ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart. 21st September. The One With references to Nicole Kidman

 Nopreamble this week because there's ust not much to say, as per usual, it's "Choosin' Texas" by Ella Langley ruling the roost at number one, it's pretty much had sales and streaming on lock every week and that may not change until Taylor Swift's new single that's being released on Friday.

The top six held position with "Rein Me In" by Sam Fender and Olivia Dean at number two, "Man I Need" by Olivia Dean at number three, "Ordinary" by Alex Warren at number four, "Boston" by Stella Lefty at number five and "Stupid Song" by Olivia Rodrigo at number six. 

Unfortunately "Earrings" by Malcolm Todd rebounded two spots to number seven while "Love Me Not" by Ravyn Lenae returns to the top ten up three to number eight (seems faitly endemic of what is wrong with the charts), it did force "Loser" by Tame Impala back two slots to number ten and "The Cure" by Olivia Rodrigo down two to number ten.

Losers

So the biggest loser this week was Bruno Mars wth "Risk It All" down twenty four to forty three and "I Just Might" down fourteen to forty one.

Meanwhile "Fever Dream" by Alex Warren down ten to forty nine.

Drop Outs

So we do have two drop outs this week with the biggest being "Dai Dai" by Shakira and Burna Boy (miracle it lasted this long on the top 50, the other being "My Body Isn't Ready" by Sombr.

Gains

There isn't much in the way of gains this week with the biggest being the eleven place gain for "Stop the Wedding" by Ashe to thirty six.

Re-Entries

Just the one return this week with "Undressed" by Sombr back at number forty eight. 

New Entries

14. "Nicole Kidman" by ADELA

So I still don't like "Ain't in LA" all that much, it's still this wispy insubstantial song that is below the grade of song that Adela is capable of as proven by her EP last year "Mr Provocateur" and look this is only slightly better than "Ain't In La" because it yet again feels like she's playing down to what her label thinks are acceptable non challenging standards for the mainstream with that sample amd that cooing vocal delivery that plays more for Ariana Grande. Ugh. I think I am going to skip this one too. 

That wraps our week. Next week...well I would have said something from Miley Cyrus but that doesn't seem likely so we'll have to see. 

Pretty Fly (For 1999), 19th September. One More Tasty Chance Everywhere

 Alright, let's get this party started because we have a new number one, knocking Pearl Jam's "Last Kiss" from number one is Lou Bega's catchy as hell "Mambo No. 5", now this song is selling like hotcakes as it climbed the six places to reach the top of the chart summit.

It had the impact of pushing "Last Kiss" by Pearl Jam back to number two as it just couldn't compete on sales and places "If Ya Gettin' Down" by Five down to number three in an awkward place...it's run for the top might be over at this point.

Slipping one to number four is "When You Say Nothing at All" by Ronan Keating while "Genie In a Bottle" by Christina Aguilera climbed one to number five.

It pushed "Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom!" by Vengaboys down one to number six while the big loser in all the reshuffling is "All Star" by Smash Mouth which tumbled three places to number seven. 

Rising one spot to number eight is "Wild Wild West" by Will Smith while up four to number nine is "2 Times" by Ann Lee, still not a fan of "2 Times"...just sounds a bit twee to me but anyway.

Finally slipping two to number ten is "Sweet Like Chocolate" by Shanks & Bigfoot.

Losers

So we begin with "Westside" by TQ diving ten slots to forty nine while "Love's Got a Hold On My Heart" by Steps fell seven to forty four. 

"Animal" by Jebediah slipped nine to forty.

Former number one "Kiss Me" by Sixpence None the Richer tumbled ten to thirty one while "Nookie" by Limp Bizkit fell nine to twenty eight. 

Finally, Killing Heidi's "Weir" fell ten to twenty four. 

Gains

We got a decent amount of gains this week beginning with "She's So High" by Tal Bachman up from thirty two to thirteen. 

We also saw Enrique Iglesias get a nice twelve place boost to fifteen with "Bailamos" off that debut last week (More on the Iglesias family in the new entries) while the absolutely excellent "Unpretty" by TLC rose from twenty nine to sixteen this week. 

"When I Grow Up" by Garbage jumped seven to thirty five.

New Entries

Six new entries starting most interestingly with...

50. "Forgiven" by Ben Harper and The Innocent Criminals

Ben Harper is an American singer song-writer and multi instrumentalist, he has been active in the music scene since 1992. This particular song coming from Harper's album "Born to Shine" and well...I am not a fan of the production here especially when the guitars somewhat bury Ben Harper's vocals in tbe mix and leaves the song feeling somewhat underweight.whch is a shame because the content is actually really damn good, the narrator is opening themselves up to forgiving whatever this other person has done and giving this perosn space to come back into the narrator's life. 

I wish this was better that's all. 

46. "One More Chance" by Julio Iglesias Jr. 

So we have another member of the Iglesisas family on the chart, this time it's Julio Iglesias Jr who is the son of Julio Iglesias and brother of recent chart debutant Enrique. Julio Jr's song here has a lot of elements that do work like that incredible backing vocals from the woman at the beginning and the slow build but I feel like it's Julio Jr's vocals that are the problem here, they just don't impress me, they sound like somebody who has been smoking twenty packs of cigarettes a week and that's a shame because I really like everything else about the song here. Not going to lie...bit disappointed. 

45. "Tasty" by Ilanda

First of three Australian songs this week comes from Ilanda, with this the follow up to "It's Our Time" and well.. this song is somewhat worse even if this sounds likr an *NSYNC song with more sound effects than is necessary and I do suspect that this song is all about getting the freak on between the sheets aka eating bis partner out and he likes her being tasty and nasty at the same time which makes the production feel somewhat less sexy...actually screw that...makes the song feel horribly gross and not as sexy as anyone in Ilanda thinks...eww...let's move on.

39. "Everywhere You Go" by Taxiride

Oh hey, it's the second single from Taxiride and given how much I think "Get Set" is great, I was hoping that the second single would be as good and you know what? I think this does get there, this is a soaring pop rock song that still features some pretty terrific harmonies and a sticky central hook, also this song goes through some gear shifts and changes in sound that make this song somewhat compelling melodically. Also the content is pretty sweet with it all about reassuring a person that no matter where they go, somebody will always be with  them in spirit without holding them back. First really damn great song of the week and Taxiride are on fire right now! Check this out.

26. "Bills, Bills, Bills" by Destiny Child

The newcomer to the ARIA top 50 of the week is Destiny's Child...an American R'n'B girl group out of the good old US of A, they've had two previous singles peak outside of the top 50 in Australia with this single from their second album "Writing's on the Wall" being the first to chart inside the Australian top 50 and I hate saying but this song is kind of lousy, I just hate how slimy and kind of gross this beat sounds paired with the voices of the girls, the only one who can remotely sell this is Beyonce who proves to have some serious vocal chops but yeah, they can ask others to pay their bills because I ain't comng back to this. 

17. "Miss You Love" by Silverchair

Finishing a long week with the newest single from "Diorama" by Silverchair and it's probably one of Silverchair's better ballads especially with the way instrumentation allows for Daniel Johns vocals to shine here, he sounds incredible. As for the lyric cntent of the song, its aimed at discussing the societal expectations of what showing love looks like and what affection looks like emotionally or feeling numbness. Really,there isn't that muh to say givn how good the song is. Check it out.

That wraps thhe week with the worst of the week going to "Bills, Bills, Bills" by Destiny's Child. Best of the week is going to "Everywhere You Go" by Taxi ride but it was a close go between it and "Miss You Love" by Silverchair.

ARIA Singles Top 50 Chart Review. 14th September. The One Where AI Messes Up Sun Dreams

Alright diving straight into the top ten where for yet another week, it's 
"Choosin' Texas' by Ella Langley at number one and there's no end in sight for this song's reign at the top especially now with a Drake and Don Toliver remix on the way (I have heard some of it...it's not good). 

The top six remained the same with "Rein Me In" by Sam Fender and Olivia Dean at number two, "Man I Need" by Olivia Dean at number three, "Ordinary" by Alex Warren at number four, "Boston" by Stella Lefty at number five and "Stupid Song' by Olivia Dean at number six.

Rebounding one slot to number seven is Tame Impala's "Loser" which swapped places with "The Cure" by Olivia Rodrigo. "Earrings" by Malcolm Todd and "Self Aware" by Temper City both held position at nine and ten respectively.

Losers

So we did see "ILoveItILoveItILoveIt" by Bella Kay fall thirteen to thirty while "Animal" by Katseye continues its slow tumble down nine to thirty one.

Drop Outs

So we did have four songs drop out with Sombr's "Undressed" perhaps the biggest of the four and he did take "White Keys" by Dominic Fike and "Die on this Hill" by Sienna Spiro with him so that's all good. Also taking its exit is "Weren't for the wind" by Ella Langley.

Gains

So our gains are an odd mix, Bruno Mars saw sizeable gains for both "I Just Might" and "Risk It All" due to his tour of Australia. "Risk It All" climbed nineteen slots back into the top twenty at nineteen while "I Just Might" jumped nine slots to twenty seven. 

Adela's "Ain't in LA' climbed twenty seven spots to be the biggest gainer of the week and breaking into the top twenty at fifteen. 

Also breaking into the top twenty is "Midnight Sun" by Zara Larsson up nine to seventeen. 

Re-Entries

So two songs returned this week with Sombr's "My Body Isnn't Ready" back at number forty nine and "APT" by Rose and Bruno Mars back at forty four. 

New Entries

Two new entries this week beginning unfortunately with...

50. "Moving to the Sun" by Hugel, Imael Angel and Ultra Nate

So in the last few weeks or so, ARIA made a change to the charts that banned tracks deenmed to be 100% AI from the Australian charts, any tracks that have an element or two of AI in them hence i was surprised that this song showed up because this song started life as 100% AI track out of the notorious SUNO AI studios.

French producer Hugel heard the AI version and remade it from scratch in a stadio using actual instruments complete with Afro house grooves and adding vocals from 90s/2000's act Ultra Nate  to the song so hence ARIA allowed it to chart as a result and well...the song still sucks even with the fact it was rebuilt by humans mostly because the lyrics still have that very AI feel to them and there's only so much that Ultra Nate can do here vocally to make the lyrics make sense because what the hell is "I'm moving to the sun, I did it all the time"?

Yeah, the sooner this song is off the charts the better for all concerned. Hugel needs to find better songs to jump on here because this ain't it. Fuck AI.

47. "Stop the Wedding!" by Ashe.

Took long enough for Ashe to land another charting song on the ARIA singles chart, she charted with a Niall Horan remix of her song  "Moral Of the Story" back in 2020  which peaked at number forty four. .Now she's got this song going viral and this song has one hell of an interesting premise that you don't often hear in a pop song, a song that's all about someone wanting to stop the weddbecause they realize that the relationship feels wrong and going to a commitment for life to that person would be a mistake and the production does play up some of the tension and drama around taking such a decision to stop or cancel a wedding with the faster guitars on the verses etc, I am not crazy abut the chorus of this song but you know what? It's solid enough song with a premise you don't often see on the charts which is probably why it's going viral right now.

That ends our week and "Stop the Wedding" by Ashe is the easy best of the week. "Moving to the Sun" by Hugel, Imael Angel and Ultra Nate is the easy worst of the week.

Next week, I imagine we'll probably see Adela with a song or two from her album chart...

ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart. 7th September. The One Where There's Very Little To Say

 Alright, this one is going to be brief because there were again no new entries and...I am kind of disappointed by the fact that Alex Warren's "Emerald Eyes" didn't debut.but anyway let's get into the top ten where of course there's no change at the top where "Choosin' Texas" by Ella Langley rules the roost for yet another week, it's still a monster, sales and streaming.

Hence it held up easily over "Rein Me In" by Sam Fender and Olivia Dean at numbder two which effectively swapped positions with "Man I Need" by Olivia Dean which slipped back to number three. 

Same goes for Alex Warren's "Ordinary" jumping back up one slot to number four and "Boston" by Stella Lefty falling back to number five.

"Stupid Song" by Olivia Rodrigo held steady at number six while Rodrigo's other top ten hit right now "The Cure" rebounded two slots to number seven. 

"Loser" by Tame Impala also held firm at number eight although I really would like to see this leave the top ten quickly now. the same goes for "Earrings" by Malcolm Todd which fell two to number nine.

Finally remaining steady at number ten is "Self Aware" by Temper City.

Losers

Former number one "Animal" by Katseye fell nine slots to twenty two while "Oh yeah?" by Steve Lacy hit a thirteen slot rough patch back to twenty nine. 

Olivia Rodrigo's "Drop Dead' slipped eight to thirty five while F3miii's "Noble" suffered a ten place skid to forty nine. 

Drop Outs

So we did see four songs drop out, those being "Some of Your Love" by PartyNextDoor, "Petal" by Ariana Grande, "Baby Steps" by Olivia Dean and maybe the biggest drop out of the four..."Stateside" by PinkPantheress and Zara Larsson.

Gains

So most of our big gains were for older songs however "Midnight Sun" by Zara Larsson climbed ten to twenty six.

Bruno Mars tour of Australia also saw "I Just Might" rise fourteen off it's return to number thirty six. 

The two older songs that saw major boosts were "Back to Friends" by Sombr up twelve to sixteen and "Where is My Husband" by RAYE up ten to fifteen. 

Re-Entries

Four returns this week with album release impact seeing Alex Warren's "Fever Dream" back at thirty one although he also saw the return of "Carry You Home" at forty six.

Bruno Mars had "Risk It All" back at number thirty eight while finally Sombr's "Undressed" is back at fifty.

With there being no new entries to talk about that wraps this week. Next week could be as quiet as this week because unless streaming picks up...I do not see the new Miley Cyrus single charting but we'll have to see. 

ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart. 31st August. The one where normal service is resumed aka Ella's number one

 Little point in messing around, let's jump straight into the top ten where "Choosin' Texas" by Ella Langley returns to number one as it continues to hold sway on sales and streaming. 

"Man I Need" by Olivia Dean returned to number two while "Rein Me In" by Sam Fender and Olivia Dean rebounded to number three.

Rising two slots to number four is "Boston" by Stella Lefty...can we not let this song rise any further, Australia...please/

Staying steady at number five is "Ordinary" by Alex Warren while "Stupid Song" by Ollivia Rodrigo rebounded two slots to number six. 

Returning to number seven up three is "Earrings" by Malcolm Todd, it moved past "Loser" by Tame Impala which slipped one to number eight,

"The Cure" by Olivia Rodrigo remained steady at number nine. Finally, arriving in the top ten this week is "Self Aware" by Temper City which climbed two slots to..unfortunately...hit number ten this week...ugh.

Losers

Two major losers this week with "Petal" by Ariana Grande slipping ten to forty two, mostly because I think people are still clinging to "Hate That I Made You Love Me" which is understandable as "Petal" is pretty lousy.

The other major loser is last week's number one "Animal" by Katseye which fell twelve lots thirteen.

Drop Outs

This week saw four songs leave with Sombr's "My Body Isn't Ready" and "Undressed" gone alongside "Been by Now" by Morgan Wallen and "The Days (Notion Remix" by Chrystal. 

Gains

Not much in the way of gains this week with the biggest gain being a fifteen place jump for "Great Expectation" by Sienna Spiro to fifteen for some reason. That song is not any good for goodness sake!

Re-Entries

Three returns this week beginning with "I Just Might" by Bruno Mars at fifty, "Baby Steps" by Olivia Dean at forty nine and "Die on This Hill" by Sienna Spiro at forty eight. 

New Entries

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

32. "Some of Your Love" by PartyNextDoor

So when I saw this debuted, I rolled my eyes, it's not like PartyNextDoor as a artist is a goldmine of personality and he was worse than Drake on "Some Sexy Songs 4 U" and yeah, it's no different here with the production that ensures that this song could have been done better by The Weeknd especially with that guitar and PartyNextDoor is using Jesus Christ turning water into wine on the second verse to justify his love of alcohol which is just weird as hell so no this song sucks.

That's our week and man alive, the charts suck right now. Next week could be anything...I guess maybe Alex Warren? We'll have to see. 

ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart Review: 24th August The One Where I'm Confused.

 So this week confounded and confused me in one way and yet it seems like another very stagnant, slow week on the ARIA singles chart however where the confusing and confounding comes in is right at the very top because we have a new number one..it's "Animal" by Katseye and I am not really sure how because it's not like it's been even close to "Choosin' Texas" by Ella Langley which slipped back to number two this this week on sales or streaming unless "Animal" got some incredible traction on Youtube...just a weird one. 

Anyway "Man I Need" remained steady at number three while "Rein Me In" by Sam Fender and Olivia Dean slipped back two to number four,

"Ordinary" by Alex Warren fell back one to number five while "Boston" by Stella Lefty hit a new peak rising two to to number six.

There was also a new peak for "Loser" by Tame Impala up four to mimber seven. "Stupid Song" by Olivia Rodrigo slipped back two to number eight while "The Cure" also by Olivia Rodrigo remained at number nine.

Finally "Earrings" by Malcolm Todd stumbled three spots to number ten. Can only hope this means the song exits the top ten next week. We deserve that piece of good news, surely?

Losers

So if you are wondering where "Hate That I Made You Love Me" by Ariana Grande went, it fell six places to number eleven. "Daisies" by Justin Bieber fell seven to thirty four. 

The biggest fall of the week was "Petal" by Ariana Grande which got dumped twenty two spots to thirty two. 

Drop Outs

Three songs took their exits this week with "Sailor Song" by Gigi Perez and "Die On This Hill" by Sienna Spiro taking their exits (again).

The only other exit is "The One That Got Away" by Katy Perry which went to the On Repeat Top 50 Singles Chart

Gains

As for the gains this week, not too many major gains but we did see a twelve place gain for "Oh Yeah?" by Steve Lacy to number thirteen. "Where Is My Husband" by RAYE up seven to twenty two and "Nice to Each Other" by Olivis Dean up seven to twrnty four

Re-Entries

Two songs returned this week, I am particularly pleased to see "My Body Isn't Ready" by Sombr back at number forty eight. Also back this week though is the still incredibly annoying "The Days (Notion Remix)" by Chrystal.

New Entries

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

46. "Ain't in LA" by Adela

Oh I have been waiting for this chart debut to happen, I was expecting it sooner than this though, for those who don't know, Adela is a Slovakian singer-songwriter and dancer, she rose to prominence on 2023 show Dream Academy (yes, same show that spawned the birth of Katseye) and she actually put out an EP called The Provocateur around the same time last year that got a lot of praise and attention...now that really wasn't to my taste but I got why she was so highly thought of so I was curious when "Ain't In LA" the latest single from her upcoming debut album "La Prima" due out next week, I was curious and...

I'm sorry but I am not a fan of this at all, this just sounds like it's been melting in the California sun on a freeway between the California desert and Nevada.because right from the opening this reminds me of god damn "23" by Mike Will Made It especially with the creepy ass male vocal that sounds slimy as fact while Adela pontificates that the maybe the baddest bitches aren't in L.A over one of the more lethargic beats imaginable.

Yeah, this bis is disappointing. Skip it

It's also the worst of the week. No best of the week because we only had the one new debut.

Next week...oh god...PartyNextDoor...maybe Olivia Rodrigo could notch an early debut with her new song...

ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart Review. 17th August The one where Best of the Week is not one of the new entries

Lets dive into this week because not that much changed especially in the top ten. "Choosin' Texas" by Ella Langley continues to rule the chart at number one. It's still a strong sales and streaming leader...nothing is getting near it. 

That includes "Rein Me In" by Sam Fender and Olivia Dean which jumped two places to retake number two thanks mostly to a decent week on sales. "Man I Need" by Olivia Dean held firm at number three.

Continuing to hang around like a venereal disease that refuses to go away, "Ordinnary" by Alex Warren up three to number four because Australians apparently don't realize new music exists. 

Slipping three to five is Ariana Grande's "Hate That I Made You Love Me", more on Ariana later. "Stupid Song" by Olivia Rodrigo held firm at number six. "Earrings" by Malcolm Todd rrebounded two slots to return to it's peak of number seven. 

 There's a new arrival to the top ten...sadly...it's "Boston" by Stella Lefty which climbed three to number eight. The less said the better. "The Cure" by Olivia Rodrigo rebounded one spot to number nine.

All off this is because "Petal" by Ariana Grande slumped five spots to number ten. 

Losers

So there's not much to talk about in the way of losers this week with the biggest unsurprisingly being "Dai Dai" by Shakira and Burna Boy down twenty five slots to thirty eight. 

Other than that most songs regained position thanks to the recedation of the Ariana Grande album bomb

Drop Outs

So the drop outs are just every single album track from Ariana Grande's "Petal"...

Gains

So I don't think it's worth going through every song that rose this week so I am going to do double digit gains and the songs that hit new peaks this week. 

The one double digit gain is "Love Me Not" by Ravyn Lenae up ten to fifteen.

Now onto the new peaks this week with Sienna Spiro seeing traction for "Material Lover" to go up neight to forty one and "Great Expectations" up eleven to thirty four.

Whiskey Myers "Broken Window Serenade" climbed eight to thirty six wbile "Bloodstream" by Alyssa Grace rose one to hit seventeen. and 

Finally Temper City's "Self Aware" jumped three to reach number twelve. 

Re-Entries

With the exit of all the Ariana Grande songs, we have eight songs returning this week and we begin with the unfortunate return of "Die On This Hill" by Sienna Spiro at fifty...seriously this song is rancid...get it off the charts. 

Also back is "Undressed" by Sombr at forty nine, "A Couple Minutes" by Olivia Dean at forty eight, "Been by Now" by Morgan Wallen at forty seven, "Sailor Song" by Gigi Perez (have to think this song is getting close to being moved to the on replay chart) at forty six, "Orbiter" by Noah Kahan at forty five, "Stateside" by Pink Pantheress and Zara Larsson at forty four and finally "Midnight Sun" by Zara Larsson at forty three.

New Entries

Two new entries this week, beginning with....

25. "oh yeah?" by Steve Lacy

Hey Steve Lacy finally turns back up on the chart with a song from his new album that seems to have some momentum on the charts which means I can hope all the Steve Lacy wannabes like Malcolm Todd can go away and while I like this a good deal more than "Earrings", this just feels flat and meandering from Steve Lacy, not helped by the background vocals. I'd skip this,

12. "Loser" by Tame Impala

God damn it. We did not have to go back to "Deadbeat" to grab another Tame Impala song to make a hit because this is complete buns too. Kevin Parker's voice is buried in the mix and production that doesn't evolve or do much over the run time of the song and it doesn't even move out of first gear. Completely underwhelming.

Completely underwhelming describes the week here. Best of the week is going to "Things Take Time" bv Gang of Youths...a song that deserves to be on the charts if we're all about supporting Australian music in this country. Worst of the week is "Loser" by Tame Impala...can't stand how that song sounds

ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart Review 10th August. The One Where I Try To Go As Easy As Possible

 So we got the Ariana Grande album bomb and while I doon't really have a lot to say about the album, I will get to what I have to say about it later so let's dive into the top ten where of course "Choosin' Texas" by Ella Langley continues to rein supreme at number one for another week, it's got streaming and sales on lock at this point and nothing is getting near it.

Not even the album boost for "Hate That I Made You Love Me" by Ariana Grande up four slots to number two, would expect to see this fall back next week however it did push "Man I Need" by Olivia Dean back one to number three and "Rein Me In" by Sam Fender and Olivia back to number four.

The album bomb from Ariana Grande ensured that the album title track and new single "Petal" entered at number five, more on this song later, it did knock "Stupid Song" by Olivia Rodrigo back to number six and "Ordinary" by Alex Warren down three to number seven.

Holding steady at number eight much to my surprise is "Animal" by Katseye, I am okay with it, just surprised. "Earrings" by Malcolm Todd fell two slots to number nine and "The Cure" by Olivia Rodrigo slipped back one to round out the top ten at number ten. 

Losers

So this album bomb didn't force the large scale double digit drops for so many songs this week so I am going to focus on those double digit drops starting with "Noble" by F3miii which slipped fifteen to fifty.

"The One That Got Away" by Katy Perry slipped ten slots to forty six, it was also a ten place drop for "White Keys" by Dominic Fike to forty two. 

"Where is My Husband" by Raye slumped eleven to thirty three and "12 to 12" by Sombr trundled down ten to thirty one. 

"Drop Dead" by Olivia Rodrigo dropped thirteen to twenty nine.

Drop Outs

So because of the album bomb we have a slew of songs dropping out that will in likelihood all be back next week so let's rip through these beginning with "Been By Now" by Morgan Wallen, "Orbiter" by Noah Kahan, "Stateside" by Pink Pantheress feat. Zara Larsson, "Midnight Sun" by Zara Larsson, "I Just Might" by Bruno Mars, "Kingdom of Fear" by Cameron Whitcomb, "Undressed" by Sombr, "Bed on Fire" by G Flip, "Freaked Out" by Fat Papi and prodshushy, "Sailor Song" by Gigi Perez and finally the last of the Olivia Rodrigo album tracks "Honeybee"

Gains

Just the one maor gain this week with it unfortunately being "Bloodstream" by Alyssa Gace which rose eleven slots to eighteen...yay...not

New Entries

So we did get an Ariana Grande album bomb for "Petal" this week so let's go through the debuts that weren't top ten or best or worst of the week. "Nowhere, nobody" at forty eight, 'Warning Signs (interlude)" at forty seven", "never get over me" enters at forty,"freak" at thirty nine "big feelings" at thirty five, "like i do" at twenty two, "stay" at twenty, "all well" at nineteen and "kiss me" at twelve.

All that makes things easier because we now only have two songs to talk about and they are both Ariana Grande songs, beginning with....

43. "Bad Things (Bunny Hop)" by Ariana Grande

So "Petal" as an album is...fine...it's not good but it's not terrible either, if anything is emblematic of an artist making what amounts to be one of the artist's most creatively tired albums to date, I can't imagine Ariana is exactly getting much rest between Wicked and her current tour for her previous album, it kind of reminds me a lot of "The Life of A Showgirl" by Taylor Swift in that both are tired albums from artists who probably should have taken a break post tour/post filming before even writing said albums. 

As for this song, it's one of the better tracks on the album although it's really because it plays close to "Blinding Lights" by The Weeknd in it's sound and even if Ariana's vocals sound tired and bored, I can tolerate this. Good song. At least, it's better than...

5. "Petal" by Ariana Grande.

I knew this was going to be bad when somebody mentioned that it sounded like "7 Rings", a song that I still hate to this very day, and yeah this does remind me of "7 Rings" with that drippy synth line and production that can barely hold itself together and Ariana sounding frail as all hell in the mix. 

I hope time away helps Ariana to get better and time erases this song. 

It's easy worst of the week. "Bad Things (Bunny Hop)" gets best of the week. Keeping the reviews short and sharp this week, really felt uncomfortable even talking about Ariana right now especially with how horrible the discourse around her has been. 

Next week...huh...the fall out and what could be a quiet week. Stay tuned for the next episode of "Pretty Fly (For 1999)" as well!

ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart Review. 3rd August. The One Where Forgettable Is the Word

 So this week is a stagnant sludge pool, the top ten barely moved at all apart from the new entry with some questionable quality that entered in the lowe half of the top ten that forced some change but anyway let's dive into it because for yet another week, it's "Choosin' Texas" by Ella Langley at number one and again, it's still dominant on sales and streaming that nothing is getting close to it. 

"Man I Need" by Olivia Dean remains at number two because it's on the downswing on streaming, "Rein Me In" by Sam Fender glued to number three, "Ordinary" by Alex Warren at number four, "Stupid Song" by Olivia Rodrigo at number five, "Hate that I Made You Love Me" by Ariana Grande and "Earrings" by Malcolm Todd remained all remained in the same positions as last week.

The new entry at number eight this week is "Animal" by Katseye, we'll get to the dubious quality of this song later but it's here because of some tremendous streaming so much so it pushed "The Cure" by Olivia Rodrigo back to number ninne. 

Finally into the top ten is "Dai Dai" by Shakira and Burna Boy at number ten, I don't expect this song to last in the top ten.

Losers

"Freaked Out' by Fat Papi and Prodshushy slipped seven spots off its debut to forty nine. 

A whole slew of songs slipped six spots this week including "Kingdom of Fear" by Cameron Whitcomb to forty six, "Honeybee" by Olivia Rodrigo to forty (this is likely the next single that Olivia recorded a video for IMO), "I Knew It/ I Knew You" by Taylor Swift dropped to twenty eight and "Daisies" by Justin Bieber to twenty four

Drop Outs

Four songs dropped out this week with three of them being Gracie Abrams songs in "Hit the Wall", "Good Reason" and "Look At My Life". 

The only other drop out is unfortunately "My Body Isn't Ready" by Sombr, would have liked to have seen this stick around and become a hit. 

Gains

So I am not wild about "Great Expectation" by Sienna Spiro being the biggest gainer of the week up nine to thirty nine bit "Material Lover" did go up six to forty one.

Heck, I am also happy that "Broken Window Serenade" by Whiskey Myers climbed six to forty four.

Re Entries

Two returns this week with "Undressed" by Sombr back at forty seven while "I Just Might" by Bruno Mars returns at forty five

New Entries

Two new entries this week beginning with...

33. "Been By Now" by Morgan Wallen

It;'s probably well worth noting before going any further that I do  not expect either of this week's new entries to stick around much beyond this week and given this Morgan Wallen song debuted low, I do wonder if Australian audiences have moved on from him or maybe its because this song is pretty damn forgettablesludge that doesn't even bother to try to be a country song, it's a pop song and one that doesn't even flatter Morgan Wallen's vocals which sound rougher than they should over the muddy as hell mix. 

As for the content, it's yet aoother sour as hell break up song except the relationship appears to be stuck in some limbo where Wallen realizes that if this girl had of wanted to be with him, they'd be together by now, it just comes across as whiny and when the production is not all interesting...yeah, I'd hope this doesn't stick around.

8. "Animal" by Katseye.

Oh god...I was hoping for something other than Katseye being the other new entry this week, this group's music is just banal noise to me half the time especially this year where they released god damn "Internet Girl" which sounded like Onision's leftovers where he moved on from bananas to zucchini howver much to my surprise, "Animal" is actually fine? It's an Ed Sheeran penned song that I guess he felt weird about recording given the content of the song being what it is and the fact that he is a married father of two, a song about being an animal in the bedroom probably wouldn't go down well given how the general republic reacted to "Shape of You" in 2017 so he handed this song to Katseye.

It turned out to be a good decision for both Katseye and Sheeran, Katseye are definitely more suited to conventional pop music rather than their brand of somewhat chaotic k-pop that doesn't flatter the girls voices whatsoever,,,now Katseye still doesn't know how to harmonise properly but this is a decent improvement on their past efforts, check this out.

"Animal" by Katseye gets best of the week while "Been By Now" by Morgan Wallen gets worst of the week because that song is just forgettable and honestly worthless.

Next week...Ariana Grande album bomb and the discourse surrounding Ariana.

ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart Review 27th July. The One With Gracie's "Impact" and World Cup spawns Dai Dai return

 Alright, no time to waste as I am getting this out considerably late this week (thanks procrastinaton and Commonwealth Games) so let's jump straight into the top ten where for yet another week, it's "Choosin' Texas" by Ella Langley at number one and look, it might take a song from Ariana Grande's new album to dislodge this song because it's still insanely strong across the board on sales and streaming. 

Nothing behind it is even remotely capable of challenging with "Man I Need" by Olivia Dean remaining at number two and "Rein Me In" by Sam Fender and Olivia Dean steady at number three.

Continuing it's unfortunate rebound is "Ordinary" by Alex Warren up two slots to number four pushing "Stupid Song" by Olivia Rodrigo back to number five. 

"Hate That I Made You Love Me" by Ariana Grande slipped one spot back to number six but again, it's probably going to be the song that likely challenges our current number one next week. 

Rebounding one slot to number seven is "Earrings" by Malcolm Todd although it would be nice if this song disappeared off the face of the earth, easily one of the worst songs of the year thus far.

Makes it worse when "Earrings" pushes "The Cure" by Olivia Rodrigo back to number eight.  "The Cure" deserves better, Australia...come on.

Holding at number nine is "Dracula" by Tame Impala while Bella Kay returns to the top ten up two slots to number ten with "IloveitIloveitIloveit" 

Losers

"Honeybee" by Olivia Rodrigo slipped seven to thirty four, it's the last of the album tracks on the chart although that wasn't the biggest loser of the week that title belongs to Sombr with "My Body Isn't Ready" sliding thirteen to  number forty three. 

"Midnight Sun" by Zara Larsson fell seven to forty five and "Great Expectations" by Sienna Spiro also thankfully slipping seven to forty eight.

Drop Outs

So seven songs took exits this week with Olivia Rodrigo album tracks "expectations" and "maggots for btains" taking their exits alongside "Undressed" by Sombr, "I Just Might" by Bruno Mars, "American Girls" by Harry Styles, "Opalite" by Taylor Swift and "Fever Dream" by Alex Warren. 

Gains

Not much in the way of gains this week but we did see a nice seven place gain for "Kingdom of Fear" by Cameron Whitcomb to forty which I am reasonably happy about.

Although I am less thrilled that "Bloodstream" by Alyssa Grace which jumped six spots to thirty but oh well swings, roundabouts and all that jazz.

Re-Entries

Three returns this week with "Sailor Song" by Gigi Perez back at forty nine. album release saw "Hit the Wall" by Gracie Abrams back at twenty eight while the recent football World Cup saw "Dai Dai" by Shakira and Burna Boy back at nnumber twelve.

New Entries

Four new entries this week beginning with..

50. "Broken Window Serenade" by Whiskey Myers

So this finally broke through...it's been hanging around on the Spotify chart long enough and frankly I am surprised it's here given Whiskey Myers is an American southern rock and country act with this song released in 2011 from their album "Firewater" and it went viral so how is this song? Well turns out that this is pretty darn great! I love the harmonica and the gentle knock of the percussion over the guitar and while the vocals take some getting used to, they don't take me out of the song especially as this song in it's content is extremely dark detailing this woman who dreamt of life as a Hollywood star but instead sunk into abuse, addiction and depression, addiction would ultimately end this woman's life early and the narrator would wind up placing flowers on her grave...incredibly sad and it hits hard. Damn great song, glad it's here, check it out!

46. "Good Reason" by Gracie Abrams

So I have heard Gracie Abrams new album "Daughter from Hell" and in all honesty, it's probably one of the most forgettable, milquetoast pop albums of 2026, Gracie Abrams struggles to distinguish herself from the rest of the women vying for the public's attention in ther world of pop music and yeah, I would say that it's the case with this song as she continues to wander into the Taylor Swift lane here and remind me that I would really be rather listening to any song from "Midnights" or "Evermore" compared to this song but it's not really a song worth hating, the content is pretty good where Gracie admits she has no good reason for breaking her partner's heart via ending the relationship so yeah, this isn't really all that terrible but it's not great either.

42. "Freaked Out" by Fat Papi, prodshushy

Oh boy, how to explain this one...so Fat Papi is a Kurdish-New Zealand rapper and producer with this song somehow going viral hence it winding up on the singles chart this week and look, I think the instrrumental is pretty solid and the hook absolutely goes off and is quite catchy even if the content really isn't all that interesting, all about this attractive confident woman who moves in an impressive and confident manner and can handle her own money and success. Either way, I am not sure the song is going to stick around long term because it does feel like a bit of a fart in the wind song but I wouldn't mind for now. 

32. "Look At My Life" by Gracie Abrams

Finally wrapping the week with the second of the two Gracie Abrams songs to debut new this week and again, I am not wowed by this and not even the content can save this song because again Gracie Abrams has all the personality of a fucking pumpkin seed when she's singing about her life as a "famous" person that said she isn't helped by the production from Aaron Dessner here because the verses don't lead to a satisfying build into the chorus and again this song really can't escape being a Taylor Swift lesser cut that would have been left on the cutting room floor for Taylor but wound up on a Gracie Abrams album out of sheer indifference, we can do so much better for female pop music.

That was our week and Gracie Abrams gets the worst of the week for "Look at My Life". Whiskey Myers easily runs away with the best of the week for "Broken Window Serenade"

Next week could be pretty damn terrible...Katseye and Morgan Wallen...brace yourselves.

ARIA Singles Top 50 Chart Review. 20th July. The One with a Kingdom Fear of Great Expectations

 This week could be worse...I guess...we didn't get hit by the Future album bomb which is something incredibly merciful but what we got instead is..odd to say the least. Let's get to our top ten where of course for a sixth week, it's "Choosin' Texas" by Ella Langley at number one, it continues to rule sales and streaming with a rod of iron.

The top six actually held position this week with "Man I Need" by Olivia Dean at number two, "Rein Me In" by Sam Fender and Olvia Dean at number three, "Stupid Song" by Olivia Rodrigo at number four, "Hate That I Made You Love Me" by Ariana Grande at number five and "Ordinary" by Alex Warren at number six.

"The Cure" by Olivia Rodrigo rebounded one spot to number seven after getting a small streaming bump, it pushed past "Earrings" by Malcolm Todd which slipped one spot to number eight.

Finally "Dracula" by Tame Impala and "Drop Dead" by Olivia Rodrigo held firm at nine and ten respectively.

Losers

Most of the big losers are still Olivia Rodrigo album tracks with "Maggots for Brains" down nine to forty fpir, "Expectations" slipped seven to forty three and "Honeybee" down ten to twenty seven.

The only non Olivia Rodrigo major loser this week was "I Knew It. I Knew You" by Taylor Swift slipped seven to eighteen.

Drop Outs

Four songs took their exits this week with :"Girls" by Kid Laroi finally making it's exit permanent to the On Replay singles chart.
Also gone are "What Is Wrong With Me?" by Olivia Rodrigo and Robert Smith, "Dai Dai" by Shakira and Burna Boy and "Go" by Chemical Brothers (I suspect this will make the year end)

Gains

Noah Kahan's "Orbiter" climbed seven slots this week to number thirty five. Zara Larsson's "Midnight Sun" jumped six spots to thirty eight.

Losers

Two returns this week with "Material Lover" by Sienna Spiro back at forty two while "Bloodstream" by Alyssa Grace returned at number thirty six. 

New Entries

Two new entries, beginning with...

47. "Kingdom of Fear" by Cameron Whitcomb

So this is an interesting one with this being Cameron Whitcomb;s first song to cross over onto the ARIA singles chart, Whitcomb is a Canadian singer/songwritetr who has notched some decent success in Canada but is only just starting to find his footing worldwide courtesy of this song and yeah, it's a solid enough singer/songwriter cut similar to something that Noah Kahan would write and sing, helps that the instrumental and production is pretty solid with those somewhat twangy sounding guitars and that fast paced drumming that works for me.

As for the content of the song? The dissonance between saying "Yeah, I'm good" while internally struggling with self doubt and anxiety so the content here does cut a lot deeper for me given my personal issues...this is a pretty good song...check it out.

41. "Great Expectations" by Sienna Spiro

so this is the only new Sienna Spiro song from that album to hit the ARIA singles chart and given the previous single "Die On This Hill" is dead set one of the worst songs of 2026 so I have rock bottom expectations for this song and well...those rock bottom expectations were met and then satisfied because my goodness, this song is a dreary bore and slog of a song where she sings about falling in love with the idea of someone rather than who that person actually is which on paper is an interesting idea, just a shame the song does nothing interesting and Spiro sounds like she's whining for most of the song.

I'll pass. 

That was the week and best and worst fall out easy with the worst going to "Great Expectation" by Sienna Spiro and the  best going to "Kingdom of Fear" by Cameron Whitcomb.

Next week...ugh...Gracie Abrams album dropped so we'll probably wind up with something from that charting, we'll have to see. 

ARIA Singles Top 50 Chart Review. 13th July. The one where it's pretty quiet.

 So this week was pretty quiet all things considered which I can be grareful for considering the US Billboard Hot 100 is probably going to get a Ken Carson album bomb so I am relieved that's not happening here in Australia, let's start with the top ten where for a fifth week, it's "Choosin' Texas" by Ella Langley at number one, it's a monster on both sales and streaming right now, it would take something huge to knock this song off the number one spot

"Man I Need" by Olivia Dean held it's place at number two mostly because streaming is still holding this song up, the same can be said for "Rein Me In" by Sam Fender and Olviia Dean which moved up one to number three pushing past "Stupid Song" by Olivia Rodrigo which slipped to number four.

Ariana Grande holds on at number five with "Hate That I Made You Love Me", I expect this song to make a major push for number one post the album release while back in the top ten up five places to number is "Ordinary" by Alex Warren because we can't all be that fortunate to be rid of this song.

Spraking of songs that will not fuck off "Earrings" by Malcolm Todd rose two spots to number seven because streaming has gotten hold of this song...lovely...not..although that could also be because of the weaknesses of "The Cure" by Olivia Rodrigo which fell two spots to number eight and "Dracula" by Tame Impala down two to number nine.

Finally holding on to number ten is "Drop Dead" by Olivia Rodrigo. 

Losers

"What's Wrong With Me?" by Olivia Rodrigo feat. Robert Smith fell ten slots to number forty five while "Expectations" fell six to number six. Overall the falls for tbe remaining Olivia Rodrigo songs still on the charts weren't that bad.

"Be Her" by Ella Langley slipped nine to forty one. 

Drop Outs

The drop outs this week casting aside the four Olivia Rodrigo album tracks that dropped out, those being "Less", "My Way", "Begged" and "U + Me = <3".

The other two were "Hit the Wall" by Gracie Abrams (Although that song will probably return after her new album is released) and "Material Lover" by Sienna Spiro.

Gains

So we did have a couple of major gains this week starting with songs that debuted last week like "Dai Dai" by Shakira and Burna Boy which jumped fifteen places to thirty two  while "My Body Isn't Ready" by Sombr rose nineteen to twenty nine. 

Bizarrely Stella Lefty's "Boston" climbed thirteen to fufteen this week because that's all we need.  Ugh.

Re-Entries

In lieu of any new entries we got a bunch of songs returning to the chart beginning with "Fever Dream" by Alex Warren at fifty, "Opalite" by Taylor Swift at forty seven, "Midnight Sun" by Zara Larsson at forty four, "I Just Might" by Bruno Mars at forty three, "Undressed" by Sombr at forty and "Weren't For the Wind" by Ella Langley at thirty seven.

That wraps up the week, might be in for another quiet week next week but we'll have to see. 

ARIA Singles Top 50. July 6th. The One Where Sombr's body isn't ready for Sienna's Material Lover

 Alright so let's get right into this as this one is late enough as it is (my fault, totally procrastinated), straight into the top ten where for yet another week "Choosin' Texas" by Ella Langley, it's got sales and streaming on it's side and it doesn't look like relinquishing it's hold on number one any time soon.

"Man I Need" by Olivia Dean rebounded up one spot to number two thanks mostly to streaming continuing to keep this song around and "Stupid Song" by Olivia Rodrigo slipping back one to number three because it's lost ground on streaming and is doing nothiing on sales. 

Also rebounding one to number four is 'Rein Me In" by Sam Fender and Olivia Dean while "Hate That I Made You Love Me" by Ariana Grande climbed two slots to number five. 

"The Cure" by Olivia Rodrigo held steady at number six,  "Dracula" by Tame Impala leaped three to number seven however there is a culprit for all of this movement with "I Knew It. I Knew You" by Taylor Swift sliding seven spots to number eight.

What kind of mars our top ten this week is the unforrunaate two place return of "Earrings" by Malcolm Todd at number nine. 

Finally, "Drop Dead" by Olivia Rodrigo slipped two spots to number ten. 

Losers

Let's start with the Olivia Rodrigo album cuts that are free falling so "You + Me = <3" down eleven to forty one, "Begged" sliding eighteen to thirty nine, "Less" is doing less down twelve to thirty seven, "My Way" shifts down fourteen to thirty six, "What's Wrong With Me" featuring Robert Smith slumped twelve to thirty five, "Maggots for Brains" down fifteen to thirty one and "Expectations" slid fifteen to thirty 

Drop Outs

One of the big stories this week lies in our drop outs with "Beauty and a Beat" by Justin Bieber and Nicki Minaj finally sent to the on replay charts. Good fucking riddance.

Also gone are "Iconic by Mistake" by Le Sserafim, Katseye and Illit, "Freakin' Out" by Dexter and the Moonrocks alongside two Olivia Rodrigo album tracks those being "Purple" and "Cigarette Smoke"

Gains

So something of a reset is continuing to occur as the Olivia Rodrigo songs fall away so the biggest gains this week were nine place gains for "The Fate of Ophelia" by Taylor Swift to twenty, "Where is My Husband" by Raye at twenty three and "Back to Friends" by Sombr which moved up to twenty five. 

There were also eight place gains for "Nice to Each Other" by Olivia Dean to twenty nine, "Boston" by Stella Lefty to twenty eight and "No Broke Boys" by Disco Lines and Tinashe to twenty seven.

Re-Entries

Two returns this week with "American Girls" by Harry Styles at forty eight and "Hit the Wall" by Gracie Abrams at forty two.

New Entries

Three new entries this week, beginning with...

50. "Material Lover" by Sienna Spiro

Well, it's about time this charted, it comes from the soundtrack of the Devil Wears Prada 2 but given it comes from Sienna Spiro and I've been sour on "Die On this Hill" all year, I had no confidence this would be any good and yet...I kind of like this? It's got this old school jazz and soul vibe that Olivia Dean and Raye also do and I don't think this is better than the best songs from either Olivia or Raye but this is still decent enough. 

The content of the song is all about how Spiro prefers actual physical things or as she calls it "material" things in her hands and that she is a lover of those things. It's better than "Die On this Hill" so I'll take it.

47. "Dai Dai" by Shakira feat, Burna Boy

So this song is for the ongoing football World Cup and well...I wish this didn't sound so thin and generic, it sounds like a song straight out of 2017 to 2019 and it comes off so flat sounding that not even the lyrics which is all about fighting through pain and perseverence etc don't really have much of an impact from either Shakira or Burna Boy,

It's a nothing of a pop song that people will forget in a short period of time. "Waka Waka" was better than this. 

46. "My Body Isn't Ready" by Sombr

So I am not going to lie, I have been frustrated by the chart run for "Homewrecker", that song deserved to be a massive number hit and is probably one of my favourite hits of the year so far and this song is not helped by that awkward and even corny song title however the song overall winds up being good even close to great despite the song title where Sombr is dealing with body image issues (possibly body dysmorphia) and self-doubt which prevented him getting too close to people or pursuing closer relationships with people he liked.

I also like the production here because Sombr's voice doesn't sound as death by filters as it has in the past and the instrumention sounds rich, lush and incredibly organic. I'll take this easily! Good song.

Easy best of the week too. Worst of the week goes to "Dai Dai" by Shakira and Burna Boy

ARIA Singles Top 50 Review: 29th June The one where Olivia's album bomb recedes.

 So we got plenty of movement this week as the Olivia Rodrigo album bomb recedes and we do have a returning number one that raises eyebrows for me because it's "I Knew It. I Knew You" by Taylor Swift, this song is not dominant on sales or streaming but somehow took the top spot.

I was expexting a second week at number one for "Stupid Song" by Olivia Rodrigo but that fell back to number two, this is still strong on streaming but sales are lacking. 

Former number one "Choosin' Texas" by Ella Langley remains steady at number three, this song is doing remarkably well on sales and holding it's own on streaming but for how much longer. 

Rising two to number four is our likely year end number one "Man I Need" by Olivia Dean while her collab with Sam Fender on "Rein Me In" rebounded three to number five.

"The Cure" by Olivia Rodrigo dropped back four spots to number six while Ariana Grande's "Hate That I Made You Love Me" surprisingly slipped two spots to number seven...wasn't expecting this to slip this week at all.

The next two songs are Olivia Rodrigo songs with "Drop Dead" down four to number eight and "honeybee" slipping two to number nine.

Finally returning to the top ten having rebounded eight spots to number ten is "Dracula" by Tame Impala. 

Losers

The losers this week begin with Olivia Rodrigo album cuts so let's blast through these with "Cigarette Smoke" down twenty one to forty three, "Purple" down twenty two to thirty nine. "U + Me = <3"  slumped fourteen to thirty, "Less" skidded ten to twenty five, "What's Wrong With Me" featuring Robert Smith slumped eleven to twenty three, "my way" down nine to twenty two, "Begged" slipped eleven to twenty one and "Maggots for Brains" down seven to sixteen. 

Oh and "Iconic By Mistake" by Le Sserafim, Katseye and Illit fell eight spots to forty seven.

Drop Outs

Just the one drop out this week with "Fever Dream" by Alex Warren gone...I'd say it's made the year end list but we'll see. 

Gains

So the biggest gain/rebound belong to Alex Warren with "Ordinary" up eleven to twelve while  Dave and Tems with "Raindance" rose up ten slots to nineteen.

"IloveitIloveitIloveit" by Bella Kay rose eight to thirteen. "Cinderella" by Mac Miller and Ty Dolla $ign hit a new peak up seven to eighteen. 

Re-entries

Just the one return with "Orbiter" by Noah Kahan returning at number forty eight.

No new entries this week so that wraps things up for the week. Next week is bound to see Benson Boone (unfortunately) and maybe Sombr so stick around for that!

ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart Review. 22nd June The One Where Olivia Seems Pretty Sad For Netting A Huge Album Bomb

 I feel like there's not a lot to say in terms of preamble with a week like this because yeah...we got a major album bomb from Olivia Rodrigo for "You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love" and given I think the album is one of the best albums of the year in the mainstream (which granted isn't saying much considering how the mainstream feels like a lottery in terms of album quality), this will be a fun ride to go through.

Let's start with the top ten where we right off the bat need to deal with the album bomb because it's "Stupid Song' by Olivia Rodrigo at number one and it's here thanks mostly to streaming and Youtube. Obviously more about this song later.

It's an Olivia Rodrigo top two with "The Cure" rebounding four to number two while "Choosin' Texas" by Ella Langley slipped back one to number three,

"Drop Dead" by Olivia Rodrigo bounced back up elevens slots to number four while "Hate that I Made You Love" by Ariana Grande fell back two spots to number five. "Man I Need" by Olivia Dean fell two to number six.

New in at number seven is album cut "Honeybee" by Olivia Rodrigo at number seven. More on this song later.

"Rein Me In" by Sam Fender and Olivia Dean skidded down three places to number eight, 

Finally we wrap the top ten with two more songs from Olivia Rodrigo with ?Maggots For Brains" at number nine and "Begged" at number ten.

Losers

I am going to keep this short to save my sanity because over half the chart lost in double digits so I am just going to mention the songs that lost ground in single digits and will probably benefit when the chart resets to equilibrium next week, that said I will mention that last week's number one "I Knew It. I Knew You" by Taylor Swifr slumped ten slots to number eleven. 

Right now to those single digit losers, "Earrings" by Malcolm Todd slipped seven to seventeen...I expect this will be back in the top ten next week unfortunately. 

"Cinderella" by Mac Miller and Ty Dolla $ign remained somewhat steady only falling two spots to number twenty five. 

"Raindance" by Dave feat. Tems fell nine to twenty nine while it was the same size fall for "The Fate of Ophelia" by Taylor Swift to thirty one.  "Back to Friends" by Sombr fell eight to thirty seven and "Boston" by Stella Lefty refuses to go away despite being a slice of nepo baby junk down eight to forty two. 

Finally Katy Perry drops her new single on Friday but "One That Got Away" fell nine to fifty.

Drop Outs.The drop outs this week are combination of songs that have been bouncing on and of the charts for weeks, album cuts, hits from last year and newer songs.

So let's start with the songs bouncing on and off the chart like "APT" by Rose and Bruno Mars (I am ready for this one to be sent to the on replay charts) and "A Couple Minutes" by Olivia Dean (Probably has a slot on this year's year end list locked at this point. 

Drake album cuts "National Treasures" and "Shabang" took their exits after staying around longer than anyone wanted!.

As for the hits from last year that exited, we have "Undressed" by Sombr and "Opalite" by Taylor Swift.

But where Olivia Rodeigo struck hardest is all the newer songs that took their exit like "Edge of the Earth" by The Beaches, "Hit the Wall"  by Gracie Abrams (this song's performance on the chart has been incredibly underwhelming...not good signs for that upcoming album of hers), "American Girls" by Harry Styles, "Bloodstream", "Midnight Sun" by Zara Larsson and "Orbiter" by Noah Kahan.

Gains

So I was going to say that we didn't have any gains tiis week outside of the two Olivia Rodrigo singles in the top ten but we did see "Girls" by The Kid Laroi gain six spots to forty. 

Gains

So we are in album bomb territory for Olivia Rodrigo's "You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love", I am only going to be reviewing the songs in the top ten and best and worst so with that in mind: "What's Wrong With Me?" feat. Robert Smith at number twelve, "My Way" at thirteen, "Expectations" at fourteen, "Less" at fifteen (this was so close to best of the week), "U + Me = <3" at sixteen, "Purple" at nineteen and "Cigarette Smoke" at twenty two (Again...another song that has legit claims to be one of Olivia's best songs from this album. Might be her best closer).

That leaves us with five new entries beginning but we're not starting with Olivia Rodrigo because...

39. "Iconic by Mistake" by Le Sserafim, Katseye and Illit

Well, this is unfortunate, mostly because this K-Pop song is really much less than the sum of it's parts to the point that it feels pretty close to a posse cut with trap beats and the groups bragging about how they engrave hate expressed toward them on tombstones that really doesn't convey anything with that damn cutesy hook. It'll fall off the chart pretty quickly so I think it's best we move on from this pretty forgettable slice of k-pop. 

10. "Begged" by Olivia Rodrigo

So now we get to the first of the Olivia Rodrigo cuts that reached the top ten with this song peformed by Olivia on Saturday Night Live and features Weyes Blood on backing vocals, its not quite the most heartbreaking song on the album but it's one of the saddest on the album as Olivia pleads for a connection with her man and Olivia is exhausted from begging for any kind of moment with this guy, this song is the moment where the relationship is well and truly on the way to crumbling over this sweet guitar and those backing vocals which do such a brilliant job of backing Olivia. Damn good song.

9. "Maggots for Brains" by Olivia Rodrigo

So the rest of the songs new this week come from the front half of the album where Olivia is so in love and this song about being so in love that you become emotionally numb and just obsessed with the person you are in love with especthat you lose focus on everything else in your life. Olivia has drescribed the bridge of this song as a bbit of a homage to Weezer which actually comes through in some of the production and lyrics that are inspired by Sex and the City. Definitely check this song out. 

7. "Honeybee" by Olivia Rodrigo

This is a song from "You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love" that I was initially a bit  cooler on than I'd have liked but thankfully I do absolutely like this a lot after subsequent listens to the album, its that moment where it's all just fear of rejection meshed with hope that the person you atre head over heels for feels the same way about you and Olivia's voice delicately singing over the piano just hits home. It's just really pretty,

1. "Stupid Song" by Olivia Rodrigo

Ending this week with a song that like both other singles from this album builds into something bigger only this builds from Olivia crooning into this loud vibrant if slight shuttering pop rock song where she admits to wanting this guy in her life more than any stupid love song could ever say and she conveys that "more than a stupid song could ever say" line so god damn well, it sticks in your head especially with that galloping production. Again another really good song that I am glad hit number one.

But best of the week is going to "Maggots for Brains" by Olivia Rodrigo. Worst is going to "Iconic By Mistake" by Le Sserafim, Katseye and Illit.

Next week could be a quiet week but we'll have to see, I think all these Olivia Rodrigo songs could stick around a second week.

ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart: 15th June. The one where Taylor's number one the week before Olivia blows everything up

 So this week feels irrelevant especially with Olivia Rodrigo likely netting one of the biggest album bombs since Taylor Swift's "The Life of a Showgirl" last year next week so anything here but we do have a week here and a busy one at that so let's dive into the top where for a second week we do have a new number one with "I Knew It. I Knew You" by Taylor Swift and it was a dominant number one on sales, streaming and even Youtube but with Olivia Rodrigo coming next week, I'm not certain it's going to keep up the momentum.

Of course, Olivia's arrival next week makes life difficult for former chart topper "Choosin' Texas" by Ella Langley which dipped backed to number two, it's still got strength on streaming and sales but will it have enough strength to go back to the top when the Olivia Rodrigo album bomb recedes.

Ariana Grande's "Hate That I Made You Love Me" dipped back one to number three...heck it was pretty much the same for the next six songs, they all stumbled back one with "Man I Need" by Olivia Dean at number four, "Rein Me In" by Sam Fender and Olivia Dean at number five, "The Cure" by Olivia Rodrigo at number six, "Janice STFU" by Drake at number seven, "Dracula" by Tame Impala at number eight and "IloveitIloveitIloveit" by Bella Kay at number nine.

Finally like a bad venereal disease, "Earrings" by Malcolm Todd remains at number ten, hopefully Olivia Rodrigo wipes this skidmark of a song out of the top ten. 

Losers

So a good chunk of these losers are probably going form part of the drop outs next week starting with "American Girls" by Harry Styles down seven to forty two. "National Treasures" by Drake slipped eight to thirty five.

"Noble" by F3mii lost its gains from last week down seven to thirty while the virality has disappeared for "Go" by The Chemical Brothers down ten to twenty five. 

Drop Outs

We basically lost two more Drake album tracks like "2 Hard for the Radio", "Ran to Atlanta" feat. Molly Santana and Future and  "Whisper My Name". 

The rest of these are just songs that keep bouncing on and off the charts eg: "Risk It All" and "I Just Might" both by Bruno Mars, "Yukon" by Justin Bieber and "Sailor Song" by Gigi Perez.

Gains

Not too many major gains this week. Maybe "Bed on Fire" by G Flip which rose five slots to twenty eight and "Love Me Not" by Ravyn Lenae which rebounded seven slots to twenty one which is wild. 

Re-Entries

So we did get a bunch of returns with "APT" by Roxe and Bruno Mars back at fifty, "Girls" by The Kid Laroi at forty six (that got a remix with Kehlani for some wild inexplicable reason) and finally "The One that Got Away" by Katy Perry as it's going viral back at fotty one.

New Entries

Four new entries beginning with...

48. "Edge of the Earth" by The Beaches

I am shocked and impressed a The Beaches song from Canadian band The Beaches 2023 album "Blame My Ex" entered the ARIA singles chart but it's here thanks to being used as a pivotal soundtrack moment on Amazon show "Off Campus" and yeah, this is actually a song from the album that I liked a lot back in 2023, with that drum patter that I absolutely have a soft spot for alongside that guitar rollick. As for the content, it's a relationship song where things are pushing and pulling apart yet she seems to always find a way back to them which honestly doesn't feel that healthy but still it's a good song, check it out.

39. "Bloodstream" by Alyssa Grace

Talk about a surprise, this one was a surprise when it turned up on the Australian top 50 chart on Spotify, shame the song is not that good, it's this piano dirge where Alyssa Grace sounds like she's sing crying and god damn it's uncomfortable to listen to. I don't really have much else to say about this song other than it really being quite the miserable listen. Nect!

23. "Cinderella" by Mac Miller feat. Ty Dolla $ign

I feel a bit weird talking about music that charts from an artist that is dead but it seems like those connected with the late Mac Miller are handling the release of his music respectfully and aren't looking to farm his fragments for money unlike those connected with JuiceWRLD and this song is fine enough, it's not perfect, I think it could have done without the Ty Dolla $ign feature but overall it's fine...enough said.

1. "I Knew It. I Knew It" by Taylor Swift

So the discourse around this song has been weird especially for a song for the new Toy Story 5 movie that it's a return to form after a bad album except I'd argue that a return to form for Taylor would be a good to great album but anyway we get this song which was apparently around in some form before "The Tortured Poets Department" and yeah, it's fine even if the production does make it feel like a weaker cut on say "Fearless" or "Speak Now" but I'm just glad we didn't get another "Actually Romantic" or "Cancelled" from Taylor.

That's our week and best of the week is going to "Edge of the Eatth" by The Beaches. Worst of the week for "Bloodstream" by Alyssa Grace.

Next week, Olivia Rodrigo album bomb!

ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart Review. 8th June. The one where Ariana Hates She Can't Stop "Choosin' Texas" Return

 So this week is pretty quiet which I am grateful for given the impending Olivia Rodrigo album bomb in a few weeks but before all that let's dive into this week's top ten where "Choosin' Texas" by Ella Langley retook the number one spot this week thanks to strength on streaming but it will face a challenge for a fourth week at number one courtesy of Taylor Swift. 

"Choosin' Texas" faced down a challenge from new entry "Hate That I Made You Love Me" by Ariana Grande entering at number two thanks to good streaming even if sales haven't gotten on board yet. 

This left both "Man I Need" by Olivia Dean and "Rein Me In" by Sam Fender which both held their positions at three and four respectively. 

"The Cure" by Olivia Rodrigo slipped off the number one down four to number five, that's mostly because this song lost sales and it's streaming wavered hard. 

"Janice STFU" by Drake slipped back one to number six, frankly the sooner this song is gone from the top ten the better, its an awful awful song.

"Dracula" by Tame Impala slipped back one to number seven while "IloveitIloveitIloveit" by Bella Kay dropped one to number eight, "Ordnary" by Alex Warren continues to refuse to go away even as it's down one to number nine.

Sadly the worst song to hit the top ten in sometime sits at number ten..."Earrings" by Malcolm Todd which jumped two slots this week. Gross gross gross.

Losers

Drake album tracks falling away continue to be the story in our losers beginning with "2 Hard 4 for the Radio" down thirteen to number forty nine, "Run to Atlanta" featuring Future and Molly Santana is running out of the chart like hot a hot curry through intestines, its down twelve to forty seven. "Whisper My Name" slumped sixteen to thirty seven, "Shabang" got dumped nine to thirty six and is probably going to be out with a whimper rather than a shabang either next week or the week after. Finally "National Treasures" slipped seventeen to twenty seven.

Drop Outs

Drake saw both "Plot Twist" and "Dust" leave alongside "APT" by Rose and Bruno Mars for the eightieth time and "Doors" by Noah Kahan. 

Gains

So we did get some nice chunky gains this week beginning with "Bed on Fire" by G Flip which rose fifteen slots to number thirty three while "Noble" by F3mii climbed fourteen to number twenty three. 

Re Entries

Two re entries this week with "Risk It All" by Bruno Mars back at fifty and "Sailor Song" by Gigi Perez making another return at number forty eight.

New Entries

Two new entries this week, starting with...

45. "Orbiter" by Noah Kahan

Okay, instead of making any song from The Great Divide a hit proper, we get a song that was basically added to a deluxe version of the album and you can tell instantly why the song was cut from the original album, its this weird song that sounds like Kahan is playing a guitar with a string broken, it's a distracting noise that really does take away from the song and it's incredibly unflattering...next.

2. "Hate That I Made You Love Me" by Ariana Grande.

Look, I am not going to dive into Ariana Grande's private life, it's none of my business unless it starts creeping into her music and so here we have the lead single for her upcoming 8th album "Petal" and I guess it's not really good sign thar the song feels like a merger of  "7 Rings" and "We Can't Be Friends" (the former made my worst list, the latter I am mostly ambivalent on) with that watery bubbling noise and tinkling keys as Ariana vocally sings about dealing with people idolising her or worse..engaging in parasocial relationships with her which where my frustration with the song is...the lack of actual punch in Ariana's vocals or in the production, something to give note to the frustration of it all. 

But it is good so I'll give it best of the week. Worst of the weeks goes to "Orbiter" by Noah Kahan. Next week, Taylor Swift's song for Toy Story 5. 

ARIA SIngles Top 50 Chart Review: 1st June The One Where Olivia's The Cure Brings Greatness to The Charts

This week felt...weird...the fall out of the Drake album bomb was always going to be a thing but we also got two new entries, one of which I am very excited to talk about because folks, we might have one of the best songs of the year on or off the charts at hand here but anyway let's jump into the top ten where we have a new number one "The Cure" by Olivia Rodrigo which got to number one purely on some early sales, excellent streaming and a little Youtube. 

However it is a margins game with "Choosin' Texas" by Ella Langley right behind it down one to number two, this song is still doing EXTREMELY well on sales and streaming and is in a good position to retake the number one should "The Cure" wobble. 

Not so much the case for our next two songs with "Man I Need" by Olivia Dean pushed down one to number three and "Rein Me In" by Sam Fender and Olivia Dean which both just do not have the sales or streaming to match the top two. 

Sadly holding steady at number five is "Janice STFU" by Drake, it's holding steady on streaming sadly. more is the pity given the song sucks. 

Rebounding one spot to number six is "Dracula" by Tame Impala while "ILoveItILoveItILoveIt" by Bella Kay also rebounded one to number seven.  The receding of the Drake album bomb meant the return of "Ordinary" by Alex Warremat  number eight...dang it...come on...it's time for this song to free fall.

Rebounding a massive fourteen spots to number nine (I think the new number one had something to do with this) is "Drop Dead" by Olivia Rodrigo. 

Finally the second Drake song to remain in the top ten is "National Treasures" but it is down six slots to number ten.

Losers

All of our big losers were Drake album tracks with "Dust" down thirty three to forty three. "Plot Twist" down twenty three to forty one, "2 Hard 4 THe Radio" lost it's tuning down twenty one to thirty six,, "Shabang" down seventeen to twenty seven and "Whisper My Name" down fifteen to twenty one.

The only non Drake faller was "Hit the Wall" by Gracie Abrams down nine to thirty one.

Drop Outs

The drop outs are mostly Drake album tracks so gone and won't be back are "Make Them Cry", "What Did I Miss?", "Make Them Pay", "B's On the Table" feat. 21 Savage, "Burning Bridges", "Make Them Know" and "Make Them Remember".

However we also saw one big exit with "Birds of a Feather" by Billie Eilish finally leaving the chart to join the On Replay chart.

Gains

Everything that's not Drake rebounded hard this week so I am going to go through the double digit gains only beginning with "Self Aqare" by Temper City which somehow climbed sixteen to twenty five...people really care about that song? Really?

Ravyn Lenae dropped a new single "Handle" on Friday but her big smash "Love Me Not" continues to hang onto the chart up eleven to twenty four.

Sombr's "12 to 12" rebounded ten to twenty, 

Re-Entries

Our returns are where we saw the most activity other than Drake songs losing or dropping out so what filled the slots left?

I am not sure why "Yukon" by Justin Bieber or "APT" by Rose and Bruno Mars are back but they returned at fifty and forty nine respectively. 

"I Just Might" by Bruno Mars is back at forty seven while Taylor Swift's "Opalite" is back at forty six  (Taylor has a new single for the Toy Story 5 soundtrack coming on Friday).

Olivia Dean's excellent "A Couple Minutes" is also making its return at forty four and Sombr's "Undressed" climbed back in at forty.

New Entries

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

48. "Bed on Fire" by G Flip

So we finally got a second Australian song to chart in the singles top 50 behind "Dracula" by Tame Impala albeit it's from G Flip's album last year however the reason it's here is because the song was used in a sex scene on Netflix drama "Off Campus" so how is the song?

It's good? Feels very reminiscent of a Florence and the Machine cut except Florence Welch could absolutely go hell for leather on the vocals which is not really in G Flip's wheel house vocally and they do a fine enough  job here with a song all about exploring a prohibited attraction and embracing it anyway despite those around them saying "No, don't think about it, don't go there".

Good but just short of great song, check it out. 

1. "The Cure" by Olivia Rodrigo 

The second single from Olivia Rodrigo's third album "You Seem Pretty Sad for A Girl So In Love" and and I was curious what we would get with this song...well, I am happy to say that we got something that is absolutely without qualification GREAT, there's something so incredibly transcendent about this song and I think it lies in Dan Nigro's production where finally a song is allowed to have a build and this incredibly satisfying cresecendo that's built up with the vocals and the guitar and just the song taking on layers to reach that point where Olivia just yells "I'm unravelled"

The content is just as good with Olivia using the metaphor of love as a drug but only it's not working, the love her lover is giving is not enough to assuage Olivia's own self doubt and negative self talk that could see her push this lover away because she knows that it does matter how good the love is or how much love he gives that it'll never fix the raging insecurities that Olivia has and she needs to put in the work on herself to fix all that. 

"The Cure" is already oen of my favourite songs of 2026 even just outside the charts alone and I am so glad that Australia has given this a week at number one, damn great song and is absolutely worth your time, check this song out!

ARIA Singles Top 50 Chart Review: 25th May, The one where the Drakenami hits.

 We got the Drake album bomb for "Iceman" this week and I am grumpier than even a cat at the vet who is about to have a thermometer shoved up it's anal cavity by the vet, anyway let's get into the top ten because it's not Drake at number one, it's Ella Langley at number one for another week with "Choosing Texas", it was a dominant week on sales, streaming and even on Youtube for this song but the challenge might well come next week from Olivia Rodrigo, we'll have to see. 

It held up comfortably over "Man I Need" by Olivia which held firm at number two, I don't see this going back to number one despite it still being decently strong on streaming but the sales have fallen off a cliff. 

"Rein Me In" by Sam Fender and Olivia Dean also held at number three despite it doing better on sales than "Man I Need" but it lost it's advantage on streaming. 

Then we run into a cluster of Drake songs with "National Treasures" at four, "Janice STFU" at five and "Whisper My Name" at six.

The Drake songs pushed "Dracula" by Tame Impala back three spots to number seven and "IloveitIloveitIloveit" by Bella back three to number eight.

Then we have two more Drake songs from "Iceman" to round out the top ten with "Make Them Cry" at number nine and "Dust" at number ten. 

Losers

A good half of the chart lost ground massively so I am going to focus on the songs outside of the top ten that only lost ground in the single figures this week with "Ordinary" by Alex Warren down six to number twelve, "Daisies" by Justin Bieber down nine to sixteen and "So Easy (To Fall in Love)" by Olivia Dean down seven to seventeen. 

"Homewrecker" by Sombr slipped nine to twenty and maybe in a truly bad sign, our least bad loser was "Earrings" by Malcolm Todd down four to twenty one. 

Then there's "Golden" from K-Pop Demon Hunters down nine to thirteen.

Drop Outs

So this week did see two songs have their time on the chart ended permanently and are off to the on replay singles chart, those being "Stargazing" by Myles Smith and "I Had Some Help" by Morgan Wallen.

As for the rest of these, I am going to group these up:

2025 hits that should have left awhiile ago: "Undressed" by Sombr, "Opalite" by Taylor Swift, "Yukon" by Justin Bieber, 

2026 songs that will likely make the year end: "A Couple Minutes" and "Baby Steps" for Olivia Dean, "I Just Might" and "Risk it All" both by Bruno Mars, 

2026 songs that might return (although in a couple of cases I hope they don't): 'The Great Divide" by Noah Kahan, "Pop Dat Thang" by Dababy, "Pinky Up" by Katseye

Finally...the what the fuck were these songs still doing on the chart: "Manchild" by Sabrina Carpenter, "APT" by Rose and Bruno Mars, "Die with a Smile" by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars and "Sailor Song" by Gigi Perez, 

Gains

There were no gains this week. 

Re-Entries

The one return was for Drake's "What Did I Miss?" at twenty four.

New Entries

So because we do have an album bomb for 'Iceman" I am going to only cover the five songs from the album that make the top ten so outside of that we have "Ran to Atlanta" with Future and Molly Santana (Future is absolutely useless here) at eleven, "Shabang" at thirteen, "2 Hard 4 The Radio" at fifteen, "Plot Twist" at eighteen, "Make Them Pay" at thirty one, "B's on the Table" feat. 21 Savage (Another useless feature), "Burning Bridges" at thirty eight, " Make Them Know" at forty two and "Make Them Remember" at fotty four.

That leaves us with seven new entries to cover but we aren't going to be starting with Drake because we have...

22. "Hit the Wall" by Gracie Abrams

Alright the lead single from Gracie Abrams new album "Daughter from Hell" out in the middle of July and dear god, this is just a bland nothing of a song that just builds and builds but does nothing with that crescendo or anything imaginative with the words 'hit the wall' and Gracie conveys all the emotion of a fucking Psyduck...Next!

14. "Go" by The Chemical Brothers

My last hope for anyting of good quality before we hit the run of Drake songs is a 2015 song from The Chemical Brothers album "Born in the Echoes", it went viral thanks to a chaotic dance scene in Netflix film "Apex" starring Taron Edgerton and Charlize Theron, TikTok users recreated the dance scene and boom, the latest viral older song is born so how is "Go"? Its actually really damn good, the instrumental sticks in your head and I like the vocals havr some bite and menace about them. Check this out if you are curious.

10. "Dust" by Drake

We begin our laborious exploration of the five pack of Drake songs from Iceman with the second song from the album being first up and it's where Drake is focussed on his longevity in the rap game and taking potshots at Kendrick Lamar and Joe Budden although I do think the shots at Kendrick are really kind of lame, has Drake forgotten that "Not Like Us" was THE song of the summer of 2024 that everyone including the women Drake concern trolls and claims if they are from Atlanta they call him Santa were dancing to "Not Like Us"

Yeah, that production and constant beat switches, this song is not going to stick in my memory much, its forgettable at best. Move on.

9. "Make Them Cry" by Drake

So I actually don't ,mind the album opener, Drake sounds intense and actually sounds reflective when talking about his family members and for once the beat switch sounds better infused or mixed into the song for a change although the usual pot shots at Kendrick Lamar included annd a dig at J Cole for running away from the rap beef in 2024 which is weird coming from Drake of al people for some obvious reasons...

6. "Whisper My Name" by Drake

The protruding theme of ICEMAN comes through so much on this song because this is another track where Drake airs out his grievances with people who sided with Kendrick Lamar during the beef and throwing around threats against people who speak his name too loudly or else they might cop a violent revenge and throwing subliminal shots at J Cole over his failure to participate in the beef and bragging about money being spent on those who presumably stood by him during the beef with Kendrick.

He just will not let shit that happened in 2024 die even though the world has moved on from the beef. The other problem with this song is that considering that Drake is laying out the threats of retribution where's the damn menace in the production? Percussion also sounds way too low here. Not good. 

5. "Janice STFU" by Drake

We get to the song that looks like it might be the song from "Iceman" to stick around long term on the charts and again like the other songs that I have already talked about where Drake is getting aggressive and slamming not only his haters but the industry like the industry has actually failed him when it's been the industry that's helped him be as big as he has been through the 2010s into the 2020s even with the Kendrick Lamar beef and the other times he seems to shoot himself in the foot and just maybe clipping the indistry machine that has helped you to the top isn't the way to do it, Drake!

It also wouldn't be a Drake song where he isn't concern trolling women over a skin crawling repulsive beat with gang vocals that sound straight out of the 2010s. I hope this doesn't stick around...it sucks!

4. "National Treasures" by Drake

Sigh. Another song, anorther round of Drake taking potshots at Kendrick Lamar like the beef hasn't been over for awhile however I do like the basketball references and how cleverly they are woven into the bars and I do like production here with the sample blended well for a change until the beat switch up that dives head first into being incredibly irritating That said...Drake bragging about being untouchable in Toronto sure is interesting...

That's our week and worst of the week is a tie between "Janice STFU" by Drake and "Hit the Wall" by Gracie Abrams. As for the best...The Chemical Brothers run away with that one for "Go". Mext week...the second single from Olivia Rodrigo so get ready for that and the fall out of all of this. 

ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart Review: 11th May. The one where the man Olivia needs retakes number one

 So this week is pretty busy week by 2026 chart standards so let's dive straight into the top ten where we have a familiar song back at number one for a twenty first week, "Man I Need" by Olivia Dean, it's back at the top thanks a decent margin on streaming.

All of that pushed "Rein Me In" by Sam Fender and Olivia Dean back to number two, it's starting to come under pressure from 'Choosin' Texas" by Ella Langley which remains at number three, this song is quietly gathering momentum for a challenge for number one which will be interesting to see.. 

Bella Kay's "IloveitIloveitIloveit" rebounded two slots to number four, "Dracula" by Tame Impala at number five. 

Justin BIeber's "Daisies" fell back one to number six as did "Drop Dead" by Olivia Rodrigo to number seven. 

Justin Bieber's "Beauty and a Beat" with Nicki Minaj held steady at number eigiht as did "Ordinary" by Alex Warren at number nine and " So Easy (To Fall in Love" by Olivia Dean at number ten.

Losers

Let's blow through all the big Noah Kahan album bomb losses this week starting with "American Cars" which wrecked fourteen slots to forty  five, "End of August" down fourteen to forty four, "Porch Light" down twelve to thiry nine, "Dashboard" wiped nine spots to thirty eight, "The Great Divide" down nine to twenty nine and finally "Doors" downh seven to twenty three. 

Drop Outs.

So we do have five drop outs this week with four of those being Noah Kahan album tracks, those being "Downfall", "Haircut", "Paid Time Off" and "Deny Deny Deny". 

The only other drop out was the conpletely forgettable "Speed Demon" by Justin Bieber.

Gains

So there is one small gain that I am really pissed about this week that being 'Earrings" by Malcolm Todd which climbed four spots to twenty four.

"American Girls" by Harry Styles rebounded eight slots to twenty five...seriously, I don't know how people can listen to the bass thuds on that song and not think of flatulence...but anyway...

One of the biggest gains of the week is "Boston" by Stella Lefty rose twenty two slots to twenty six while "Be Her" by Ella Langley climbed ten to thirty.

"Midnight Sun" by Zara Larsson jumped eleven to thirty two,

Re-Entries

Just the one new entry with "Freakin' Out" by Dester and the Moon Rocks back at number forty. 

New Entries

Four new entries this week, beginning with...

49, "Staying Still" by Noah Kahan

So I thought we'd get more songs from the expanded edition of that new Noah Kahan album with this song being one of the songs added to the album and you can kind of tell that this song was added to boost streaming because while this is fine, it's not at the same level as the title track, "Doors", Dashboard" or "Haircut", its a song where Kahan doesn't want this person to live and is hoping an unlikely tornado hits the airport to prevent this person from leaving.  It's got some nice sounding guitar and is a bit more stripped back but this feels somewhat forgettable than anything else, it's fine btu but I am not going to come back to it compared to the great songs on the album proper. 

48. 'I Can't Love You Anymore" by Ella Langley and Morgan Wallen

So I had mixed feelings going into this song mostly that I am nnot a fan of Morgan Wallen at all (as my worst list of 2023 and 2024 showed) and honestly while I actually think the production is pretty good and that Wallen sounds less nasal than he does on his own songs, I cannot get the idea out of my head that this song is a potato in a song form, seriously, there are songs that talk about falling out of love with somebody and doing complete with emotion and actual connection to the subject matter of the song giving it flavour and meaning which doesn't happen here, this is just bland and somewhat forgettable when you realize the potatos with salt and pepper or a bit of butter on them are waiting for you. 

47. "Noble" by F3miii

So the first of our debutants on the char  athis week is a Nigerian-Irish rapper and producer who released this song on Boxing Day 2025 with this song going viral and I have to say I kind of like it" Mostly because the production has this cool, sultry vibe with that knock of the percussion as well, I wish F3miii had more of a presence behind the microphone but I do like how the song ramps into the hook for a more 2000s r'n'b sound, as for the content, it's all about this girl who has style, class and substance and he is hoping that she doesn't change for anyone because she's fine just the way she is an he feels lucky to even know her. I dig it, it's cute.

33. "Self Aware" by Temper City.

So apparently indie rock is magically back in a big way with this song coming from Temper City, a  band hailing from Israel, this song managed to go viral and chart somehow howeverI hate saying this but this song is just completely forgettable in every single wway that actually matters. The lyrics are just cliches that spill over like a broken damn complete with the horrible production and the squawking and pretentious frontman who claims he is so self aware that this relationship isn't working to the point it's insufferable...I'm going to skip this. 

Yeah, "Self Aware" is getting worst of the week here mostly due to the fact I find the song to be rather flaccid. I cannot believe I am doing this but best of the week is going to F3miii for "Noble" because that production hits and the sentiment of the song is absolutely adorable. 

Next week...it could be pretty quiet, we'll have to see.