by Tyler, the Creator.

Oh come on, this is the song we're choosing to make a hit from "Don't Tap the Glass" when "Ring Ring Ring" was rught there and sctreaming hit? Yeah, "Sugar on My Tongue" is one of the weaker songs from that new Tyler album and it's mostly because of the weird ass production that has breathing sounds forming part of the melody and this weird ass analogy comparing this girl's body to "sugar on my tongue" which just feels creepy even if Tyler didn't intend it to be.

It's not terrible but we could have done better. "Sugar on My Tongue" gets worst of the week howeverr "Man I Need" by Olivia Dean gets best of the week, really dug that song.

Next week...probably that new Doja Cat single. 

ARIA Singles Top 50 Chart Review: August 18th. No New Entries So How about 5 Songs I am Loving in 2025?

Yeah, we got a very quiet week with no new entries (don't worry I do have something in store for that) and that for two weeks in a row, we have the same fifty songs here which I really do believe is something we need to be worried about however let's get to the top where for a third week "Golden" from K-Pop Demon Hunters remained at number one and so far its looking a comfortable number one, it may well be a dominant number one at least uintil Taylor Swift drops either a lead single or when then album drops in October as it's dominant on sales, streaming and youtube.

It's well ahead of "Ordinary" by Alex Warren which rebounded to number two but I don't see this going back to number one, it did however push past "Daisies" by Justin Bieber which fell back to number three. 

Rising three spots to number four is "No Broke Boys" by Disco Lines and Tinashe, this has gotten some nice boosts on streaming in the past few weeks,. 

"Soda Pop" from K-Pop Demon Hunters bounced back one spot to number five pushing past "Your Idol" which stumbled back to number six while on that note "How It's Done" also from K-Pop Demon Hunters rebounded to number seven

"Back to Friends" by Sombr climbed one spot to number eight and with the album dropping on Friday, this song could return to the top five in the weeks ahead.

There's more K-Pop Demon Hunters in the top ten with "What It Sounds Like" up one spot to number nine and finally perhaps the biggest indictment on the charts in 2025, "The Subway" by Chappell Roan down six to number ten. 

Gains

Justin Bieber's "Yukon" up seven to number thirteen because somehow it's the song from "SWAG" that Beliebers really want to make a hit...unfortunately.

While "A Bar Song (Tipsy)" by Shaboozey climbed eight spots to twenty two because this song needs a second wind. Just make "Blink Twice" with Myles Smith or "Good News" a thing in the top fifty. 

At least I like "A Bar Song (Tipsy)", I can't say that about "Takedown" by Twice rising eight to thirty three.

"Carry You Home" by Alex Warren up seven to forty three. 

Losers

Two Kendrick Lamar and SZA collabs suffered losses this week with "Luther" down eight to forty seven and "All The Stars" down seven to forty four.

Meanwhile the losses continued for Drake with "Which Ones?" featuring Central Cee down eight to thirty...the sooner this song is gone the better for everyone while "Eternity" by Alex Warren down nine to twenty five.

As there are no drop outs or any new entries and I really don't want to have a blog entry this short, I want to do a small segment where I talk about some of my favourite songs released this year, this is something I wish I did on this blog more, I also want to stress that most of these songs will not have charted so let's dive in...

Great 2025 Songs That Deserve More Love

"One Way Ticket" by Tyne-James Organ

This song is my favourite Australian song of the year so far, I love how this song is just Organ showing that him and this girl want the same thing and he is down for it but promises he will never let her down and she is more than welcome to take what she wants from him, the feeling is likely mutual. I also love how the song juxtaposes Organ's rougher vocals against the cleaner and sleeker pop/rock production and how propulsive that hook is. Damn great song!

"Fair Game" by HolyBrune

So I don't know that much about HolyBrune, there's not that much information about her online but what I do know is that this song is a god damn jam. Yeah the distortion of the verses give away to this sleek yet sexy as hell chorus where she's telling this guy she knows he wants to touch her but she won't let him because she doesn't trust him as he is a bit of a faker. Definitely an R'n'B jam to check out.

"Night Diving" by Max McNown

So in the last few years I have become a bit of a fan of American singer songwriter Max McNown, his music strips back a lot of the rough edges that can be found on Zach Bryan's music to their bare components but still making songs that hit just has hard and his writing seems to have a maturity that just resonates for me which was the case for this song where McNown is struggling with addiction and realizing that the addiction is still strong and the frustration that he is falling back into old habits is taking hold, it's a dark song that hits hard. 

"The Actor" by Willow Avalon

The only country song of the five songs I am highlighting but my god, I do think "Southern Belle Raisin' Hell" is an album that has gone unnoticed by way too many and when you can get Charles Wesley Godwin on a remix than you know you have a fucking great song. Willow Avalon has the conversational cadence down pat as she describes this guy who stole her heart yet he turned out to be a sham and he was an actor that she had fallen for. Now the CWG remix tells the story from the point of view of the actor in the second verse. This song is worth your time as is the whole of "Southern Belle Raisin' Hell". 

"Settle Down" by Vella

Vella might be the artist on this list that hasn't as yet had the same bucket load of attention yet she's dropping consistently great singles that make me want an album from her, I nearly didn't go with this particular song because her newest single "River Styx" is incredible but because "Settle Down" has been on my mid year list, I ultimately went with it and this is still an incredible song about yearning for love and yet trying to quell the instincts in her to reach out to this person she clearly still harbours feelings for complete with production that really does sell the danger the potential liasion could spell.

Other songs worth your time:

• "We Own the Night" by Black Atlass (Warning around some swearing on the hook if thats something that bothers you)
• "Gravelweed" by Jason Isbell 
• "Night After Night" by The Amazons
• "Maybe I'm Lonely Too" by Addison Johnson
• "Broken Glass" by Harper Finn (If you like Sombr's "Back to Friends" and "Undressed", this song might be up your alley)

ARIA Singles Top 50 Chart Review: 4th August

We got a healthy dose of the Triple J Hottest 100 Australian songs this week on the chart and it was kind of interesting to see how that all played out at least outside of the top ten where we do have another new number one, this time it's from K-Pop Demon Hunters "Golden"...now this is doing well on streaming and on sales, it should get a second week at number one.

It flew past "Daisies" by Justin Bieber which slipped back to number two this week as it didn't quite have the strength on streaming to match "Golden". Alex Warren remained at number three with "Ordinary" as it now just doesn't have the strength to match the songs above, look for it to start falling away naturally.

That's good news for K-Pop Demon Hunters as "Your Idol" remained at number four but could go higher if "Ordinary" does falter while also from K-Pop Demon Hunters "Soda Pop" got a two place gain to number five.

Disco Lines and Tinashe have hit a new peak of number six with "No Broke Boys" which climbed two places thanks to considerable boosts on streaming. 

"How It's Done" from K-Pop Demon Hunters also climbed two places just to number seven while Sombr's "Back to Friends" rebounded four places to return to the top ten at number eight.

Next we have the two biggest losers inside the top ten with "Love Me Not" by Ravyn Lenae down three to number nine and "Victory Lap" by Fred again..., Skepta and Plaqueboy Max down five to number ten. 

Gains

So let's go outside the top ten now and I am not sure why but "Sapphire" by Ed Sheeran jumped an enormous twenty five places to twenty three...maybe that song is starting to catch on? Would have to hope so considering nothing else from that upcoming Ed Sheeran album has caught on. 

Apart from that, that's it for the major gains this week.

Re-Entries

So this is mostly where the impact of the Triple J's Hottest 100 Australian songs was centred because we had a whopping SEVEN returns this week. 

Let's work our way through the returns courtesy of the Hottest 100 first with "Somebody That I Used to Know" by Gotye and Kimbra back at forty six, "My Happiness" by Powderfinger sliding back at forty five, "Sweet Disposition" by The Temper Trap at thirty nine, "Thunderstruck" by AC/DC thundering in at thirty seven, the Hottest 100 number one "Never Tear Us Apart" by INXS hitting twenty eight and "Don't Dream It's Over" by Crowded House dreaming at twenty...the only one of these I can see sticking around next week is "Don't Dream It's Over" given streaming for that song has been insane this year.

The only return not connected to the Hottest 100 is that of "Azizam" by Ed Sheeran which came back to number forty one. 

Losers

So the losses continued for Blackpink this week with "Jump" down thirteen places to number thirty three while "Carry Me Home" by Alex Warren slumped fourteen to forty nine. 

"Messy" by Lola Young fell eight to number forty four while "Something in the Orange" by Zach Bryan slipped nine to forty two. 

Drop Outs.

We got a lot of them this week so let's run through these with two more Justin Bieber album tracks in "Go Baby" and "Walking Away" gone alongside older songs like "I Remember Everything" by Zach Bryan and Kacey Musgraves,  "Mr Brightside" by The Killers and "Rock That Body" by Black Eyed Peas.

Then there's "Sailor Song" by Gigi Perez which will have safely made the year end again, "Stargazing" by Myles Smith, "Mystical Magical" by Benson Boone and "Bloodline" by Alex Warren and Jelly Roll that also departed. 

Some of this will also likely return next week which is frustrating as hell. 

New Entries

Two new entries this week and we're beginning with.,,

31. "The Nosebleed Section" by Hilltop Hoods

It's honestly wild to me that it took a Triple J countdown for this song to hit the ARIA singles chart in 2025 given it didn't hit the charts in it's original run and yeah there's a reason this song is thought of so fondly...unlike a lot of modern rap, it's bright and the flute that forms the main melody is just awesome snd the sampling of Melanie Safka's "The People In the Front Row" is just inspired. The MCs are on point with their flow and this song is just oozing in personality and charisma. It's just one of those songs that will go off anywhere it's played. Damn great song!

16. "Which One?" by Drake feat. Central Cee.

I thank the music gods who ensured we got the excellence of Hilltop Hoods this week who don't need banal boring content in their lyrics or shitty fake accents unlike Drake and Central Cee who with this song add absolutely nothing to the conversation about music, Dorake tries on another half assed phony accent over a completely forgettable beat. Yeah, this is rubbish, time to move on.

It's easy worst of the week however the best of the week is going to "The Nosebleed Section" by Hilltop Hoods.

ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart Review: July 28th.

 A slower week this week but there's finally some major movement right at the top and that movement might be going to continue for the next two weeks so let's get stuck into the top ten where at number one we have what I predicted was heading to the top..."Daisies" by Justin Bieber but this is not a strong number one by any means, it's already been overtaken on streaming and on sales.

That over taker...yeah, it's "Golden" by the Cast of K-Pop Demon Hunters which claimed the lead on both streaming and sales hence it looks like a chance of at least a week at number one when the updated charts are announced on Friday. 

All this pushed former number one "Ordinary" by Alex Warren back two spots to number three as it finally lost streaming and sales momentum. 

The second K-Pop Demon Hunters entry in the top ten is "Your Idol" up two to number four this week.

It pushed past "Victory Lap" by Fred Again..., Skepta and Plaqueboy Max down one to number five while "Love Me Not" by Ravyn Lenae slipped one spot to number six

K-Pop Demon Hunters third entry in the top ten sees "Soda Pop" which went yp two to number seven while 'No Broke Boys" by Disco Lines and Tinashe also climbed two number eight.

At nimber nine, a fourth top ten entry for K-Pop Demon Hunters with "How It's Done" up two spots while wrapping up the top ten is a new entry "Eternity" by Alex Warren, it's here on decent streaming but we'll talk about the song's quality later.

Losers

The losers can be explained away as mostly being Justin Bieber album bomb cuts with "Go Baby" down thirteen to thirty one. 

We also saw the other debut from last week "Jump" by Blackpink slide eight places to twenty and that was it really.

Re-Entries

Four re entries this week with "Sailor Song" by Gigi Perez at fifty, "Mr Brightside" by The Killers at forty nine, "Sapphire" by Ed Sheeran at forty seven and "The Chain" by Fleetwood Mac at number forty six.

Gains

The album release saw the biggest gains of the week landed by Alex Warren with "Bloodline" feat. Jelly Roll up eighteen to thirty and "Carry You Home" up fifteen to thirty four. 

Drop Outs

Four of the five drop outs this week are Justin Bieber album cuts with the only other song to dtop out is "What Did I Miss"" by Drake.

New Entries

Well, we only have the one song to talk about here so let's get to it...

10. "Eternity" by Alex Warren

So I don't hate Alex Warren, the way some talk about him, you would think he was killing babies or kittens with his music, I do think it's a bit absurd "Ordinatry" was a sixteen week number one, that song was never really built to be number one for that long but anyway we do have a new song from off his new album debuting and...I don't care for this at all especially with the way the song is just really weirdly clingy to this person who has clearly moved on and the dramatic "It's been an eternity since you were with me" feels overwrought and overdone. This is the song that deserves some criticism...not "Ordinary"\

Unfortunately have to give it worst of the week. Next week, the fall out from the Triple Hottest 100 Australian songs and...Drake...ughhh.

ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart Review: 21st July. The Bs return...

 Yeah, it happened...we got a Justin Bieber album bomb and you know what? Even if the quality of the album is not great...at least it got the charts moving to some degree however Bieber didn't force a change at the top of the charts with "Ordinary" by Alex Warren at number one for a seventeenth week and unlike the last couple of weeks, it's got a challenger to it's hold on number one. 

However that challenger isn't "Golden" by the cast of K-Pop Demon Hunters which doesn't quite have the streaming to match "Ordinary" as yet.

What might overpower "Ordinary" though is the new entry at number three "Daisies" by Justin Bieber, this song is looking incredibly strong on streaming and looks set to pose a challenge for number one next week. 

Holding steady is "Victory Lap" by Fred again..., Skepta and PlaqueBoy Max at number four and really I am not sure this song is going to climb any higher at this point. 

Ravyn Lenae's "Love Me Not" slumped two places to number five while the cast of K-Pop Demon Hunters saw "Your Idol" climb two places to number six. 

Sombr's "Back to Friends" slipped two places to number seven while Sombr's other hit "Undressed" also fell two spots to number eight.

Cast of K-Pop Demon Hunters land a third song in the top ten this week with "Soda Pop" up three to number nine. Finally, "No Broke Boys" by Disco Lines and Tinashe slumped one place back to number ten.

Gains

Not too much in the way of gains with the biggest being a six place gain for Drake's "What Did I Miss?" which climbed six places to thirty seven

Losers

So with nearly all of the chart losing ground this week, I am only going to focus on the double digit losers here so songs like "Mystical Magical" by Benson Boone which slumped ten places to number forty one. 

Thankfully "Rock That Body" by The Black Eyed Peas collapsed eleven places to forty four while "I Remember Everything" by Zach Bryan feat. Kacey Musgraves slipped ten places to forty six. 

I am not thrilled "Bloodline" by Alex Warren and Jelly Roll fell ten to forty eight but that should get a boost thanks to Warren's album dropping, the same goes for "Carry You Home" also by Alex Warren which fell fourteen to forty nine.

Finally down ten to fifty is long term charter "Stargazing" by Myles Smith down ten to fifty.

Drop Outs

So with the Justin Bieber album bomb, we lost a chunk of songs with songs like "Blue Strips" by Jessie Murph, "Good Luck, Babe" by Chappell Roan, "Sailor Song" by Gigi Perez "Too Sweet" by Hozier and "Bad Dreams" by Teddy Swims all seemingly bound to make the year end list for 2025.

Then there's the songs that likely won't make the 2025 year end like "Sapphire" by Ed Sheeran and "Illegal" by Pink Pantheress.

Finally the glut of older songs like "Mr Brightside" by The Killers and "The Chain" by Fleetwood Mac. 

New Entries

So we did get a pretty sizeable Justin Bieber album bomb so outside of best and worst, we got "Way It Is" feat Gunna at forty (can see that song being a bit if it gets released as a single at some point), "Butterflies" at forty, "Walking Away" arrives at thirty eight, "Things You Do" at forty two, "All I Can Take" at twenty two and "Go Baby" at eighteen

So that leaves us with three new entries to discuss and we begin with Bieber because...

19. "Yukon" by Justin Bieber

So from the outset I am going to say that this Justin Bieber album is pretty bare bones with some sparse guitar, drums and some backing voacals this time from 2 Chainz who is uncredited on this track and honestly this does nothing for me mostly because it's just too bare bones to be anything close to memorable and the lyrics really remind me in more ways than one of "Swayze" by Zac Brown which is NOT a compliment...I'll pass...thanks. 

12. "Jump" by BLACKPINK

The return of Blackpink is something that I had been expecting for awhile and I was keen to hear what the group would return with after the members explored some solo work to varying degrees of success and what we got here..is something. The song starts off sounding straight out of the 80s with it's driving groove and the girls giving less that idea vocal performances beforce the beat switches up and goes into a sound that goes close to Hampton the Hampster, "Zorba's Dance" by LCD nd elements of the Chicken Dance that I guess would fit in with the title of the song but come on...Blackpink, you can do bnetter than this especially with that mock aggressive preening that I ain't buying. 

3. "Daisies" by Justin Bieber

So this was the song that I really dug from the album and I am glad it's the song from "Swag" that seems like it's set to be a major hit, It's a song where Bieber has a defined melody to work within thanks to the drum patter and the electric guitar that slides in and and out of the song. Sure, Bieber barely lifts his vocals out of crooning but that kind of makes sense when the song is about the juxtaposition of being in somebody's head and a desire to be romantically close to somebody.  It's a good song. 

Yeah, Bieber's getting best of the week for "Daisies". J am going to give worst of the week to Blackpink for "Jump" because that song was just "what the hell"

ARIA Singles Top 50 Chart Review. July 14th. Did I Miss The Illegal Chain Takedown?

 So this week feels oddly normal in that we have a bunch of new entries and with a Justin Bieber album bomb on the way next week, things could finally be starting to get interesting, sadly it's not about getting interesting for the number one spot any time soon with "Ordinary" by Alex Warren remains at the top for yet another week and again, I don't see it changing with this song still incredibly dominant on both streaming and sales. 

Its safe for a bit at least given that "Golden"  by the Cast of Kpop Demon Hunters which climbed six places to number two thanks to massive gains on streaming and on sales, it pushed "Love Me Not" by Ravyn Lenae back one to number three as this song has now peaked and is probably going to be one of the songs to take a direct hit from the Bieber album bomb.

Remaining at number four is "Victory Lap" by Fred Again,,,,feat. Skepta and Plaqueboy Max, it's streaming is solid if unremarkable at this point. 

Rebounding up one to number five is Sombr's "Back to Friends" which actually surpassed his other top ten hit "Undressed' which slipped back to number six.

One of the bigger losers this week is "Manchild" by Sabrina Carpenter which fell four spots to number seven while rising into the top ten is "Your Idol" by the Cast of Kpop Demon Hunters up four to number eight.

"No Broke Boys" by Disco Lines and Tinashe fell back two places to number while "Just Keep Watching" by Tate McRae fell back one spot to number ten.

Gains

Most of the big gains are from the Kpop Demon Hunters soundtrack so lets go through these quickly with "How It's Done" up ten to eleven, "Soda Pop" up fifteen to number twelve, "What It Sounds Like" up niue to sixteen and "Free" up thirteen to twenty.

Outside of that "Dreams" by Fleetwood Mac rises eleven to nineteen and "Something in the Orange" by Zach Bryan up eight to thirty

Losers

A good chunk of the chart lost this week but the biggest loser this week was "Sailor Song" by Gigi Perez which slipped eleven to forty eight while the losses continued for "Sapphire" by Ed Sheeran which tumbled ten places to forty nine. 

Former chart topper "Messy" by Lola Young fell seven places to twemty six while "Birds of a Feather" by Billie Eilish also fell seven to twenty. 

Drop Outs

Delighted to see some pretty terrible songs drop out this week with "Gabriela" by Katseye and "Blue Strips" by Jessie Murph gone taking with them "Nokia" by Drake and "Sports Car" by Tate McRae. 

New Entries

Four new entries this week, starting with...

46. "The Chain" by Fleetwood Mac

Oh god, we're starting off with a god damn classic, this song is from Fleetwood Mac's classic 1977 album "Rumours" and yeah, this song is a masterclass in song writing with the harmonies of the group and just how perfect and well put together this is to the point it sounds fresh when listening to it in 2025! 

Lyrically the song deals with the tension within a telationship thats falling apart with both sides realizing that if they can't love each other now than at this point the relationship is done and there is no coming back from it. I love how Lindsay Buckingham and Stevie Nicks build the tension too. Great song! If you haven't heard this song and it's parent album yet, I highly recommend you do so. 

43. "What Did I Miss" by Drake

So after dealing with a high like "The Chain", we're on the letdown in that we're getting ready for another Drake album in 2025 at some point with this song being the lead single and I have to say at furst glance, I actually don't mind that beat with that piano and trap skitter, it's got some menace however the problem with this song is Drake himself where he whines about unnamed friends in the music industry betraying him during the rap beef last year.

This song is just Drake chucking a pity party for himself on record and honestly out of sheer embarrassment for the guy, I am going to move on because yeah,..this is not a good sign fpr that album. 

42. "Illegal" by Pink Pantheress

Oh finally, Pink Pantheress is back on the charts, I've been worried that she has never really been able to follow up the success she had with "Boy's A Liar Part 2" but regardless she is here with a song from her most recent mix tape "Fancy That" and it's decent at best...I've never really been that much of a fan of Pink Pantheress's vocal delivery or the production she uses for her 2000s throw back breakbeat pop but this works for what it is even if I do think the production is a bit too busy and does at points feel like it;s swallowing her whole in the mix but I'll take this...I guess.

27. "Takedown" by Cast of Kpop Demon Hunters feat. members of TWICE

So another song from the Kpop Demon Hunters soundtrack that reportedly has members of the Kpop act Twice on it and yeah, their voices are better miced in order to try and sell what is an oddly slapdash trap/kpop song that also winds up being pretty grating to sit through all things considered so yeah I'm going to keep this short and skip it,

So I'm going to disqualify "The Chain" from best of the week mostly because it's an older song and will be gone in September when the chart rules change so I am going to give it "Classic of the week" which makes best of the week an even more frustrating task because there are no stand outs, I'll give it to "Illegal" by Pink Pantheress as it was the most tolerable song here.

Worst of the week goes to "What Did I Miss?" by Drake for being a slice of miserable whining that nobody asked for. 

ARIA Singles top 50 Chart Review: 7th July

 So much like in 2022 when the movie Encanto ruled on slow and stagnant charts, similar is happening in 2025, the charts are slow and stagnant hence we've got a Netflix K-Pop series music breaking onto the charts and it does affect the top ten so let's dive in where for a fifteenth week "Ordinary" by Alex Warren remains at number one and again, it's dominant on sales and streaming, it doesn't look like it's going to be knocked off any time soon.

The big surprise was the two place move up for "Love Me Not" by Ravyn Lenae to number two, mostly becvause it's streaming has lagged a bit so to see this move up was something of a surprise.

Then again "Manchild" by Sabrina Carpenter doesn't look to be strong overall as it slipped back one to number three, yeah, I don't see this song sticking around. Also down one to number four is "Victory Lap" by Fred Again..., Skepta and Plaqueboy Max as streaming is consistent but not challenging those above it just yet, 

"Undressed" by Sombr remained steady at number five while his other hit "Back to Friends" also remained where it is at number six. 

"No Broke Boys" by Disco Lines and Tinashe climbed two places to number seven thanks to streaming. 

Now we get to the new entry at number eight from the cast of kpop Demon Hunters called "Golden", I'll talk about this song's quality in more detail later but this song is steady on streaming right now and could make a play for the top five in the weeks ahead.

Rebounding into the top ten up seven is "Just Keep Watching" by Tate McRae at niumber nine but I think it's because the F1 movie soundtrack was finally released. 

Still clinging to the top ten down two is "Beautiful Tungs" by Benson Boone...the sooner this song goes away the better. 

Gains

So because of all the new entries this week there were no gains apart from the already aforementioned seven place gain for "Just Keep Watching" by Tate McRae in the top ten, 

Losers

So we have a bunch of double digit losers and I am not complaining about most of these, I mean "Good Luck Babe!" by Chappell Roan has had a great run but it is about time for it to go as it tumbled twelve to forty eight. 

I am delighted that  "Blue Strips" by Jessie Murph stumbled sixteen places to forty seven and "Nokia" by Drake down fourteen to forty six (new Drake song will probably chart next week unfortunately).

Maybe the one I am a little sad about is "Sapphire" by Ed Sheeran which slipped thirteen to thirty nine. 

"Sports Car" by Tate McRae fell eight to forty nine, "Espresso"  by Sabrina Carpenter tumbled eight to thirty five and "Die With A Smile" by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars also slumped eight to twenty.

New Entries

We do have six new entries but we do have somewhat of an album bomb so here's the Kpop Demon Hunters songs that qualify for neither best nor worst of the week..."Free" at 33, "Soda Pop" at twenty seven, "What It Sounds Like" at twernty five and "How It's Done" at twenry one.

So let's get this show on the road with...

44. "Gabriela" by Katseye

So all three of our new entries are some form of K-Pop with Katseye being a much talked about all female group from South Korea. Tbankfully we avoided the pretty atrocious "Gnarly" with the group reverting to bland latin infused pop/r'n'b with trap touches that sounds about as flavourful and energetic as dry stale cornflakes and the consistency of mush which is weird cobnsidering the cobtent basically runs the same throughline as that of Dolly Parton's "Jolene" except the lack of intensity or anger Dolly was able to impart on "Jolene when she was warning this other woman to stay away where as Katseye tell "Gabriela" to stay away with all the intensity and anger of a baby farting. Not a good song. 

12. " Your Idol" by Cast of Kpop Demon Hunters.

I don't have Netflix so I am going in blind with these songs from "K-Pop Demon Hunters and I kind of dig this? There's something of a boy band vibe that reminds me a lot of BTS with the harmonies and rap verse plus I like how it's got a bit of dramatic swell to pay off the whole Idol thing. I think it works for what's trying to do, I'll take it. Good song. 

8. "Golden" by Cast of Kpop Demon Hunters

Biggest debut of the week and it's one that I am only luke warm on at best, sure, it's got some nice bass behind it however the vocals on this song leave a lot to be desired, it feels like they being smothered in the mix which is either too loud or the vocals have put closer to the back which is an asinine thing to do. Either way, I am hoping that this song doesn't stick around. 

That ends our week and the best and worst fall out easily. K-Pop Demon Hunters Cast get best of thr week for "Your Idol", the worst is going to "Gabriela" by Katseye because that song is just full of nothing worth anything. 

ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart Review. 30th June.

 Really, what's even the point anymore? The chaerts have become so boring and stagnant, its hardly worth caring but oh well, let's dive straight in where "Ordinary" by Alex Warren spends a fourteenth week at number one and again I don't see wherre the challenge is coming from as this song is still incredibly strong on both streaming and sales. 

I am not sure it's coming from "Manchild" by Sabrina Carpenter which holds steady at number two but it's actually losing streaming and sales aren't as strong as it should be, this might open the way for a new entry at number three "Victory Lap" by Fred Again..., Skepta and PlaqueBoy Max, more on this song later but it got some incredible streaming but doesn't have much else to go with it. 

Remaining stalled at number four is "Love Me Not" by Ravyn Lenae, mostly because it's not much in the way of sales but is holding up nicely on streaming. 

Dropping two places is "Undressed" by Sombr at number five, streaming just falling away for this song. Same goes for "Back to Friends" by Sombr down one to number six. 

Also down one just to number seven is "Pink Pony Club" by Chappell Roan while "Beautiful Things" by Benson Boone continues to be that stinky bum in the top ten but down one to number eight, 

Rising eleven places to number nine is "No Broke Boys" by Disco-Lines and Tinashe because this song got streaming on board...yay...not.,

Finally down two to number ten is "Birds of a Feather" by Billie Eilish. 

Gains

So outside the big boost for "No Broke Boys" into th withe top ten, there were some other scattered gains up and down the chart and honestly we need an intervention if "Rock That Body" by The Black Eyed Peas got a twenty three place boost to twenty four (it'll be gone in September when those new chart rules come into play).

"Mystical Magical" by Benson Boone unfortunately up eight to twenty two but I'll pin that to the album release.

Losers

It was a rough week for Tate McRae songs with "Sports Car" down seven to forty one and her song with Morgan Wallen "What I Want" down nine to twenty five. 

While "Bloodline" by Alex Warren and Jelly Roll unfortunately down ten to thirty four while in some good news "Blue Strips" by Jessie Murph slipped eight to thirty one...thank god.

Drop Outs.

Two songs dropped out this week with "WildFlower" by Billie Eilish and "Shake It To the Max" by MOLIY, Skillbeng and Shenseea both taking their exits this week.bo

New Entries

Two new entries this week, beginning with...

43. "Nice to Each Other" by Olivia Dean

So the ARIA Chart breakthrough of English neo soul singer Olivia Dean and boy, do I wish there was more to this half baked song that really goes skin deep relationship melodrama. There is something incredibly toxic about this song in a way that makes me want to throw something out a window screaming irrationally. Gross. 

3. "Victory Lap" by Fred again..., Skepta and Plaqueboy Max

Well this might be Fred Agsin's catchiest beat in awhile because this goes hard and both Skepta and Plaqueboy Max ride this beat incredibly well. It reminds me of a lot of those club dance big beat bangers in the 90s except this one is tighter and goes off harder. Good song. Check this one out.

Yeah best of the week to "Victory Lap". Worst of the week is obviously "Nice to Each other"

ARIA Singles Top 50 Review 23rd June

 No preamble this week mostly because there's just not a lot to say. "Ordinary" by Alex Warren spends a fourteenth week at number one thanks to it's ridiculous lead on sales and streaming, nothing is stopping this song right now.

That includes "Manchild" by Sabrina Carpenter which just isn't doing enough to cut into the margins that "Ordinary" has but enough to keep it ahead of it's opposition so it remained at number two.

"Undressed" by Sombr holds steady at number three while "Love Me Not" by Ravyn Lenae rebounded one to number four, it pushed "Back to Friends" by Sombr back to number five. 

"Pink Pony Club" by Chappell Roan rebounded one spot to number six, it at least stayed ahead of the interminal "Beautiful Things" by Benson Boone which climbed one spot to number seven.

Also on the rebound is "Birds of a Feather" by Billie Eilish up one to number eight while frustratingkly "Lose Control" by Teddy Swims got a streaming boost to move back into the top ten up three to number nine. 

Finally "Die With A Smile" by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars clings to number ten. 

Gains.

So the major gain this week came for "Sapphire" by Ed Sheeran (feat. Arjit Singh) up twenty to twenty one. 

"Mystical Magical" by Benson Boone unfortunately up four to thirty and will probably get another big gain given the album drop last week.

Re-Entries

So I am not particularly thrilled about the two returns this week...points to "Mutt" by Leon Thomas back at forty five. However, what the fuck is the absolutely godawful "Rock That Body" by The Black Eyed Peas doing back at forty seven? Do better, Australia?

Losers

The only big loser of any consequence is Addison Rae's "Fame is a Gun" down thirteen to forty nine. 

I guess I should also mention "Something in the Orange" by Zach Bryan is down twelve spots to thirty nine and "Dreams" by Fleetwood Mac down thirteen places to thirty three

Drop Outs

:Three drop outs and the only one of the three I am sad to see gone is "One Thing" by Lola Young...that song is great and deserved better, The other two are "Revolving Door" by Tate McRae and "Anxiety" by Doechii

New Entries

Just one new entry this week, let's talk about...

20. "No Broke Boys:" by Disco Lines feat Tinashe.

Oh it's nice to have Tinashe on the charts. I just wish it wasn't like this though as this really isn't showing off Tinashe at her best, this song is pulled from her 2024 album "Quantum Baby" and given this oddly weird disco beat that doesn't at all match the energy that the song is shooting for especially when Tinashe declares that this guy is just another groupie of hers which is just ew and that she's got standards now and she doesn't give a fuck about how these guys feel.

Yeah not a good song that's just toxic from start to finish. 

ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart Review. 16th June

 At this point I am not even surprised but considering we did get four new entries that look decently interesting to talk about let's dive into the top ten where for a twelfth week "Ordinary" by Alex Warren reigns supreme at number one, its still got streaming and sales, it's still incredibly comfortable. 

It well and truly survived the debut of "Manchild" by Sabrina Carpenter at number two, now it's doing fine on streaming but remains behind on sales, it'll need to pick up if it's going to challenge for number one.

"Manchild" did have the impact of pushing back most of the rest of the top ten with "Undressed" back to number thtee and "Back to Friends" back at number four both for Sombr.

"Love Me Not" by Ravyn Lenae fell back one to number five with the same happening for the continually underwhelming "Just Keep Watching" by Tate McRae at number six. "Pink Pony Club" by Chappell Roan slipped back to number seven.

Unfortunately bucking the trend of songs losing ground this week is "Beautiful Things" by Benson Boone at number eight, 

"Birds of a Feather" by Billie Eilish slipped two spots to number nine as streaming looks to be finally done with this song. 

Down one to number is "Die With a Smile" by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars.

Gains

"Something in the Orange" by Zach Bryan climbed seven spaces to rebound to twenty seven while his song with Kacey Musgraves "I Remember Everything" got a six spot rebound to thirty eight. "Mystical Magical" by Benson Boone got a six place boost to thirty four...now that's neither mystical or magical...that's just fucking shit, this song is complete ass. 

Losersther

So let's run through a few of these losers because rhere are a few of them with "Wildflower" by Billie Eilish down nine to forty eight. "Revolving Door" by Tate McRae devolved nine spots to forty six. 

"Stargazing" by Myles Smith turned to navel gazing down eight to thirty seven.

"Sports Car" by Tate McRae is in reverse down seven to thirty two. Finally, "Bloodline" by Alex Warren and Jelly Roll went cold down ten to twenty two. 

Drop Outs

Absolutely fine with what dropped out this week with "Pink Skies" by Zach Bryan, "Timeless" by The Weeknd feat. Playboi Carti, "cliche" by MGK and finally "Mutt" by Leon Thomas all gone..am betting some of these will return though. 

New Entries

Four new entries this week, beginning with...

43. "One Thing" by Lola Young

About damn time this song hit the charts! Been surprised how long its taken considering how big "Messy" was so I am quite excited to be able to write about this one especially as I think the song is pretty good! It's a song where Lola is horny and she wants to do all this stuff with her partner and she'll give him that one thing he or she wants from her and the production plays into that whole sexual vibe. I like it, it may not be as instant as "Messy' was but this is still worth your time.

41. "Sapphire" by Ed Sheeran

So "Azizam" was alright, "Old Phone" is a decent song that didn't chart for whatever reason and now we have "Sapphire" and it's catchy helped by the prominence of Indian music and the uncredited appearance by Indian star Arjit Singh. All up, it does remind me a lot of "Azizam" especially in terms of both songs really lacking in content or substance to really cling on to, that's all

36. "Fame is a Gun" by Addison Rae.

Look, Addison Rae is an act that leaves me with not a lot to say about her music, she's one of those acts who leans a lot on her influences without doing anything to make herself a distinct presence within pop music and this song is no different...it reminds me a lot of Charli XCX rather than Sheila E's "The Glamourous Life" of which this was supposed to be an interpolation of except with Addison Rae's breathy cooing which honestly does nothing for me especially when the lyrics are mixed barrel of confusing messages, she's getting love from a guy who isn't her type? What? Ugh...at least it's not as bad as...

2. "Manchild" by Sabrina Carpenter.

Brand new single from Sabrina Carpenter for her upcoming new album rather cringely titled "Man's Best Friend" and unfortunately I really do not like this song at all, it's too breezy, cutesy and cheery to be anything other than a sickeningly sugar pop song with some forced country touches thanks to the weird half assed twang Jack Antonoff slides in. Manchildren are some of the most annoying and exhausting people to deal with, they are just utterly tiresome yet there's no tired frustration or sad exhaustion that the relationship fell apart, it's just Sabrina playing it off with all the sadness of a Full House episode where Michelle Tanner gets her sisters DJ and Stephanie in trouble because Danny thinks Michelle is too little to make trouble...ugh.

Yeah..."Manchild" is the worst of the week. Best of the week also falls out easy...that's going to "One Thing" by Lola Young.

ARIA Singles top 50 Chart Review: 9th June

 Look, I know change is finally on the horizon but my god even if I have mixed opinions on the new Sabrina Carpenter song, the arrival of "Manchild" will be very welcome next week even though we do have a new entry to our top ten this week so let's get to the top ten where for an eleventh week "Ordinary" by Alex Warren remains at number one and honestly, it just looks a comfortable number one right now, the numbers indicate it will keep number one when "Manchild" debuts on the chart on Friday. 

The open question is of how "Manchild" will affect Sombr's "Undressed" at number two and "Back to Friends" at number three for another week. All indications are there could be some swings and roundabouts there.

"Love Me Not" by Ravyn Lenae remains stranded at number four and I am getting the feeling that this song has peaked but it did hold up over the new entry from Tate McRae at number five called "Just Keep Watching", more thoughts on this song later but I wouldn't be surprised if this is settling in for a decent run in the top ten. 

It pushed "Pink Pony Club" by Chappell Roan down one to number six as it's streaming looks to have peaked at least on Spotify.  "Birds of a Feather" by Billie Eilish also got pushed down one to number seven. 

Sadly "Beautiful Things" by Benson Boone did rebound one to number eight because we still cannot get rid of this song. geezus, I am sick of Benson Boone and especially this song.

"Die with a Smile" by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars slumped two places to number nine while Bruno's song with Rose "APT" remained at number ten. 

Gains

Biggest gain of the week belongs to "Dreams" by Fleetwood Mac which climbed thirteen places to twenty two while "Revolving Door" by Tate McRae jumped six to thirty seven and "Something in the Orange" by Zach Bryan got a seven place gain to thirty four. 

Re Entries

Look, I was hoping to be done with "Mystical Magical" by Benson Boone and its stanky ass but of course, it's back at number forty.

At least in better news, we got "Azizam" by Ed Sheeran back at forty seven.

Losers

Not too many big losers this week with the biggest being "Party 4 U" by Charli XCX down six places to thirty one. 

Drop Outs.

Four songs dropped out this week with the biggest of those being "Not Like Us" by Kendrick Lamar. 

The other three songs gone are "Ain't No Love in Oklahoma" by Luke Combs,  "I Love You, I'm Sorry" by Gracie Abrams and "I'm the Problem" by Morgan Wallen. 

New Entries

Two new entries this week beginning with...

50. "Shake It to the Max (Fly) (Remix)" by Moliy, Silent Addy, Skillbeng and Shenseea

Yeah, this one is messy and it's probably about as messy as the song  if I am quite honest. Sure. there is a nice afrobeat sound to this but I just find this song way too busy in the production that it makes it hard to come back too but I guess it's at least memorable to some degree, 

5. "Just Keep Watching" by Tate McRae.

So the first of the songs released from the F1 movie soundtrack and like all the songs I've heard from this soundtrack, this fails to match the energy, thrill and excitement that comes with Formula One and motor racing and it's the case with this song, it's bland and Tate McRae does her best with her limited vocal range but dear god, it's mediocre altogether and that might be a problem

I'm not giving out best nor worst this week as I'd struggle to call either song good or bad...just mediocre

ARIA Singles Top 50 Chart Review. 2nd June

 Sigh...it's just getting harder to write about the ARIA singles  chart right now mostly because it's not that interesting. Frankly, All 4 1994 is more interesting than whatever is going on with the top 50 right now and the top ten is the proof of that because the top four held their positions with "Ordinary" by Alex Warren at number one for a tenth week and not looking like losing the top spot any time soon.

Then it's Sombr at number two with "Undressed" and "Back at Friends" at number three while "Love Me Not" by Ravyn Lenae holds steady at number four.

"Pink Pony Club" by Chappell Roan rebounds one two number five, "Birds of A Feather" by Billie Eilish continues hang around up one to number six, it pushed past "Die With a Smile" by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars down one to number seven. 

Then again the rises could be blamed on "That's So True" by Gracie Abrams falling three to number eight, I cannot wait for this song to be out of the top ten...that's how much I hate it, and am utterly sick of it, the same goes for "Beautiful Things" by Benson Boone up one to number nine because nobody with actual taste in music has decided to declare this song's run in the top ten done yet and I wish they would!

Finally "APT" by Rose and Bruno Mars slipped one to number ten. 

Gains

So unfortunately "What I Want" by Morgan Wallen feat. Tate McRae looks like being a thing in our top ten soon as it rose four places to thirteen while Benson Boone's Walk the Moon knock off "Sorry I'm Here For Someone Else" is up eight to thirty four. 

"Mr Brightside" by The Killers climbed seven spots to forty

Re Entries.

Just the one return this week with "Ain't No Love in Oklahoma" by Luke Combs back at 50. 

Losers

A rough week continues for Gracie Abrams because "I Love You, I'm Sorry" slipped twelve places to forty eight. 

"Mutt" by Leon Thomas continues to not catch on as it slipped seven to forty five (given how slow the year has been, I'd wager this will make the year end anyway)

Morgan Wallen's "I'm The Problem" is thankfully fading away as it slips eight to forty two. 

"Stargazing" by Myles Smith stumbled seven to twrnty nine

Drop outs

Three songs dropped out this week and again I have no issue with any of them being gone. "Just In Case" by Morgan Wallen and "Mystical Magical" by Benson Boone are both gone because they both SUCK.

"Austin" by Dasha exited again and will likely be back anyway. 

New Entries

Two new entries this week, lets begin with...

46. "cliche" by MGK

So as Machine Gun Kelly traverses the music genre universe, his latest single lands on some of the most generic pop music imaginable that he just doesn't sound good on and the lyrics are literally just lazily endless cliches to the point I realized it's obvious why this song is called cliche because of the putrid writing that doesn't put any effort in whatsoever and shows just how out of ideas MGK really is...next.

16. "Bloodline" by Alex Warren and Jelly Roll

At this point, you can probably almost make a Billy Joel "We Didn't Start the Fire" style song listing off every single artist that Jelly Roll has collabed with in the past two years and so of course, it's not a surprise that here he is on a song with the artist of the current biggest song in the world right now and much to my surprise, the song is actually pretty decent, it reminds me a lot of Shaboozey's effort in stomp clap combined with touches of Avici but the best part of this song is that Warren and Jelly Roll are just bystanders as they encourage young people to get out of what is likely a toxic dynamic be it a relationship with family, I think it does the sentiment well. Good song. 

Also easy best of the week for "Bloodline" by Alex Warren and Jelly Roll. MGK takes worst of the week for the embarrassment that is "Cliche"

ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart Review. 26th May. It's The Morgan Wallen Show...

 I have been trying to put this off and off for a couple of days mostly because I do not want to talk about Morgan Wallen who had a muted impact on the chart this week and the chart has been as stale and as boring as it is but anyway let's get on with the top ten where for yet another week, "Ordinary" by Alex Warren remains at number one and again I don't see what is going to beat it anytime soon as it is dominant on streaming and sales.

Sombr remains at number two with "Undressed" but its really only got streaming traction driving it forward while Sombr's other top ten hit "Back to Friends" climbed seven spots to number three and again...this is purely because of streaming. 

Same goes for Ravyn Lenae's "Love Me Not" which climbed one to number four however it did push 
"That's So True" by Gracie Abrams back to number five while "Pink Pony Club" by Chappell Roan fell back two to number six. 

"Birds of a Feather" by Billie Eilish seems to finally be falling apart as it slipped one to number seven while "Die With a Smile" by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars rose one spot to number eight.

The final two songs in the top ten both fell two places with "APT" by Rose and Bruno Mars down to nine and "Beautiful Things" by Benson Boone down to number ten. 

Losers

"Not Like Us" by Kendrick Lamar slipped eight to forty eight while "Indigo" by Sam Barber and Avery Anna plunged seven to forty three.

"I Love You, I'm Sorry" by Gracie Abrams took a fourteen place hit to stumble to number thirty six. Doechii's "Anxiety" down seven to twenty five. 44

Gains

So outside of Sombr's "Back to Friends" rising seven places to number three, the only other major gain we had was for "Party 4 U" by Charli XCX which rose eleven places to number twenty seven.

Re-Entries

Shame the one return this week isn't any good with "I'm The Problem" by Morgan Wallen benefiting from the album release to return at number thirty four.

Drop outs

Three drop outs with Lady Gaga's "Abracadabra", Lorde's "What Was That?" and Luke Combs "Ain't No Love in Oklahoma" all leaving this week 

New Entries

Two new entries, both of them by Morgan Wallen, beginning with...

45. "Just In Case" by Morgan Wallen

Let's begin our laborious exploration of the two new Morgan Wallen songs to hit the charts courtesy of the album dropping with this being one of the pre album release singles and honestly compared to the absolute worst on the album, this is fine if not forgettable...it's a song where Wallen is saying he is keeping other women at bay just in case the woman he wants comes back to him and honestly there's just not a lot of charm to this, it just feels gross especially when the cardboard production can barely sell miuch of anything but at least it's better than.///

17. "What I Want" by Morgan Wallen feat. Tate McRae.

So I have a couple of problems with this song, namely the use of trap sounds in Wallen's music, a sound that he said he was going to be steering away from on this album yet it's used in a way here that's not flattering and doesn't help the overall sound especially when that trap percussion comes in...yikes. 

Also Morgan, could you really have not gotten a rising female star in country music to feature on this limp song but had to go for the nearest popstar instead? Could have afforded to help women in country music over a person who is cashing in off being a limp Billie Eilish knock off...ugh.

Anyway, disposing of best of the week this week because neither song is vaguely good enough for that but I am going to give worst of the week to "What I Want" for being a boring husk of a song.

ARIA Singles Chart Top 50. May 19th

 Anaother slow week on the chart but considering something of a Morgan Wallen mini album bomb is expected next week, I'll take a slow week where i can get it at the moment so let's not waste any more time and get stuck into the top ten where for yet another week "Ordinary" by Alex Warren remains at number one for yet another week and really when it's dominant across both sales and streaming.

"Undressed" by Sombr remains steady at number two because it's strong on streaming but not quite the same level as "Ordinary" on sales. 

The rest of the top five also held steady with "That's So True" by Gracie Abrams at number three, "Pink Pony Club" by Chappell Roan at number four and "Love Me Not" by Raven Lenae at number five.

"Birds of a Feather" by Billie Eilish rebounded one place to number six, it effectively pushed past "Apt" by Rose and Bruno Mars which slipped one spot to number seven.

A source of clear frustration is "Beautiful Things" by Benson Boone continued to bounce around up two places to number eight although I think that is due to our lone new entry this week, it did push "Die With a Smile" by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars slipped one place to number nine.

Sombr's second song on the chart "Back to Friends" spends it's first week inside the top ten up two spots to number ten. 

Gains

The unfortunate big gain of the week is "Blue Strips" by Jessie Murph is up fourteen places to seventeen for some unknown reason...the song is fucking terrible.

"Stargazing" by Myles Smith rebounded eight slots to twenty one while "Iris" by Goo Goo Dolls climbed seven spots to twenty six. "Timeless" by The Weeknd feat. Playboi Carti got a remix with Doechii so that's up twenty to twenty nine for some inexplicable reason.

Losers

The only major loser this week was unsurprisingly "What Was That?" by Lorde which utterly collapsed twenty four spots to forty five. 

Drop Outs

"Azizam" bv Ed Sheeran is our only exit this week. 

New Entries

Just the one new entry this week, let's dive into...

46. "Mystical Magical" by Benson Boone

Look I was charitable to Benson Boone's latt single mostly for the fact that it does sound like a Walk The Moon knock off especially on the verses but I cannot excuse this mess of a song because my god, Benson Boone is at his most screechy here to the point it's just actively irritating for me especially as the song gravitates toward squealing irritation which sits closer to Jessie Murph on "Blue Strips". Blergh...skip it.

So that wraps this week. Hopefully we get some good songs debuting soon because I am a bit tired of being negative but yeah it's Morgan Wallen next week so...ughh...

ARIA Singles Chart Top 50. May 12th.

 We finally got some change to our top ten this week! Just a shame that this week also brought one of the worst songs to debut on the chart in recent memory but we'll get to that because let's get to the top ten where of course for yet another week "Ordinary" by Alex Warren remains at number one and really at this point, it's so strong on sales and streaming and while that is the case, I don't see anything getting near it. 

However there is a new number two this week with "Undressed" by Sombr climbing nine places as it also has strong streaming, it's just a question of if it's sales can catch up to it's streaming. It did help push "That's So True" by Gracie Abrams back one to number three and "Pink Pony Club" by Chappell Roan to number four.

"Love Me Not"  by Ravyn Lenae climbed up seven places to number five and seems to have some decent momentum behind it which I am absolutely delighted about. I still like this song a lot. 

All that was enough to  see "APT" by Rose and Bruno Mars slide two places to number six while "Birds of a Feather" by Billie Eilish held steady at number seven. 

Finally looking to be on the way out of the top ten is "Die With a Smile' by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars which stumbled two places to numnber eight while former number one "Messy" by Lola Young fell back one place to number nine.

"Beautiful Things" by Benson Boone continues to cling to the top ten like a poo on a string refusing to fall into the toilet but it did fall five places to number ten.

Gains

Sombr's gains continued outside the top ten as "Back to Friends" climbed seven places to number twelve. 

Gracie Abrams tour of Australia sees continued gains for "I Love You, I'm Sorry", this time up fifteen places to eighteen.

Alex Warren's "Carry You Home" climbed eight places to twenty four which makes sense as people are looking to hear other songs from the artist currently at number one. 

I don't really have an explanation for why "Stargazing" by Myles Smith is up twenty places to twenty nine or "Too Sweet"by Hozier is up sixteen to thirty two.

Losers

It would seem the public are finally done with Dasha's "Austin" so that's down eight to number 50. 

Tate McRae's "Revolving Door" collapsed ten spots to forty. I am surprised this has stuck around this long considering how uninterested people have been in 2025 music. 

"Sorry I'm here for Someone Else" by Benson Boone slumped seven to forty one while "Abracadabra" by Lady Gaga also slid ten places to thirty eight. "Iris" by Goo Goo Dolls fell nine to thirty three.

Finally and most unsurprisingly, "What Was That?" by Lorde tumbled twelve spots to twenty one. 

New Entries

One new entry this week...shame it's...

31. "Blue Strips" by Jessie Murph

I was dreading this song turning up on the chart having heard what a few critics have had to say about it and yeah, let me add this blog to those critics because this song absolutely blows blue strips and blue whatever else...that's how miuch this song absolutely sucks, Jessie Murph sounds nasal as hell and that multi tracking tacked to her vocals isn't improving her "singing" in this revenge fantasy where she's wanting to get  back at somebody and the instrumentation cannot sell any of it convincingly. This is one of the worst songs of the year to chart thus far. Please do not let this crap become a hit.

Yeah obvious worst of the week here. There's so much better music that could  be charting instead of this like Tyne-James Organ's "One Way Ticket"

ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart Review: 28th April

 So we have a quiet week in prospect here, one that has absolutely no new entries and some beyond frustrating shifts in our top ten, I got to say Australia, you guys love to cling to songs longer than ever now but let's start with the top ten where for yet another week "Ordinary" by Alex Warren hangs onto the number one spot, it's got sales and streaming margins to hold up ahead of "Pink Pony Club" by Chappell Roan which finally pushed it's way up to number two to become Chappell's highest ever charting single.

It pushed "APT" by Rose and Bruno Mars down to number three as it is losing steam big time on streaming, expect some larger falls for this in the weeks ahead if streaming continues to fall off.

Streaming is to blame for the continued rebound of fucking "Beautiful Things" by Benson Boone, why are we continuing to entertain this shitstain of a song in the top ten? Regardless, it's up two to number four because people still haven't moved on from this..

"Die With A Smile" by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars slipped one to number five as it's slowly but finally appearing to look unsteady, same could be said of "That's So True" by Gracie Abrams down one to number six. 

"Messy" by Lola Young rebounded one spot to number seven because it got a little sales boost this week likewise did "Birds of a Feather" by Billie Eilish at number eight. 

Both did enough to push past "Nokia" by Drake down two spots to number nine while back in the top ten this week is "A Bar Song (Tipsy)" by Shaboozey which returned to the top ten at number ten up two spots mostly because people still aren't letting go of songs like this one. 

Gains

Now to the big moves outside the top ten with two of them coming for Sombr with "Undressed" up eleven places to fourteen and "Back to Friends" up eight places to twenty four.

"Love Me Not" by Ravyn Lenae broke into the top twenty at number twenty while Fleetwood Mac's "Dreams" rebounded up seven to number twenty eight. 

"Revolving Door" by Tate McRae also up eight to thirty two because we don't know how to make the good Tate McRae songs hits, she had better on that damn album.

On the theme of old songs rising "Something in the Orange" by Zach Bryan jumped eight places to thirty five while the never ending chart run of "Riptide" by Vance Joy continues as it jumped eight to thirty six, "Mr Brightside" by The Killers rebounded eight to forty.

Our lone new entry from last week also climbed eight places this week off it's debut that being "Sorry I'm Here for Someone Else" by Benson Boone up to forty two.

Re-Entries

Three returns with "Where the Wild Things Are" by Luke Combs back at number forty nine while "Stick Season" by Noah Kahan re-emerged at forty eight and "Pink Skies" by Zach Bryan skap back in at number forty five.

Losers

The only major loser this week is Ed Sheeran's "Azizam" which lost all it's streaming traction to plummet to thirty places to fifty. Ouch. 

Also saw "Timeless" by The Weeknd and Playboi Carti down eight to forty one while "Taste" by Sabrina Carpenter also hit an eight place skid to hit twent eight. 

Drop Outs

As for our drop outs this week, I am a little disappointed that we lost "Twilight Zone" by Ariana Grande but when both "Busy Woman" by Sabrina Carpenter and "Dark Thoughts" by Lil Tecca are gone too, I guess I can't complain too hard. 

So with there being no new entries to talk about that wraps up this week, we'll likely see the new single from Lorde debut alongside goodness knows what espercially if we do get that album bomb from Morgan Wallen in a few weeks. 

ARIA Singles Chart top 50. 21st April.

 So this week felt slow as hell not just because we only have one new entry but because it felt slower like the charts are just grinding to a slow crawl akin to holiday traffic in gridlock especially as some older songs are making some seriously frustrating gains however before we get to all that. let's go through the top ten where for yet another week, it's "Ordinary" by Alex Warren at number one, while it's not number one on sales,

It held up ahead of "APT" by Rose and Bruno Mars which is slowly fading on streaming and looks no chance of re-taking number one, it's probably more under threat from "Piml Pony Club" by Chappell Roan which spent the week being consistent in all areas to climb one spot to number three. 

Lady Gaga's Australian tour announcement saw "Die With A Smile" rebound five to nuimber four while 'That's So True" by Gracie Abrams slipped one to five thanks to weakness on streaming.

Whar's also rebounding much to my disgust is "Beautiful Things" by Benson Boone which climbed two places to number six. Please do NOT let this shit become another fucking "Heatwaves", Australia, I am warning you. 

"Nokia" by Drake slipped two to seven mostly because sales slipped and streaming isn't quite holding it up as much as I had expected.

Also down two to number eight is "Messy" by Lola Young and "Birds of a Feather" by Billie Eilish to number nine. 

Wrapping up the top ten, we have "Luther" by Kendrick Lamar and SZA up two to number ten. 

Gains

:Outside of the top ten, there was a ten place gain to twenty for "Azizam" by Ed Sheeran, this song has hit written all over it. 

"The Door" by Teddy Swims rebounded six places to twenty six while Sombr's "Back to Friends" rose seven to thirty two. 

Older songs also had good sized gains which is frustrating to a degree with "Too Sweet" by Hozier up nine to thirty eight and "Austin" by Dasha up eight to thirty seven.

Re Entries

Just the one return this week with "Abracadabra" by Lady Gaga back in the top fifty after Gaga's Australian tour announcement at twenty eight. 

Losers

The biggest loser this week was unsurprisingly "Twilight Zone" by Ariana Grande which just utterly collapsed twenty five places to forty six while "Dark Thoughts" by Lil Tecca slipped fourteen places to forty seven. 

Drop Outs.

Just the two drop outs with long running hit "Pink Skies" by Zach Bryan and a debutant from last week "Caramel" by Sleep Token exiting the chart.

New Entries

Just the one new entry this week with...

50. "Sorry I'm Here for Someone Else" by Benson Boone

Look, I don't have a lot of time for Benson Boone's whiny gen z music and "Beautiful Things" remains an absolute abomination to this day and I cannot understand why that song is still taking up space in the top ten despite the song still being a caterwauling disaster and "Slow It Down" is also terrible however I will say that this song is slightly better in that Boone doesn't go down the path of obnoxiously caterwauling and this song does have a  nice melody and bassline to it even if Boone still sounds like a smug douche. Ehh, take it or leave.

No best or worst of the week. 

ARIA Singles top 50 Chart Review: 14th April.

 Look. going to skip over any preamble as I do have a fair bit happening in real life right now so let's start with our top ten where for yet another week and it's got challengers coming at it from all angles as it's not really comfortable in any platform, I am actually surprised it's still at number one!

"APT" by Rose and Bruno Mars refuses to go away as it remained at number two. Streaming helped "Pink Pony Club" by Chappell Roan rose one spot to number three as it spent the week gaining on sales and streaming. 

Also not going away is "That's So True" by Gracie Abrams which slipped one to number four because like "APT", it's still got streaming somehow. 

Up five to number five is "Nokia" by Drake, it's got decent sales and streaming, its looking like it could make a surge for number one at some point. 

The next four retained their positions with "Messy" by Lola Young at number six, "Birds of a Feather" by Billie Eilish at number seven, "Beautiful Things" by Benson Boone at number eight and "Die With A Smile" by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars at number nine.

Finally rounding out the top ten is "Anxiety" by Doechii which slipped five places because while it's doing well on sales, it's losing big time on streaming to the songs above it. 

Gains. 

So the Gains this week feel like a smaller lot than last week, we only had a nine place gain for "Undressed" by Sombr to twenty six and "Love Me Not" by Ravyn Lenae up seven to twenty five. 

Re Entries

As for returning songs, we only saw "Stargazing" by Myles Smith back at forty three. 

Losers 

"I Love You, I'm Sorry" by Gracie Abrams slid six places to forty six while "Riptide" by Vance Joy is finally starting to fade away six places to forty two.

Tate McRae's "Revolving Door"  spun down seven places to thirty four while "Dark Thoughts" by Lil Tecca lived up to it's name sliding down nine to thirty three.

Teddy Swims chart run with "The Door" had doors slammed six times down to thirty two. 

Drop Outs

So four drop outs this week with two non starters leaving those being deluxe edition track from Ariana Grande in "Dandelion" and Chappell Roan's "The Giver".

The other exits were longer running hits like "Denial is a River" by Doechii and "TV Off" by Kendrick Lamar. 

New Entries

Three new entries this week, beginning with.

39. "Back to Friends" by Sombr

Ahh so it's time to talk about the Sombr song that gained traction recently that I am a little bit cooler towards mostly due to that weird buzz that seems to cause more of a distraction than anything else on the song which is a shame because Sombr seems to have otherwise good production instincts even if the writing on this song can feel a btt similar in subject matter to "Undressed" and his vocals are allowed to breath in the mix. All in all, not a bad song just one I am unlikely to revisit., 

36. "Caramel" by Sleep Token

Here we go, another run in with Sleep Token and I am a bit more trepidatious about this song especially as I didn't like "Emergence" and unfortunately, it's the same sterile trying to mix heavier metal sounds with pop and r'n'b that just doesn't click with me at all and it just sounds messy at best and weirdly discordant while being sludgy at points, as a result it just winds up not being fun to listen to at all. Next!

30. "Azizam" by Ed Sheeran

We wrap up this week with the lead single from Ed Sheeran's upcoming new album "Play" and well... it is one of Ed's better pop sell out singles with what amounts to a dance pop song with Persian influences. The lyrics are pretty basic love song stuff with Sheeran asking his dear to meet him on the dancefloor if she's interested in playing the romance game but yeah, I dig this a fair bit, definitely better than "Shape of You" and "Eyes Closed" in terms of lead singles.

"Azizam" by Ed Sheeran gets the best of the week. Worst of the week goes to "Caramel" by Sleep Token...that song just does absolutely nothing for me.