ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart Review: 24th February: Busy Woman Going 30 for 30 Complains Music Lacks Sexy

 I was dreading this week...really dreading it,  mostly because of one disaster that pops up in our new entries and by now you know what that disaaster is...PartyNextDoor and Drake impacted the ARIA singles top 50 ths week with three songs from "$ome $exy $ongs 4 U" and we'll get into why the album blows in the new entries because it doesn't impact our top ten where to my surprise, "Not Like Us" by Kendrick Lamar remained at number one for a second week, it built up enough for a srreaming lead to hold out Kendrick's "Luther" with SZA at number two, I would favour this song to take number one nexr week as it took the streaming lead.

It did have the effect of pushing "APT" by Rose and Bruno Mars down to number three as it is losing on streaming and sales, the same goes for "Messy" by Lola Young down to number four and 'That's So True' by Gracie Abrams down to five.

"Die With A Smile" by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars holds on at number six mostly because streaming refuses to let this song go. The same could be said for "Birds of a Feather" by Billie Eilish which slipped two spots to number seven, surving basically on the scraps of streaming.

Rising fourteen to the top ten is "All the Stars" by Kendrick Lamar and SZA because I would guess people are looking for more music these two have made together and the fact this was performed at the Superbowl.

All of this unfortunately knocked "Pink Pony Club" by Chappell Roan to number nine. It spent this week losing traction on streaming unfortunately.

Benson Boone's 'Beautiful Things" tumbled one spot to number ten because we can't have a one hundred percent good top ten for a fucking change.

Losses

So some of the big losses were just Luke Combs songs that fell back because the tour has ended with "When It Rains It Pours" down eighteen spots to forty eight and "Where the Wild Things Are" down fourteen spots to forty two.

In other double digit losses, "Dreamin" by Dom Dolla feat. Daya down ten to forty three and "Abracadabra" by Lady Gaga down twelve to twenty four but I figure the latter will rebound when "Mayhem" drops in a few weeks time.

Gains

So the big story this week is that "Please Please Please"  by Sabrina Carpenter thanks to the deluxe edition of her album "Short 'n' Sweet" with a pretty god awful remix of the song with Dolly Parton, it climbed twenty two spots to seventeen. 

Weirdly "Iris" by Goo Goo Dolls swung up nine spots to thirty two.

Re Entries

Three re entries this week with "Pink Skies" by Zach Bryan at forty nine, "Bad Dreams" by Teddy Swims at forty six and "Humble" by Kendrick Lamar back nt forty

Drop outs

Eight drop outs and really the only drop out I am sad about is "Born Again" by Lisa, Doja Cat and Raye...it's a great pop song and deserves to be a smash.

"Fast Car" by Luke Combs, "Dreams" by Fleetwood Mac and "Hot to Go!" by Chappell Roan have all had great runs but it was beyond time fior them to depart,

Also gone are songs that I am mostly indifferent to like "Cry For Me" by The Weeknd and "Beautiful Crazy" by Luke Comb however I am absolutely delighted that "Kisses" by BL3SS x CamrinWatson feat. bbyclose and "Slow It Down" by Benson Boone are gone, good fucking riddance.

New Entries

Sigh...five new entries this week and unfortunately we have to start with...

44. "Gimme A Hug" by Drake

Let's begin this laborious three track exploration of "$ome $exy $ongs 4 U" with Drake throwing himself a pity party complete with his god damn victim narrative to boot complaining that people wanted to see him dead etc and begging women who he is calling "hoes" and "bitches" to give him a hug and claim that despite everyone apart from 21 Savage, turning on him, he came out of the rap beef unscathed except for you know...suing his own record label and all that jazz...

Yeah the instrumental might be okay but it doesn't make this song any good or sound any less like Drake swallowing large bottles of copium. Next!

39. "30 for 30" by SZA and Kendrick Lamar

Look, when these two have made a song like "Luther", my standards are going to be pretty fucking high and yeah, I do think this song is a bit of a step back from "Luther" but it's still decent, the ionstrumental is at least gentle and kind of pretty as both SZA and Kendrick assert their demand for boundaries and respect and not allowing fake energy to interupt their peace. I do wish there'd been a little more introspection on the track but hey, it's fine enough, I'll take it, it's better than...

38. "CN Tower" by PartyNextDoor and Drake.

So this only charted because it's the first song on the album and the fitst indication that this album has absolutely nothing to offer anyone who tries to listen to it and this dull trap beat where both Drake and PartyNextDoor concern troll this poor woman who has clearly not wanted any contact with either of these two clowns ands then brag about going to Japan of all places and having a load of money. 

Yeah, this song is as worthless as "Gimme A Hug"...Next!

28. "Nokia" by Drake

So this is the best song on the album mostly because it actually has a pulse and Drake actually rapping with some enthusiasm here with a vibrant beat and a pretty inspired sample of the Nokia phone start up music. The content isn't much, it's basically just Drake wanting to hook up with a woman but it's mostly innocuous, I can vibe to this. Not too bad. 

22. "Busy Woman" by Sabrina Carpenter

Ahh...it feels like a treat to get a Sabrina Carpenter song even though I am not Sabrina's biggest fan at all  but despite what I said about the remix of "Please Please Please". I actually like most of the new somgs from the deluxe edition of "Short 'n' Sweet",,,except for this one...it's this pretty little pop song where Sabrina is all prepared to be this perfect woman for this guy if he wants to love her and be loverd in return until the song gets actively where she says "If you don't want me, I'll just deem you gay" which is just downright ugly and toxic in a manner that puts me off this song.

It's not the worst of the week, that's going to "Gimme a Hug" by Drake for being a load of pathetic copium from a man who should know better. Best of the week was going to go to Sabrina but that one line...oof...so "30 for 30" by SZA and Kendrick Lamar gets it, I don't think it's their best but in a week like this...yeah.

Next week...ugh...Tate McRae album bomb seems likely. 

ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart Review. 17th February : Ordinary Dreamin to be Born Again

 I am going to spare a preamble this week because the NFL's Superbowl half time show caused chaos on the charts this week in the best way possible, the person responsible for that chaos is Kendrick Lamar, he has several songs in the top ten this week and it all begins at number one with "Not Like Us" up twenty six slots to take the top spot and its dominant on sales and streaming but not Youtube.  It also feels like a history correction for last year when it did only peaked at number five.

"APT" by Rose and Bruno Mars remains at number two by virtue of being top of Youtube and having somewbat stronger streaming than that of "Messy" by Lola Young which just had a bad week on sales and streaming thus couldn't compete with the behemoth that was Kendrick Lamar.

The same is true of "That's So True" by Gracie Abrams which slipped one to number four  while "Birds of a Feather" by Billie Eilish climbed one to number five but that may have been on the weaknesses of "Die With A Smile" by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars which dropped two places to number six, I suspect this will get a boost with Gaga's album next month but we'll see.

Rising fifteen places to number seven is "Pink Pony Club" by Chappell Roan which is riding a streaming and sales wave thanks to Chappell's performance at the Grammys...it's amazing to see this song finally take off in the way it deserves to given it was recorded by Roan six years ago.

Back to Kendrick Lamar because "Luther" feat. SZA climbed eight places to number eight on the back of streaming and being performed at the NFL half time show.

Sadly, nothing budged "Beautiful Things" by Benson Boone from number nine while "Good Luck, Babe!" by Chappell Roan fell three places to number ten.

Losers

So let's begin at the bottom of the chart where "Kisses" by BL3SS x CamrimWatson frat.  bbyclose slipped eight spots to fifty while the tour boosts for Luke Combs songs is wearing off as "Beautiful Crazy" slipped fourteen to forty six, "Fast Car" down eight to thirty one and "Ain't No Love in Oklahoma" down seven to twenty six

Noah Kahan's "Stick Season" slid eleven places to forty five while "Stargazing" by Myles Smith lost more ground this week down eight to forty three.

The chart appears to be showing the door to Teddy Swims "The Door" as it tumbled thirteen slots to forty two. 

It was a rougb week for The Weeknd as well with "Cry For Me" doen twenty to forty and "Timeless" feat. Playboi Carti down nine to twenty.

Morgan Wallen's noxious "I'm The Problem" mercifully skidded down seventeen to thirty eight while "I Remember Everything" by Zach Bryan feat. Kacey Musgraves fell nine to thirty four.. Finally 'Sailor Song" by Gigi Perez slipped seven spots to twenty one.

Gains

The gains this week can be split into two groups so let's deal with the -nr Kendrick Lamar gain outside the top ten first because "TV Off" with Lefty Gunplay moved up thirty one spots to sixteen, 

However the biggest gainer of the week was for Lady Gaga's "Abracadabra" which climbed a massive thirty eight slots to twelve. 

"Guess" by Charli XCX and Billie Eilish is up fifteen places to twenty off ithe back of residual Grammys streaming. 

One song that I think deserves some attention this week though is "Denial is a River" by Doechii which climbed five to thirteen. This song is going to be a hit, folks, get ready.

Re Entries

Kendrick Lamar is the story of our returns this week where two of the three are Kendrick songs but we start at number forty seven with the return of "Hot To Go!" by Chappell Roan. 

From there, it's Kendrick with "Squabble Up" back at thirty five and "All The Stars" featuring SZA back at twenty two. 

Drop Outs

Six drop outs this week and honestly most of them do not upset me especially as we lost long running hits "Riptide" by Vance Joy and "Something In the Orange" by Zach Bryan. We also lost utter crap like "GBP" by Central Cee and 21 Savage along with "Sao Paulo" by The Weeknd feat. Anitta IWow. A really rough week for The Weeknd here)

But we did also lose "Somedays" by Sonny Fodera, D.O.D and Jazzy and "Bad Dreams" by Teddy Swims which is a shame because I really liked both those songs. 

New Entries

Three new entries this week beginning with...

48. "Born Again" by LISA feat. Doja Cat and Raye

So Lisa of Blackpink is making another attempt at being a solo act with her new album and she actually got both Doja Cat and Raye on this song which actually turns out to be a Raye demo that her old label Polydor rejected and well, how is the song?

Uh...no jokes here but this song is emerging quite quickly to be one of my favourite songs of 2025 over all, it is this slick, glossy yet elegant nu disco song that just screams for a Dua Lipa remix  at some point. The hook is infectious and Doja Cat delivers one of her best performances where she both sings and raps her verse on this song and she sounds incredible. I adore the harmonies  between the three and it feels like there is some genuine chemistry there. 

The song tells of overcoming heartbreak or adversity, finding themselves and becoming a better person or being person again. I wish there was more vocal interplay between the three but that's nit picking because this song is absolutely fantastic. Check it out!

33. "Dreamin" by Dom Dolla feat. Daya

Always nice to see new Dom Dolla on the ARIA singles chart, he always makes a decent electronic banget with interesting artists except this time, he co opted 2016 flashback Daya for this song, if you don't remember who Daya is, she was one of the weakest of the 2010's pop girl set who snagged hits with "Hideaway" and "Sit Still, Look Pretty' so yeah I was wary.

Turns out I had every right to be wary because as it turns out it's not Daya's whispery, somewhat hushed vocals that have improved a lot since 2016, it'sand  the production from Dom Dolla that's the problem here, the song sound very nineties however there are some really srange and honestly the synths might be the most annoying thing I have ever heard in awhile. Mercifully the song is reasonably short but I don't see myself coming back to this one.

27. "Ordinary" by Alex Warren

Alright so "Carry Yoiu Home" barely lasted a couple of weeks on the chart so time for a new single from Alex Warren and I was curious because Warren does seem to have decent song writing chops and this is a pretty simple anthemic love song that reminds me a lot of Hozier but just going for gospel swell rather than the gothic swell and swagger that Hozier has which kind of makes sense as this is a pretty basic love song where Warren is grateful for this girl's love taking him out of the ordinary. 

It's a solid if abbrieviated song (could have afforded a bridge) that's worth checking out if you are curious. 

That wraps up our week, Worst of the week goes to "Dreamin" by Dom Dolla and Daya, I just can't handle the pile up of effects on that song.

Best of the week is going to "Born Again" by Lisa, Doja Cat and Raye because that song is AWESOME.

Next week...unfortunately, Drake and PartyNextDoor album bomb, hopefully something from that Sabrina Carpenter deluxe charts to counteract the Drake and PattyNextDoor

ARIA Singles top 50 Chart Review: Abracadabra! I'm The Pink Pony so Cry For Me

 This week felt stranger than it should have because we got a more muted than you might expect with a muted album impact for The Weeknd's "Hurry Up Tomorrow" and Grammys impact for at least one of our other new entries which we'll get to. 

None of that impacts our top ten though where "Messy" by Lola Young maintained the number one spot for a second week mostly thanks to decent enough streaming and sales. Really, the top five was stagnant this week with "That's So True' by Gracie Abrams at number two, "APT" by Rose and Bruno Mars at number three, "Die with a Smile" by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars at number four and "The Days (Notion Remix" by Chrystal and Notion at number five.

Frorm there "Birds of a Feather" by Billie Eilish gained one place to number six moving past "Good Luck Babe!" by Chappell Roan at number seven.

Shaboozey's "A Bar Song (Tipsy)" remained stuck at number eight while "Beautiful Things" by Benson Boone made it's unfortunate return up four places to nine.

Finally "Sports Car" by Tate McRare remains rooted to the number ten spot. 

Losers

This week was busy in this department!. Let's begin with more recent hits though with "BMF" by SZA which tumbled down fourteen to thirty three, "Bad Dreams" by Teddy Swims fell thirteen spots and hit forty six while "The Door" slammed eight places to twenty nine, "Somedays" by Sonny Fodera, D.O.D and Jazzy slumped twelve spots to thirty eight, "Indigo" by Sam Barber feat. Avery Anna continues to slump down nine to forty one, "Kisses" bv BL3SS x CamrinWatson feat bbbunch yclose slipped eight to forty two, "Stargazing" by Myles Smith slid down eight ton thirty five and "GBP" by Central Cee collapsed down thirteen to forty nine. 

From there, a bunch of older songs lost ground like 'Dreams" by Fleetwood Mac which tumbled fourteen spots to forty four, "Something in the Orange" by Zach Btyan slipped six places to forty eight. , "Stick Season" by Noah Kahan which also suffered a six place drop to thirty four, 'Riptide" by Vance Joy going out with the tide seven places to thirty one. Finally "Too Sweet" by Hozier down ten spots to twenty eight

Gains

So "Timeless" by The Weeknd and Playboi Carti rebounded up six to number eleven thanks to The Weeknd's new album. 

The rest are all big new peaks for songs courtesy of the Grammys with the biggest coming for "Denial Is a River" by Doechii which climbed twenty one slots to number eighteen...I expect this to make a play for the top ten soon.

Kendrick Lamar's " Not Like Us" climbed eighteen to twenty seven thanks to it's award winning performance at the Grammys.

Finally "Wildflower" by Billie Eilish climbed sixteen slots to number twenty five and I am not sure why as she performed "Birds of a Feather" at the Grammys. Might be a fan led push to make it the next single from Hit Me Hard and Soft so we'll have to see. 

Re entries

The one re entry this week was "Sao Paolo"  by The Weeknd feat. Anitta

Drop Outs

The drop outs this week are mosrly characterised by long running hits finally dropping out apart from "Linger (SiriusXM Sessions)" by Royel Otis, the others like "Austin" by Dasha, "Pink Skies" by Zach Bryan, "Cruel Summer" by Taylor Swift and "Mr Brightside" by The Killers are all good to great songs but I am glad to see them having left the charts.

New Entries

Four new entries this week, starting with...

50. "Abracadabra" by Lady Gaga

The second single from the upcoming new Lady Gaga album "Mayhem" and I have some mixed feelings about this song, Lady Gaga is back to spouting nonsense in the hook and she sounds great here. I am just not wild about some of the more industrial elements of the song that can actively distract from the song and I do think that Gaga can afforrd to get weirder, it's not precisely bad but it's not great either. 

22. "Pink Pony Club" by Chappell Roanbut i

Oh finally, something else crossed over from "The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess" and this is one of my favourite songs from the album as this song is just Chappell Roan using her classical training to create a song where she wants to move to Santa Monica in California from Tennessee much to her mother's unhappiness but Chappell is going to follow what her heart is set on which dancing down at the Pink Pony Club in Santa Monica. it's just queer in the best way possible and that hook is a fucking earworm. Great song!

21. "I'm the Problem" by Morgan Wallen

Unlike this song which is apparently the lead single for that new upcoming album of Morgan Wallen's and this thing is basically the lyrical version of a  relationship nuclear toxic waste dump where Wallen is doing that whole manipulative bullshit of "I am not really the problem" and proceeds to blame it ALL on her, it bares all the hallmarks of "I Had Some Help" by Post Malone...a track he was featured on where Wallen refused to take responsibility for his own damn culpability in the alcohol abuse that was and happening and the same is happening here with this relationship that is now so toiic...it may as well been blown up...the same goes for this song, it can be blown up any time now. 

20. "Cry for Me" by The Weeknd.

So the only new song to chart from "Hurry Up Tomorrow' and it's not one of the better ones unfortunately, the song just doesn't do much for me at all especially as The Weeknd croons through what is a pretty basic chorus that sounds hollow as hell and pretty darn annoying at worst. There's better songs on the album that could have charted over this eg: "Open Hearts"

That wraps this week and the best and worst fell out fast bere with "I'm The Problem" by Morgan Wallen being the worst of our new arrivals....I don't see that one sticking around. Best of the week is going to "Pink Pony Club" bty Chappell Roan because yeah...that song is awesome.

ARIA Singles Top 50 Review: 3rd February: New Number One Messy Sports Car

 So this week was a weird one, what I expected to turn up new this week didn't and we only have one new entry this week and yet we have some changes to our top ten this week that pleased me didn't thrill me at all. 

What did please me with our top ten is that we have an excellent new number one, "Messy" by Lola Yojung...now anyone culd have seen this coming for weeks, the song has been gaining rapid momentum on streaming and has been there abouts on sales and Youtube to take the number one spot.

Sliding down one place to number two after an incredible run at number one is "APT" by Rose and Bruno Mars, it just no long could match "Messy" on streaming even with the sales it has been racking up. 

The same goes for another former chart topper "That's so True" by Gracie Abrams, its still doing decently on streaming and sales but again not enough to challenge however it does seem like it might just do enough to take number two next week so we'll have to see.

On the downswing is "Die With A Smile" by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars staying at number four, I don't see this moving up in the weeks ahead while "The Days (Notion Remix)" by Chrystal and Notion remained stuck at number five 

Chappell Roan's Triple J  Hottest 100 win saw "Good Luck Babe!" catapault back up six places to number six this week, I don't expect this to last in the top ten though, it did push past "Birds of a Feather' by Billie Eilish which slipped one place to number seven, "A Bar Song (Tipsy)"  by Shaboozey at number eight and "I Had Some Help" by Post Malone and Morgan Wallen at number nine.

Finally our lone new entry in the top fifty this week debuted in the top ten at number ten courtesy of Tate McRae's new single "Sports Car" 

Gains

Lots of gains that basically continue on from momentum last week, the continuing gains for Luke Combs songs thanks to his tour of Australia with "Fast Car" up six to twenty, "When It Rains It Pours" up eight to twenty two , "Ain't No Love" in Oklahoma" up eleven spots to twenty three, "Where the Wild Things are" up six places twenty nine and "Beautiful Crazy" up seven to thirty nine. 

Both the debuts last week also gained nicely unfortunately that meant "GBP" by Central Cee and 21 Savage gained eleven places off of it's debut to thirty six and "Denial is a River" by Doechii rose five places to thirty nine.

Losers

Lots of older tracks losing traction this week with "Cruel Summer" by Taylor Swift down eight places to forty nine, Zach Bryan's "Pink Skies" and "Something in the Orange" both down six places to forty four and forty two respectively.

"Austin" by Dasha fell six places to thirty eight while "Please Please Please" by Sabrina Carpenter slid eight places to thirty seven and "Kisses" by BL3SS and CamrinWatsin (feat. bbyclose) slipped seven places to thirty foir.

"Indigo" by Sam Barber and Avery Anna seems to have lost all momentum to slide nine places to thirty two while most pleasingly "Slow It Down" by Benson Boone dipped ten places to thirty one...thank god, 

Finally "Stargazing" by Myles Smith slipped seven to twenty seven.

Re-Entries

Two re-entries I am happy about this week with "Guess" by Charli XCX and Billie Eilish back at number forty seven and "Not Li\ke Us" by Kendrick Lamar returning at forty five. Both are back courtesy of the Hottest 100 so not sure if they will stick around. 

Drop Outs

So we lost both "Smile" by Morgan Wallen and "Carry You Home" by Alex Warren. Both pretty much non starters really.

Coldplay's 2000s hit "Yellow" exited the top fifty this week as well.. 

New Entries

Just the one new entry this week so let's just dive straight in...

10. "Sports Car" by Tate McRae

Oh this was never going to go well at all now was it? A brand new Tate McRse song where she tries where too hard to be every late 90s/2000s popstar and only ends up looking the worse for the effort because she cannot concievably pull the sound or the aesthetic off. Well, this time sround McRse continues to try to be 2020s Britney Spears over an interpolation of the Pussycat Dolls "Buttons" (And if its not an interpolation of "Buttons", the verses sound really close to that song) whuile trying to get all hot and steamy for her partner and again, she just can't nail this wantonly sexual atmosphere she is going for here, the hook sounds forced as hell and honestly annoying...I ain't buying this.

 No best or worst of week because with there only being one song, it feels a bit redundant. Next week will probably see an album bomb from The Weeknd but we'll have to see. 

ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart Review. 27th January. GBP is a River

Tbis week was a case of the more things change the more they stay the same on the ARIA singles chart this week and that was especially the case with our top ten where for an eleventh week "APT" by Rose and Bruno Mars stayed at number one, it lost a bit of its margin on streaming but has a good lead on sales and streaming which was enough to keep it at the very top of the chart.

It was enough to hold up over "That's So True" by Gracie Abrams which despite closing some of that streaming margin couldn't narrow the gap to "APT so spent a ninth week at number two.

The open question is whether "Messy" by Lola Young holding strong at number three this week can surpass "That's So True' especially as it seems to have so momentum behind it on streaming and on sales so it's going to be one to watch for the number one spot in the weeks ahead.

"Die With A Smile" by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars appears to be done as it is starting to sputter on sales and streaming, it just appears to be waiting on something stronger to surpass it and that might come in the form of "The Days (Notion Remix)" by Chrystal and Notion which climbed one spot to number five as it leapt past "Birds of a Feather" by Billie Eilish which dipped to number six but it should get a Hottest 100 streaming boost next week.

"A Bar Song (Tipsy)" by Shaboozey held it's place number seven while "I Had Some Help" by Post Malone and Morgan Wallen climbed one place to number eight pushing past "Taste" by Sabrina Carpenter at number nine. 

Unfortunately back in the top ten up two places is the lingering skidmark in the underpants that is "Beautiful Things" by Benson Boone at number ten.

Gains

Not too many big gains this week, just "Fast Car" by Luke Combs up seven places to twenty six thanks to Combs being in the country right now, this also explains why "When It Rains, it Puurs" being up ten to thirty.

Speaking of country, "Indigo" by Sam Barber and Avery Anna climbed five places to twenty three.

"Iris" by The Goo Goo Dolls climbed five places to forty three.

Re-Entries

 Three songs returned this week and all three are from Luke Combs with "Beautiful Crazy" at forty two, "Where The Wild Things Are" at thirty five and "Ain't No Love in Oklahoma" at thirty four.

Losers

Pretty quiet on the losers frontt with the biggest losers this week basically being non starters like "Smile" by Morgan Wallen and "Carry You Home" by Alex W\arren, both down six places to forty eight and forty nine respectively.

Drop Outs

Mixed news on the drop out front because did see "Stumblin' In" by Cyril drop out which was welcome  news. The bad news is that we also lost "Tweaker" by Liangelo Ball/Gelo which is sad considering I actually think the song is good.

Also gone is "Bed Chem" by Sabrina Carpenter, "Love Somebody" by Morgan Wallen and "Take Me to Church" by Hozier'

New Entries

Two new entries this week

47. "GBP"  by Central Cee feat. 21 Savageboth 

So I have absolutely no interest in listening to that Central Cee album that dropped on Friday, I have a bunch of other albums that are just more interesting than a British rapper who alternates between awful and mediocre, sadly this song is pretty much on the mediocre side of the equation with both Central Cee and 21 Savage rapping about the struggles of street life in the UK with all the enthusiasm of damp socks especially as Central Cee interpolates lines from his other songs in order to brag about how he would of had a high powered gun with several rounds of ammunition. I'd say skip it but chances are high that this will be forgotten about in no time. 

44. "Denial is a River" by Doechii

Finally, a proper chart breakthrough for Doechii, I did expect  "What it is (Block Boy)" to be her break through on the ARIA charts especially with the airplay on the radio it got but it somehow didn't but none the less, "Denial is a River' did cross over to the charts so what did we get? A damn good song as it turns out! That piano melody is just hitting for me and Doechii can absolutely flow over this as she reflects on her come up and the things that have happened to her and other people that have been apart of her life. 

Easily best of the week here...no contest.

"GBP" by Central Cee and 21 Savage gets worst of the week because yeah...I'm going to forget that one exists.

All 4 1994. January 23rd. She Feelin' Alright...Asshole, Can We Talk?

Pretty standard week we have at hand here but we do have a new number one...just wish it was better...it's "All For Love" by Bryan Adams, Sting and Rod Stewart claimed top spot with a damn good sales week that gave it a well timed push to get ahead of last week's number one "Boom! Shake The Room" by DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince at number two.

"Shoop" by Salt 'N' Pepa climbed one place but that might be more because "Please Forgive Me" by Bryan Adams hit the downswing down two to number four.

M People continue to keep their upwards momentum going as they climbed one spot to number five as did Cut 'n' Move's "Give It Up" whichn climbed four places to number six meanwhile the same cannot be said of "Hero" by Mariah Carey which has stalled at number seven.

Ace of Base stumbled four places to number nine as "All That She Wants" continues it's descent out of the top ten. 

There's a new arrival to the top ten this week and one that I saw coming with "Slave to the Music" by Twenty 4 Seven feat. Stay-C and Nane up five spots to number nine this week, I think this could make a play for number one soon.

Rounding out our top ten is "Got to Get to it" by Culture Beat down down one to number ten, it's time in the top ten is done.

Losers.

So not too many major losers this week with one of  the biggest being "True Love" by Elton John and Kiki Dee which slipped eleven places to forty five. 

The other major loser was Johnny Gill with "The Floor" sliding eleven to forty nine.

Efua's "Somewhere" is also headed out as it stumbled six to forty seven. 

Re Entries

We did have one return this week with "Please (You Got That...)"  by INXS returning at number forty three/

Gains

Most of the gains are just small incremental gains as the hits of 1993 slowly start making their way out but we did see "Green Limousine" by The Badloves rise ten spots off the debut to thirty seven and "Maximum Overdrive" by 2 Unlimited rise eight to thirty two this week.

New Entries

Four new entries this week, let's begin with...

50. "She Don't Let Nobody" by Chaka Demus & Pliers.

Alright, already got the bad feelings going just by glancing at this and seeing that is a cover of a 1981 Curtis Mayfield song and that Chaka Demus and Pliers are a reggae duo for whom this song is from their fourth album and well it's this smooth r'n'b number about hiw his girlfriend doesn't let other girls other than him have sex with her, it honestly feels like a brag song about how he is the only one she will sleep with and honestly while I think it's cool, that hook is beyond repetitive to the point of annoying and I feel like he is only using this girl's loyalty to him be a reason to brag about how she doesn't sleep with other guys which is a shame because I do like the smoother production here but yeah I don't see myself coming back to this one. 

42. "Feelin' Alright" by EYC

Alright, EYC an American pop and R'n'B group with this song being their big break through and look while I think the hook is a bit noisy, I do kind of get the appeal of this because I can see how this song would go off at parties given how the percussion is going off but I just wish the vocals didn't sound so completely buried because other wise this is a pretty solid party jam.

38. "Can We Talk?" by Tevin Campbell

Time to turn our attention to American singer songwriter Tevin Campbell who first started notching hits in 1991 and appeared on "Fresh Prince of Bel Air" at one point with this song released in September 1993 having been co-produced by Babyface of all people and...this is a bit of a disaster, not only is that clanking noise in the background way too reminiscent of poles being banged together and while the lyrical content of the song doesn't stand out particularly at first, he just wants to talk to this girl but is too shy to do so however he wants to find out her name...at first but then by the end of the song, he gets more insistent she talk to him and give him her name like he is entitled to it! This sucks...next!

30. "Asshole" by Dennis Leary

It's a bad sign that we're relying on an American comedian for a good song this week because my goodness we need something good to close out the week and well...this song is actually fucking hilarious, Leary's verses are full of things he does that would likely piss off everyone else such as piss on the toilet seat etc and it's all because he says that he is an asshole on the hook with the adlibs singing "he's an asshole" and "he's the world's greatest asshole". I loved this. Check it out!

Yeah, "Asshole" by Dennis Leary is the easy best of week, as for the worst..."Can We Talk" by Tevin Campbell for being a beyond pushy slice of incel R'n"B

ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart Review: 20th January. Carry Tweaker Home

No preamble this week, I have year end lists to write so let's get on with this. "APT" by Rose and Bruno Mars retains the number one slot for a tenth week and its looking pretty rock solid for another week at least at number one, it held off "That's So True" by Gracie Abrams (a song that is starting to sour on me rather quickly...might see it on my worst list) mostly because Gracie doesn't have the stability across the board on sales, streaming and Youtube that Rose and Bruno do. 

The rest of our top five is also very stable with "Messy" by Lola Young at number three, "Die With A Smile" by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars at number four and "Birds of a Feather" by Billie Eilish at number five.

From there, it's change as "The Days (Notion Remix)" by Chrystal and Notion continued its upward climb up one spot to number six, it moved past "A Bar Song (Tipsy)" by Shaboozey which slipped to number seven.

Both "Taste" by Sabrina Carpenter and "I Had Some Help" by Post Malone and Morgan Wallen moved up one spot each to eight and nine respectively which pushed "Espresso" by Sabrina Carpenter back two places back to number ten.

Losses

"Cruel Summer" by Taylor Swift finally appears to be on its way out as it fell ten places to number thirty nine while "Smile" by Morgan Wallen slipped six places to number forty two

Drop Outs

Unfortunately we lost "Push 2 Start" by Tyla, "Hot to Go!" by Chappell Roan and "Sticky" by Tyler the Creator along with 2024 hit "End of Beginning" by Djo and the other debutant from last week "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey.

Re-Entries 

So we did see couple of songs return with two older songs returning with "Yellow" by Coldplay at fifty and "Take Me to Church" by Hozier at forty nine.

Morgan Wallen's "Love Somebody" is unfortunately back at forty seven. 

Gains

So not too many massive gains this week but we did see "Indigo" by Sam Barber and Avery Anna up ten places off its debut to twenty eight while "Bad Dreams" by Teddy Swims went up nine spots to thirty. 

Nrw Entries

Bit of a shorter week with just two entries but it is going to get quite complex just not straight away because first...

43 "Carry You Home" by Alex Warren

I was expecting ?Burning Down" to the song to cross over to the ARIA singles chart not this one but no matter. If you aren't aware who Alex Warren is, he is an American singer songwriter and Youtuber, he was apparently the member of a questionable video group called The Hype House with this song being one of the first to get any attention for him as a musician and look, I am not going to say it's as good as "Burning Down" but it's solid without being great. its basically a Noah Kahan song where he hopes that this girl understands that no matter when he will carry her home.

I just wish the backing vocals didn't feel like they overwhelmed the song and that this song was more memorable, It's not bad...just easily forgettable.

41. "Tweaker" by Ball Brothers/G3 Gelo

This is actually somewhat of a more interesting new entry this week as it comes from LiAngelo Ball, the brother of former NBA player LaMelo Ball and did play basketball for a time before he dropped out to become a rapper and signed to Def Jam records with this actually winding up being something of a viral hit so what did we get?

Uh, much to my surprise, a pretty good song that reminds me a lot of 2000s rap that came from Nelly especially on the hook and more recently of Lil Nas X on his 2021 album Montero. That piano is also doing a lot of heavy lifting and it's just short enough to not get annoying. Definitely check this one out if you are curious but while I don't think it's great just yet, it's definitely fun and worth your time.

Yeah, it's getting best of the week. No worst this week because I don't think "Carry You Home" by Alex Warren deserves that. 

Next week...uhh...I don't know...could be a quiet one, we'll have to see.

ARIA Singles Top 50 Chart Review: January 13th. Somedays Indigo Push 2 Start a Smile

Well, things have finally started moving on the ARIA singles chart for 2025, we have quite the busy week on hand here so let's get started with the top ten where the top two didn't move with "APT" by Rose and Bruno Mars remains at number one for yet another week, it's lost a bit of it's streaming margin but it's still strong on sales and Youtube, it was enough of a margin to hold sway over "That's So True" by Gracie Abrams at number two, it's gained a bit on streaming but hasn't got as strong a sales or Youtube presence to challenge for number one.

A challenger for the top spot is emerging at number three though with "Messy" by Lola Young up two spots to number three as it gained hard on streaming this week and looks like it might make a run for the top spot.

What won't be making a run at the number one spot are "Die  with a Smile" by Bruno Mars and Lady Gaga down one place to four, "Birds of a Feather" by Billie Eilish down one to number five and "A Bst Song (Tipsy)" by Shaboozey, all three are just naturally just starting to fall back now to make way for new hits.

Speaking of new hits, it looks like "The Days (NOTION Remix)" by Chrystal and Notion is going to get huge as it climbed a massive eleven places to number seven this week, this has streaming momentum so wouldn't be at all surprised if this broke into the top five in the weeks ahead.

The rest of the top ten are 2024 hits with "Espresso" and "Taste" by Sabrina Carpenter with the former remaining at number eight and the latter up one to number nine.

Finally "I Had Some Help" by Post Malone feat Morgan Wallen down one to number ten as it starts to head out of the top ten.

Losers

Yeah we had some massive losers this week mostly older songs that keep appearing on the chart for some reason like "Iris" by The Goo Goo Dolls which fell sixteen places to forty seven, "I Remember Everything" by Zach Bryan and Kacey Musgraves down fifteen to forty three and "Something in the Orange" by Zach Bryan down nine spots to thirty three

However there were also some big falls for some more recent hits like Chappell Roan's "Hot To Go! down twelve to forty five, thankfully "Stumblin' In" by Cyril stumbled down eleven to forty one,"Austin (Boots Stop Working)" by Dasha which slipped eleven to twenty five.

Drop Outs

There were some major drop outs this week with former number ones "Last Night" and "Guess" by Charli XCX feat Billie Eilish both gone. Not complaining though..."Last Night" is still fucking atrocious and "Guess" should make the year end list.

Also gone are "Million Dollar Baby" by Tommy Richman, "I Like the Way You Kiss Me" by Artemas. 
and "Prada" by Casso, Raye and D-Block Europe along with "Scared to Start" by Michael Marcagi and "Ain't No Love in Oklahoma" by Luke Combs

Finally the much older song "Take Me to Church" by Hozier also left.

Gains

So I mentioned the nine place gain for Chrystal and Notion's "The Days" but there wete some significant gains on the chart this week especially for new entries from last week with "BMF" by SZA which gained ten places to seventeen while "Linger (Sirius XM Sessions)" by Royrl Otis climbed  nine places to thirty seven.

"The Door" by Teddy Swims climbed five places to twenty four this week, this song doesn't have the traction "Lose Control" did but I am happy to see this song becoming a sleeper hit.

Re Emtries

However when the other two are "Kisses" by BL3SS and CamrinWatsin (feat. bbyclose) at thirty one and "Slow It Down" by Benson Boone at twenty seven... I'd almost want to question the taste of the Australian public, we could have started 2025 on an even better note without "Slow It Down" especially.

New Entries

Four new entries this week, it's and electic mix of songs but we're starting with

44. "Push 2 Start" by Tyla

Oh finally, another Tyla song has crossed over to the charts only it's a song that isn't on the standard the edition of Tyla's self titled album but rather the deluxe edition of the album called "Tyla+" and I got to be honest here, this is a pretty good song rather than it being great mostly because that drum mixing just feels little off but otherwise yeah, I'll take this with its absolutely gorgeous African amapiano vibe and Tyla's smooth sultry vocal delivery. Check this out. 

38. "Indigo" by Sam Barber and Avery Anna

I've been waiting for American country singer/songwriter Sam Barber to break through in Australia. I've just not really ever been a fan of this, Barber has always felt like way too much of a Zach Bryan knock off and why listen to a knock off when I could listen to the real thing? But with Zach having his issues, it's seems people have gone looking for alternatives and landed on Sam Barber and this song with Avery Anna who is an American country singer who released an album that I never around to hearing and well...this is fine enough, it's a song where this couple is on the edge of a break up and there's a lot of wistful regret as they get set to part ways over sparse guitars, I do wish there was more interplay between Barber and Anna which does kind of hurt the song but it's still good. Check it out. 

36. "Smile" by Morgan Wallen

Sigh...I don't enjoy reviewing Morgan Wallen's music in case you cannot tell, I just find it miserable and his nasal drone makes me think he is singing through a cold but anyway we have this new song and while it's nowhere as contemptible as some of his absolute worst songs...this just isn't any good at all, the beat is too stiff and sterile and Morgan Wallen makes the song all about his jealousy that this girl only smiles when she isn't talking to him. There's this weird condescension that makes this song a painful listen. Next.

34. "Somedays" by Sonny Fodera, D.O.D and Jazzy

So Sonny Fodera is a UK based Australian house producer currently living in London, he teamed up with English producer D.O.D and Irish singer Jazzy who has been notching hits in the UK by featuring on some pretty awful songs with Belters Only but unlike the Belters Only, this song is solid, there's enough of a foundation to this song with that gentle keyboard beat and there's enough sense to ensure that the song isn't a dud plus the lyrics encourage people to not get discouraged, keep fighting and eventually your turn to shine will come. Good song.

That wraps the week and honestly...not too bad! "Smile" by Morgan Wallen nets the worst of the week. I think the best of the week will go to "Push 2 Start" by Tyla as I see myself returning to that song more but it was close.

Next week..I am not sure, we'll have to see. 

ARIA Singles Chart Review: 6th January. Don't Stop Believin' just Linger on that Notion and BMF

We're back in action for 2025 and the ARIA chart has reset post Christmas to something that actually kind of shows that not much changed during the week the Christmas music took over the charts because back at number one is "APT" by Rose and Bruno Mars granted this is riding the impact of the rerlease of her new album late last year but this still has solid enough sales and streaming to keep the number one spot ahead of the increasingly annoying "That's So True" by Gracie Abrams which has streaming but it's not enough to overtake "APT"

"Die With A Smile" by Bruno Mars and Lady Gaga is at number three thanks to having good sales but it's streaming isn't anywhere it needs to be to take the number one, it could start falling with stronger songs behind it.

"Birds of a Feather" by Billie Eilish hangs in at number four, it's in a pretty similar positon to "Die With a Smile' just with streaming a little steadier than sales. Another former chart topper "A Bar Song (Tipsy) by Shaboozey sits at number five and like other songs above it, looks to be on the downswing.

 

In what is shaping as the first truly big hit of 2025, "Messy" by Lola Young is at number six thanks to streraming and sales being decent, this has radio traction and should continue to stick around which is great to see because I like the song.

Now I would like to attribute the rest of this top ten down to people listen to end of 2024 end of year playlists of their most played songs because explains why "Beautiful Things" by Benson Boone continues to plague the top ten like the antibiotic resistant venereal diesease it is at number seven, "Espresso" by Sabrina Carpenter at number eight, "I Had Some Help" by Post Malone and Morgan Wallen at number nine and "Taste" by Sabrina Carpenter at number ten.

There's literally no point talking about losses and drop outs as there were no losses and all the drop outs were just Christmas music.

Gains

Let's go through the gains because there were songs that did stick around last week outside the current top ten but outside that so "Good Luck Babe!" by Chappell Roan rose from 45 to 11, "Sailor Song"  by Gigi Perez climbed from 42 to 12, "Lose Control" by Teddy Swims continues to not live up to its name on the charts by jumping from 44 to 13.

Re-Entries

The re entries make up over three quarters of the chart this week so I'm only going to cover the re entries of songs from last year not older songs that probably should be rissoled off the chart if ARIA had some actual recurrency rules in place.

Lets start backward with "I like the way you kiss me" by Artemas at 50, "Prada" by Casso, Raye and D-Block Europe at 49, "Scared to Start"  by Michael Marcagi at 45, "Guess" by Charli XCX feat. Billie Eilish at 44, "End of Beginning" by Djo at 43, "Bed Chem" by Sabrina Carpenter at 42 and "Ain't No Love in Oklahoma" by Luke Combs at 41

Then there's "Bad Dreams" by Teddy Swims at 39, "Wildflower" by Billie Eilish at 38, "Pink Skies" by Zach Bryan at 37, "Million  Dollar Baby" by Tommy Richman at 35, "Hot to Go!" by Chappell Roan to 33 and "Stumblin' In" by Cyril (really should include Suzi Quatro and Chris Norman...) at 30,

At 29 is "The Door" by Teddy Swims, "I Love You, I'm Sorry" by Gracie Abrams at 22, "Please Please Please" by Sabrina Carpenter at 21, "Stick Season" by Noah Kahan at 20, "Stargazing" by Myles Smith at 19,  "Too Sweet" by Hozier clocked back in at 17, "Timeless" by The Weeknd and Playboi Carti at 16, "Luther" by Kendrick Lamar (and SZA) at 15 and FINALLY "Austin" by Dasha at 14.

New Entries

Four new entries this week and quite unbelievably, we're starting off with...

47. "Don't Stop Believin'" by Journey

Yeah, I am floored I am covering this in 2025 but as it turns out that even with this song considered a classic of 80s even with all the overplay, it wasn't a hit in its original run in Australia in 1981/1982, peaking at number 100 on the Kent Music Report charts and since then has been recording increasingly larger peaks outside the top 50 over the years until 2025 was the year it broke into the top 50. 

I am not going to shit on the song because it is an absolute classic that I know a lot of people absolutely adore and it got more fans courtesy of it being covered by ?Glee" and for many the song is a bit of an anthem but its just not a song that I have a personal attachment to as the lyrics strike me as weird anda the hook doesn't do as much for me at all.

46. "Linger (Sirius XM Sessions)" by Royel Otis 

So are we only going to acknowledge Royel Otis exist when they cover somebody else's songs now are we? Come on, they  have "Velvet" and "FOAM" which are two great songs from "Pratts and Pains" which deserve to be hits but okay putting all that aside, how is this cover of The Cranberries hit "Linger"?

It's fine however I don't think it's anything that would make me switch from the wonderful original where Dolores Riordan (may she rest in peace) just delivers an incredible vocal performance where as the vocals on this cover just don't hit the mark for me but again I stress, this cover isn't the worst thing I have ever heard, it just more feels inessential from a duo whose own music is better thsn this cover.

Just saying.

27. "...BMF" by SZA

So this is the only song that charted from the deluxe edition of "SOS" which is a bit of a surprise, would have thought "30 for 30" with Kendrick Lamar would have charted but oh well, we did end up getting one of the better songs from it even as it interpolates "Girl From Ipanema" on the hook (SZA, you aren't being slick with that and you aren't getting away with it!) but it's actually done well, it sounds like a breezy summer pop song, I will say that the interpolation might see some people getting annoyed with it if it sticks around but I like it. Check this out.

18. "The Days (NOTION Remix" by Chrystal, Not

Well, this feels a somewhat random breakthrough. Chrystal is a British singer hailing from Manchester, her song "Waves" attracted attention from BBC 1Xtra which garnered her comparisons to Lily Allen with this remix from UK dance artist Notion and well I really don't care that much for Notion's remix of the song, it just feels too busy and Chrystal vocals already remind me way too much of Bebe Rexha in the most annoying way possible...nasal and all so no, this isn't particularly good.

That's our week and yeah..."BMF" by SZA just runs away with the best of the week. Worst is going to "The Days (Notion Remix" by Chrystal and Notion. 

ARIA Singles Top 50 Top Ten/Chart Review. 4th July. Where DId Left and Right Go?

 Well...we got a cooldown week here which was to be expected as there seems to be a pause in the big releases...at least for now. Also it looks like we finally have a battle for the top spot so let's get to that top ten where "Running Up That Hill (Deal With God)" by Kate Bush returning to number one for a third week due to a renewed push on streaming and sales. 

All this pushed Joji's "Glimpse of Us" back to number two but it's right there on streaming, it just needs to pick up on sales and Youtube even so I can still see this returning to number one.

That's not the case for "As It Was" by Harry Styles which remained stuck at number three as it's hanging in on sales but streaming is starting to slow down that if a challenger comes along, it's going to face a battle which may not come from Lizzo's "About Damn Time" up one to number four but from Doja Cat's "Vegas" which climbed three places to number five...now this song has grown on me a little bit so I'm fine with it here for now.

Remaining at number six is "First Class" by Jack Harlow as "Jimmy Crooks" by Drake feat. 21 Savage slipped three places to number seven. Falling back one place to number eight is "Heat Waves" by Glass Animals. 

As expected, breaking into the top ten up a starting twenty three spots is "Break My Soul" by Beyonce at number nine and given my feelings on the song are confused...yeah, I am not sure how I feel about it.

Holding steady at number ten is "Stay" by The Kid Laroi feat. Justin Bieber. 

Gains

So apart from "Break My Soul" having it's big gain into the top ten and "Sunroof" by Nicky Youre and Dazy up six to 25 were a slew of songs that just rebounded, most of them older songs like "Good 4 U" by Olivia Rodrigo which went up four to 34 and "Easy On Me" by Adele up seven to 41 but that was about it really.

Re-Entries

This week saw the return of "Blinding Lights" by The Weeknd at 45.

Losers

There's quite few this week..."Die Young" by Sleepy Hallow feat. 347aidan down eight to 50 while "Wait A Minute" by Willow which slipped seven to 48. 

Two Harry Styles songs also took sizeable tumbles again with "Matilda" down twelve to 39 and "Music for A Sushi Restaurant" down nine to 38.

"Cooped Up" by Post Malone feat. Roddy Ricch freefell down eight to 32 while "Sticky" by Drake lost its stickiness to slide twelve spots to stick to number 27 while "Massive" slumped nine to 21 also for Drake.

Drop Outs

Not complaining about our drop outs this week with "Daylight" by Harry Styles, "Clarity" by Vance Joy and "In the Stars' by Benson Boone all leaving. 

New Entries

Just the two new entries this week so let's begin with...

43. "Where Did You Go" by Jax Jones feat. MNEK

About time this charted in Australia, this song has been charting in the UK for the last couple of months now so it took it's sweet damn time to get here and well it turns out that Jax Jones is heading into mid 90s eurodance trends with this song, its definitely straight out of 1996/1997 and even if I do find elements of the production annoying, that breakdown doesn't do much for me at all, MNEK sounds great here as he always does on EDM/eurodance songs, it's not a great song but hey, it's still pretty good, I'll take this.

19. "Left and Right" by Charlie Puth feat. Jungkook 

Well, this is a collab I should have seen coming. Charlie Puth collabing with a member of BTS has been on the cards for awhile now so what did we get from this collab? Well, to tell you the truth a song I am going to want to forget pretty quickly because wow, Charlie Puth is absolutely the worst part of his own song here,.his squeaky as hell vocal delivery on one of the more generic choruses on a pop song in 2022. Jungkook is probably the best thing over this production where he manages to sound a heck of a lot better than Charlie but it's  not enough to save it.

It's getting the worst of the week while "Where Did You Go" by Jax Jones feat. MNEK gets the best of the week.

Next week is set to be a quiet one so we'll see what happens when the chart updates at 5pm AEST on Friday

ARIA Singles top 50 Top Ten/Chart Review: 27th June. Break My Kind of Love Soul...Honestly Nevermind

 So we didn't get a full on Drake album bomb this week...shocking...I know...but given the album is pretty awful, I am actually happy with that, I am also pretty happy with what occurred at the top of the singles chart this week because we have a new number one and the first for this particular artist, yes, it's Joji with "Glimpse of Us" taking the top spot, now let's be clear here, this was a margins thing because "Glimpse of Us" got to number one on streaming alone, it's not a dominant number one by any means.

Which does open up a return to the top spot for former number one "Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)" by Kate Bush, down to number two, as it is still incredibly competitive on both sales and streaming, it's competitive here.

"As It Was" by Harry Styles slipped back to number three, now it's still solid on sales and streaming but I question if it can challenge for number one.

There's a new entry at number four and it's one of only three new entries to the chart from Drake with "Jimmy Crooks" feat. 21 Savage. Now this is apparently not the song they are pushing as a single from the album so I don't expect this to stick around. 

However it did help to push "About Damn Time" by Lizzo back two spots to number five and "First Class" by Jack Harlow back one to number six. 

The song that refuses to leave the top ten is "Heat Waves" by Glass Animals which got a one place boost to number seven...aren't people sick of this song yet? Geez.

Nabbing a four place gain to number eight is "Vegas" by Doja Cat, this has got traction right now especially on streaming so will be interesting to see if the hype outlasts the Elvis movie it's from.

Wrapping up the top ten we have two The Kid Laroi songs with "Thousand Miles" down three to number nine and "Stay" feat Justin Bieber also down three to number ten.

Gains

Sadly the gains aren't exactly on the good side this week when the best of the gains is "Sunroof" by Nicky Youre and Dazy up nine to 31, that's not exactly a good sign. In a pretty awful sign "I Ain't Worried" by OneRepublic moved up nine places to 21 because it's bound to be a hit somehow. Finally "2Step" by Ed Sheeran fest Lil Baby is up three to 40. 

Re-Entries

Just one return this week, it comes from Doja Cat with "Woman" at number 43.

Losers

Let's deal with Harry Styles album bomb first so "Daylight" down 14 to 46, "Music for a Sushi Restaurant" down 5 to 29, "Matilda" down 5 to 27 and "Late Night Talking" down four to 14.

As for the rest, there's "Easy On Me" by Adele down 10 to 48, "Clarity" by Vance Joy slipped six to 47 and Gayle's "abcdefu" is finally starting to fuck off down seven to 44. 

"Wait A Minute" by Willow slipped ten places to 41 while "Industry Baby" by Lil Nas X feat. Jack Harlow slipped seven to 36.  "Enemy" by Imagine Dragons feat. JID and League of Legends stumbled nine to 34.

Drop Outs

Our collection of drop outs aren't too surprising with "Yet to Come" by BTS, "True Love" by Kanye West and XXXtentacion, "Without You" by The Kid Laroi with Miley Cyrus, "Don't Blame Me" by Taylor Swift, "10 Things I Hate About You" by Leah Kate and "Little Freak' by Harry Styles all took their exits

New Entries

Five new entries this week beginning with...

32. "Break My Soul" by Beyonce

So we've got four house songs new to the chart this week with the firdt of them being the lead single from Beyonce's upcoming album "Renaissance" and look, I am really not sure how to feel about this song, I don't actively hate it but I really don't love it either. Sure the Big Freedia sample sounds great here and Beyonce does sound nice but more often than not she gets drowned out by how noisy and somewhat repetive the mix is. I don't know...It's not worth hating but it's definitely nothing something I want to relisten to.

23. "The Kind of Love We Make" by Luke Combs

So this is Luke Combs third entry to the ARIA singles chart following in the wake of "Forever After All" in late 2020 with this one from his new album "Growin' Up" but hey I was excited especially as whenever country or anything adjacent to country has charted in the top 50 in Australia, it's been pretty downright terrible (see "Body Like A Backroad" by Sam Hunt in 2017) but thankfully this is the rare country song hitting the Australian singles chart that is really damn good for once! Yeah, Luke Combs vocal delivery here is something that some people might need to get used to but I really like the production as well, it feels country with the twang of the guitars and while I suspect there's a drum machine in use, it still doesn't stop me from enjoying the song. Check it out!

15. "Sticky" by Drake

12. "Massive" by Drake

4. "Jimmy Cooks" by Drake feat. 21 Savage

So I am going to deal with all three of these Drake songs together because I am sick to death of Drake and spending anymore time on this lack of effort is a waste of my time especially as he is the worst part of all three of these songs, he sounds bored singing on "Massive" and "Sticky" where at least the production has some energy and groove, at least 21 Savage provides a much needed break from Drake's monotonous crooning on "Jimmy Cooks" even if his verse isn't anything outstanding but it's welcome because Drake is just...ugh...

So yeah I'm giving "Sticky" the worst of the week mostly because of Drake's crooning ruining the song, if it was given to a person with energy and enthusiasm, the song would actually be great.

As for the best, yeah, that's going to "The Kind of Love We Make" by Luke Combs...not even a contest there.

As for next week...could be a quiet one so we'll have to see when ARIA updates the chart on Friday

ARIA Singles Top 50 Top Ten/ Chart Review. 20th June. Don't Blame Me, Glimpse of Clarity is Yet to Come

 Well this week turned out more interesting than I otherwise expected, we've got a bit of a surprise debuting in the top ten that I can see sticking around plus the rest of the new entries are eclectic as hell, how many of those stick around with a surprise Drake album bomb likely next week...ughhh.

Anyway let's get to the top ten where for a second week "Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)" by Kate Bush remained at number one thanks to good sales, streaming and Youtube but it got overtaken on streaming this week so I wouldn't be surprised if we see a new number one next week.

"As It Was" by Harry Styles remains at number two, it's still doing solid numbers across the board but it there's a stronger competitor behind it that may well end any hope of a return to number one for this song. 

That competitor is not from "About Damn Time" by Lizzo which rebounded up to number three but it's bleeding on streaming and sales. 

All of this is good news for the biggest new entry of the week, "Glimpse of Us" by Joji debuting at number four, I'll say more about this song later but it's here because of it's incredibly robust streaming especially on Spotify...the big test will be how it holds up against Drake next week. 

It pushed "First Class" by Jack Harlow back two places to number five and "Thousand Miles" by The Kid Laroi one to number six while Kid Laroi's other hit "Stay" feat. Justin Bieber fell back one to number seven.

"Heat Waves" by Glass Animals continues to hang around like a lingering fart at number eight while "I Like You (A Happier Song)" by Post Malone feat. Doja Cat fell back two places to number nine and "Late Night Talking" by Harry Styles stepped back one place to number ten.

Gains.

"Vegas" by Doja Cat climbed five places to number eleven, this song seems to have an interesting amount of traction right now which is weird considering you wouldn't think Doja Cat fans right now are starved of content from her.

"Mr Brightside" by The Killers jumped eleven places to 34 to get the biggest gain of the week while "Hold My Hand" by Lady Gaga rose eight places to 35 thanks to the continued surprising success of that new Top Gun movie.

Re Entries

Just the one re-entry and it's not exactly on the good side with "In The Stars" by Benson Boone back at 49. 

Losses

Alright let's go through what remains of the Harry Styles album bomb, "Little Freak" is sputtering out down 25 to 50, the sun further set on "Daylight" which tumbled eleven places to 32, "Music for a Sushi Restaurant" fell five to 24, "Matilda" waltzed down six places to 22, 

Leah Kate's "10 Things I Hate About You" fell seven places to 47 while "Without You" by The Kid Laroi feat. Miley Cyrus tumbled eleven places to 45.

"True Love" by Kanye West and XXXtentacion collapsed twenty places to 42 (I'll be happier when this has exited the top fifty)

Gayle's 'abcdefu" finally appears to be out of steam as it slipped eleven to 37 while "Cooped Up" by Post Malone feat. Roddy Ricch recoiled down eight to 18. 

Drop Outs

Seven drop outs this week with the biggest of them being "Woman" by Doja Cat, she took "One Right Now" by Post Malone and The Weeknd with her along with "Wasting Angels" by Post Malone feat The Kid Laroi.

Also gone are Kendrick Lamar album tracks "N95" and "Die Hard" feat. Blxst and Amanda Reifer along with Harry Styles album tracks "Grapejuice" and "Satellite"

New Entries

Six new entries, we're starting with...

46. "Don't Blame Me" by Taylor Swift

We're beginning with a 2016 cut from Taylor Swift's second worst album "Reputation" (her worst is "Red", a dubstep infused pop mess that suffered from some poor songwriting and production) that blew up courtesy of Tik Tok and I will say this is one of the better tracks on "Reputation", it's not better than "Getaway Car" but it's close, it's a pop/EDM song that definitely sounds like a more mature version of a song that could have appeared on "Red" where Swift is defending her songwriting about past relationships with love making her crazy. The best part about this song is the hook, it's dark enough that it makes it really memorable and I do appreciate that. Good song.

41. "Clarity" by Vance Joy

I am kind of surprised this charted, Vance Joy hasn't really had a lot of impact on the charts in recent years but this did turn up this week thanks to a boost from his third album "In Our Own Sweet Time" and I am going to be honest here...the worst part of this song is the vocals, I just can't get past how Vance Joy sounds here and even if I think the bouncy guiitar and the other production, it actually sounds rather spring/summer to me. What also doesn't help me like the song is the lyrical content where it's basically a song where Vance Joy is going on about how everything was blurred until love made him find clarity and that just kind of feels cloying to me so yeah while it;s not overall a bad song, I just don't care for it.

40. "Sunroof' by Nicky Youre & Dazy

Okay so there's very little information about the artists involved with making this song but it does seem like this is another song that got big off TikTok and well as it turns out "Sunroof" is this somewhat breezy if slightly clunky pop tune that really does fit for the northern hemisphere summer. The content is about Youre appreciating the pretty girl in his car while he has his head out the sunroof of said car, it's kind of cute so while I can't ignore the clunkiness of the song, I can get behind the sentiment in the song, it's harmless. 

30. "I Ain't Worried" by One Republic

The second song from the Top Gun: Maverick soundtrack to hit the ARIA singles chart and I have do have to admit I was kind of worried because OneRepublic's music hasn't been good at all so I was curious to see if there'd be any improvement with this song and well...imagine an intersection where Maroon 5 with Ryan Tedder's vocals sounding like Adam Levine with a head cold meets Peter, Bjorn and John's 2015 song "Young Folks", it barely sounds like a song written for a movie all about Navy aviators, the 2022 version of Kenny Loggins "Danger Zone" this is not. Sigh, OneRepublic, you used to be so much better than this desaturated pop garbage...what happened?

17. "Yet To Come" by BTS

So BTS are going on hiatus to explore solo projects etc, I half suspected something was coming when the band released an "anthology" called "Proof" on the Friday and so really I was expecting a much higher debut for this song than number seventeen but none the less here it is with the song entirely in Korean so how is the song?. It's okay if a little bland and generic, it's basically a song about how while they loved the past,  the future holds the best to come for the group, it just feels like a pretty unmemorable sidenote, a song chucked into "Proof" to give fans an extra unheard song, I don't think the song is bad but I won't be coming back to it. 

4. "Glimpse of Us" by Joji

Last song of the week and honestly, I am shocked that Japanese-Australian Joji has finally gotten something to break through, it probably should have happened a couple of years ago with "Slow Dancing in the Dark" but none the less we've got this new single from his forthcoming album and well...it's one of the best songs of 2022 to hit the ARIA singles chart, a haunting spare piano ballad where he has moved on with a new girl but in everything he and this girl do, he can't help but see everything that his ex did, the song does just enough to keep you engaged and I will admit that I broke down the first time I heard this. Yeah, this song is amazing, if you haven't heard it, I highly recommend you do so.

"Glimpse of You" by Joji runs away with the best of the week. As for the worst, it falls out easily with "I Ain't Worried" by OneRepublic because that song is absolutely wretched.

Next week...ugh...the surprise Drakepocalypse that nobody asked for but how much of "Honestly, Nevermind" will land on the chart will be discovered on Friday at 5pm AEST.

ARIA Top 50 Top Ten/Chart Review: 13th June. Wasting Vegas Angels 2Step to A Happier Song

 So this week felt underwhelming, sure we got a couple of songs from that new Post Malone album hitting the chart but that was about it however we do have some big news that pertains to the very top of the charts and that is there is a new number in the form of "Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)" by Kate Bush, now it got to number one with the perfect mix of being top on sales, streaming and even Youtube, it's her first number one under ARIA charts but her second in Australia overall, her first was "Wuthering Heights" which reached number one in 1978 on the Kent Music Report charts. 

It pushed "As It Was" by Harry Styles back to number two, it could still get back to number one but that  is going to require streaming momentum to pick back up again, I would say it's under pressure from "First Class" by Jack Harlow at number three but that lost more ground on sales this week.

Sllipping back a place to number four is "About Damn Time" by Lizzo which looks to be just hanging in there even as it does feel like the momentum for this song has died rather prematurely.

Rising one place to number five is "Thousand Miles" by The Kid Laroi because it's filling gap left by the exits of Harry Styles songs from the top ten. The same can be said for The Kid Laroi's other song in the top ten "Stay" featuring Justin Bieber which rose one place to number six. 

Then at number seven is a new entry to the top ten with "I Like You (A Happier Song)" by Post Malone feat. Doja Cat, I will have more to say on the song later but it's here thanks mostly to streaming. 

Continuing to hang around is "Heat Waves" by Glass Animals at number eight while "Late Night Tslking" by Harry Styles slipped four places to number nine.

Boosted by the release of the album is "Cooped Up" by Post Malone feat. Roddy Ricch which got a thirteen place boost to number ten.

Gains

"Cooped Up" by Post Malone feat. Roddy Ricch was the biggest gain of the week with it's thirteen place gain to number.

"Wait for U"  by Future feat. Drake and Tems climbed six places to 18 while "Bam Bam" by Camila Cabello feat. Ed Sheeran rose eight places to 23 while "Enemy" by Imagine Dragons feat. J.I.D & League of Legends rebounded eight places to 24.

"Without You" by The Kid Laroi and Miley Cyrus rebounded ninentto 34 while "Wait a Minute" by Willow also climbed nine to 35 and "That's What I Want" by Lil Nas X jumped six places to 36

"Die Young" by Sleepy Hallow feat 347aiden jumped up ten places off it's debut to 38.

Re-Entries

Two returning entries this week with "No Role Modelz" by J Cole at 49 (I am bewildered about this one) while the one that does make sense is the return of "One Right Now" by Post Malone and The Weeknd at number 42 due to the release of Post Malone's album. 

Losers

All the losers are album bomb tracks so let's begin with Harry Styles with "Grapejuice" spilling 28 places to 47, "Satellite" crashing 19 to 37,  "Little Freak" slipped over nine places to 25, "Daylight" had it's sunset seven places to 21, the same goes for "Music for a Sushi Restaurant" down to 19 and "Matilda" to 16

Kendrick Lamar's "N95" saw it's mask slip 26 places to 46.

Drop Outs

Nothing too major to note here with five of the six drop outs being Harry Styles album tracks along wirh "Potion" by Calvin Harris feat Dua Lipa and Young Thug.

New Entries

44. "2Step" by Ed Sheeran feat. Lil Baby

Ed Sheeran, you are four singles from "=" in, pop/rock is back in vogue, you could have given us "Tides" as a single already but no, instead we get "2Step" and in order to get it onto the charts, multiple remixes with artists around the world including Australia's own Budjerah but seeing as the version that charted is the version with Lil Baby, I am going to talk about that one instead and look, "2Step" isn't helped by the fact that it's one of the songs that I didn't like from "=" in the first place, yeah the guitar that opens the song is pretty but the percussion that overwhelms that pretty guitar rif bugs me...it's like it's not mixed properly and Lil Baby's verse sounds like an insert here verse that he could put any pop song. Next...

30. "Wasting Angels" by Post Malone feat. The Kid Laroi

So we only got two new songs from the new Post Malone album which considering he landed nine new songs from Hollywood's Bleeding on the ARIA singles chart in 2019 is kind of telling that even with the label drama, apart from Drake, people have moved on from artists who weren't particularly active during the pandemic shutdowns of 2020 and 2021 to acts in Post Malone's lane like his counterpart on this song.

Okay, the decreasing public interest in Post Malone aside, I love the production on this track even if Post Malone's vocals are the worst part of the song but the choir on the final part of the song sent shivers down my spy. Post Malone and The Kid Laroi lyrically pontificate about their lives before they got famous and how they are enjoying the ride that comes with fame but are aware of the pitfalls and are doing their hardest to not lapse into any of those pitfalls, it's a better than I expected song from both Post Malone and The Kid Laroi. It's good without being great. 

17. "Vegas" by Doja Cat

So this is the lead single for the soundtrack of Baz Luhrmann's Elvis Presley biopic called "Elvis" and I kind of get the feeling that this song would work better within the context of the movie (which is getting very mixed reviews). Yeah, Doja Cat is having some fun that includes a sample of Elvis's hit "Hound Dog" being sung by Big Mama Thornton. Look, it's fine but if it sticks around for awhile I could see this song souring on me hard especially as the repeated "I get it" does get really damn annoying however we ain't done with Doja Cat yet because...

7. "I Like You (A Happier Song)" by Post Malone feat. Doja Cat.

The only other song to chart new this week from "Twelve Carat Toothache" and look, it's a smooth hook up song that lacks any kind of interplay between Post Malone and Doja Cat even if Post Malone's crooning on the hook is a lot better than usual. Also the production does feel a bit one note and derivative. It's cute and it might be the song from "Twelve Catat Toothache" to stick around because of the Doja Cat feature but I am not feeling this one.

And that ends a rough week...the worst is going to "2Step" by Ed Sheeran feat. Lil Baby...when there's better on the album, Ed has no excuse for releasing this. As for the best, it's rough but I am going with "Wasting Angels" by Post Malone feat. Kid Laroi because hey that choir at the end solid it for me.

Next week, BTS and possibly Joji, we'll have to see when the chart updates at 5pm AEST on Friday.

ARIA Singles Top 50/Chart Review. 6th June. Young True Love Potion

 So this week turned out to be a cooldown from the album bombs we've had at least until Post Malone turns up next week (although that one I am not so sure about  given Post has struggled to really capture any attention this year) but regardless of that..."As It Was" by Harry Styles, it had streaming, sales and youtube on lock for most of this week untiil our new number two came along.

Speaking of which that new number two is Kate Bush's 1985 hit "Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)" which thanks to hit TV show Stranger Things, it got a boost on sales and streaming to outpeak it's 1985 performance on the Kent Music Report charts where it peaked at number six at the time however it's not certain to stick around when the hype from Stranger Things dies down, there's a small chance that this could take the number one spot next week because it's momentum is enormous.

Rebounding four places to number three is "About Damn Time" by Lizzo as it surprisingly surpassed "First Class" by Jack Harlow which climbed one place to number four.

"Late Night Talking" by Harry Styles slipped back three places to number five. "Thousand Miles" by The Kid Laroi rebounded a full fourteen places to number six while Laroi's other hit "Stay" featuring Justin Bieber also returned to the top ten up 11 places to number seven.

Up three places to number eight is the malingering fart that won't go the fuck away, "Heatwaves" by Glass Animals up three places to number eight.

"Matilda" by Harry Styles slipped six places to number nine while "Big Energy" by Latto feat. Mariah Carey and DJ Khaled climbed seven places back inside the top ten at number ten.

Gains

So let's deal with the double digit gains here first with "Bad Habits" by Ed Sheeran up ten places to number 11. "She's All I Wanna Be" by Tate McRae rebounding with the album boost to 26.

Then there's a nine place gain for "Where Are You Now" by Lost frequencies and Calum Scott to number 12  while "Cold Heart (PNAU Remix)" by Elton John and Dua Lipa climbed eight to 13.

Re Entries

So there are three return entries this week including Kate Bush's ""Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)" at number two. The other returns are courtesy of Lady Gaga's "Hold My Hand" at 47 (you can thank the noise around the new Top Gun movie for this) and somehow "Without You" by The Kid Laroi feat Miley Cyrus came back at number 43...

Losses

All of the losses are basically just album bombs falling away so let's deal with Kendrick Lamar first with "Die Hard" feat B;xst and Amanda Reifer  down 23 places to 50 while "N95" only dropped the one place to 20.

From Harry Styles though, "Boyfriends" got dumped 24 places to 34,  "Daydreaming" got ssplashed down with cold water eighteen spots to 30, "Kee[ Driving" crashed fifteen to 29, "Love of My Life" got crushed fifteen to 28, "Cinema" had its doors shut 16 places to 27, "Grapejuice" went sour down ten to 19, "Satellite" crash landed eight places to 18, "Little Freak" freaked out ten places to 16, "Daylight" is starting to see the sunset down six to 14  and "Music for a Sushi Restaurant recieved negative reviews so it's down eight to 12.

Drop Outs

Not complaining about our drop outs this week because all of them either suck or overstayed their welcome with "Starlight" by Dave, "Watermelon Sugar" by Harry Styles, "Dua Lipa" by Jack Harlow, "No Role Modelz" by J Cole, "Say Nothing" by Flume feat. MAY-A and "In the Stars" by Benson Boone all taking their exits...thank goodness.

New Entries

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

48 "Die Young" by Sleepy Hallow feat. 347aidan

Okay so Sleepy Hallow are back on the chart, I think I liked "2055" a bit more than a few other people did however this time around he has brought Canadian rapper 347aidan on board and unfortunately this song is not as good as "2055" mostly because of that hook where the production makes 347aidan sound terrible or there was a complete misfire in the studio because either way the vocal effect isn't flattering even with that really good guitar line that they don't seem to do anything with. Also Sleepy Hallow's content here isn't worth noting mostly just him not wanting to die young and empty flexing, either way I am going to forget this exists.

32. "Potion" by Calvin Harris feat. Dua Lipa and Young Thug

I can't have been the only one excited to hear that Calvin Harris is making "Funk Wav Bounces Volume 2", right? So of course it makes sense that Harris would bring in Dua Lipa, who helped him make one of the biggest hits of 2018 with "One Kiss", and Young Thug (He was on 2017's "Heatstroke" with Pharrell Williams and Ariana Grande) although it does feel weird that he is on a song now given his current situation and well..."Poition" is absolutely what you would expect from Calvin Harris and Dua Lipa in that it sounds like a song that could have fit on "Future Nostalgia" because Dua Lipa sounds great here but the production isn't nearly as rich enough as it was on "Heatstroke" for Young Thug to work here and while he harmonises well with Dua Lipa...I am kind of wondering if this song might have benefited with just Dua Lipa on it, it's a decent to good song but it could have been better.

21. "True Love" by Kanye West and XXXtentacion

Uhh...no...can we stop this? Can we stop digging up XXXtentacion, who is dead by the way, fragments to put on undercooked rap songs because this from Kanye is literally just one verse with several choruses as Kanye complains about not being able to see his youngest daughter, how he doesn't like the current custodial arrangement following the divorce from his ex wife etc...it's really not worth much of anything. 

It's also the worst of the week because really it's a fragment of a song and a pretty crappy one at that too. Best in a rough week is going to "Potion" by Calvin Harris feat. Dua Lipa and Young Thug.

Next week, Post Malone album bomb maybe, we'll have to see when the charts update at 5pm AEST on Friday

ARIA Top 50 Top Ten/Chart Review. 30th May. When Harry's House Meets the ARIA Singles Chart.

Look...this week is going to be a Harry Styles avalanche...we're going to be doing nothing other than talking about Harry Styles songs for the most part beause all twelve new songa from "Harry's House" made the ARIA singles chart all in the top fifteen with seven of them joining reigning number one "As It Was" in the top ten, it was a blitzkrieg that I am not convinced did all that much damage anyway given Kendrick cleared out the chart for the most part last week but like I said "As it Was" by Harry Styles spends a sixth week at number one thanks to massivc streaming off the back of the album release.

Now this massive streaming is pretty much the same for all the Harry Styles songs in the top ten so I am going to blow through those quickly with "Late Night Talking" at number two, "Matilda" at number three and "Music for a Sushi Restaurant" at number four.

Jack Harlow's "First Class' managed to stem the surge of Harry songs slightly by only falling three places to number five. 

"Little Freak" by Harry Styles debuts at number six ahead of Lizzo's "About Damn Time" which dropped three places to number seven (this song is still strong and should rebound next week).

The rest of the top ten is all Harry Styles though with "Daylight" at number eight, "Grapejuice" at number nine and "Satellite' at number ten.

Gains

So we do have some small gains this week with two place gains for "No Role Modelz" by J Cole to 48, "Woman" by Doja Cat to 47 and "Good 4 U" by Olivia Rodrigo to number 37.

"Cooped Up" by Post Malone feat. Roddy Ricch rose one place to 26.

Re-Entries

Two returns this week with one being "Say Nothing" by Flume and MAY-A at 49 and the unsurprising return of "Watermelon Sugar" by Harry Styles at number 44.

Loses

There are a LOT of losers this week as you would expect so in an effort to keep this short, I am only going to go through the double digit losses and really given Kendrick did most of the damage last week, this list of double dgit losers isn't as big as you would think.

We'll begin with Kendrick Lamar album cuts that somehow remained the chart with "Die Hard" fear Blxst and Amanda Reifer sliding 22 to 27 and "N95" down 16 to 18.

"Thousand Miles" by The Kid Laroi slumped eleven places to 20 while "Heat Waves" by Glass Animals fell 10 to 16. 

Finally "Dua Lipa' by Jack Harlow fell fifteen to 46. 

Drop outs

Harry Styles took out the rest of Kendrick Lamar album tracks and two other songs that were already on the way out anyway with "Churchill Downs" by Jack Harlow feat. Drake and "Hurtless" by Dean Lewis.

New Entries

So we did get a Harry Styles album bomb so here are the songs that I won't be covering in full...

"Boyfriends" at 15, "Keep Driving" at 14, "Love of My Life" at 13, "Daydreaming" at 12,  "Cinema" at 11, "Satellite" at 10,  "Grapejuice" at 9, "Daylight" at 8 and "Little Freak" at 6.

That leaves us with just three songs to cover beginning with...

4. "Music for a Sushi Restaurant" by Harry Styles

Ahh yes, the vaguely annoying album opener with blaring horns that really do end up becoming aggravating before getting ridiculous and completely annoying. Then there's the lyrics where Harry sings that he could cook an egg on this girl...what the hell, Harry? Proceeds to call her sweet ice cream and then claim she needs a flake put in her which is all sorts of questionable. This song is the song of gross food and sex double entendre that like Timbaland and Justin Timberlake's "Carry Out" winds up disgusting. Next!

3. "Matilda' by Harry Styles

Ahh so this might be one of my favourite songs on "Harry's House", the plucky guitars and Harry Styles telling the story of this girl he knows and how she grew up an abusive or at leastt troubled household and Harry is the one to show empathy and encourage this woman to move forward with her life...travel the world and achieve everything she wants in life despite her upbringing. It's a sweet and well written song using hiding this woman's identity in the main character Roald Dahl's book "Matilda". Yeah, this is excellent. 

2. Late Night Talking" by Harry Styles.

Last of the songs to deal with here and well, it's a bit of a shame that the somewhat wonky production on the verses kind of rules the vibe that Harry Styles is going for here, he is going for the late 70s/early 80s sound that really doesn't work here or have the the late night vibe that the song seems to need and what but can't reach which is a shame because that chorus is actually really catchy but you win some, you lose some, I guess.

So yeah, in a week dominated by Harry, he gets worst of the week for "Music for a Sushi Resraurant" but he also gets the best for "Matilda"

Next week...the fall out of all this which ARIA will reveal on Friday at 5pm AEST

ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart Top Ten/ Chart Review. 23rd May. Kendrick's Mr Morale and The Big Steppers Album Bomb

 We got the biggest disruption to the singles chart this year courtesy of Kendrick Lamar's final album for TDE called "Mr Morale & The Big Steppers", 14 songs from the album entered the ARIA top 50 this week including three in our top ten so let's start there where for another week "As It Was" by Harry Styles kept the number one spot, it's got a lock on number one thanks to excellent streaming and sales with Youtube also kicking in, its postion at the top will only be strengthened next week thanks to the album release.

That meant "First Class" by Jack Harlow stuck at number two. Now it's still reasonably strong on sales and streaming and also has some youtube but have to wonder if it's going to come under some pressure in the weeks ahead.

That brings us to the first of three new arrivals to the top ten...all of them are from Kendrick Lamar with "N95" debuting at number three and really that's all on streaming, I don't see this being in the top ten next week, it shifted "About Damn Time" by Lizzo back one to number four but this song should rebound, it's still reasonably strong on streaming. 

The second of the new entries from Kendrck Lamar in the top ten is "Die Hard" feat. Bixst and Amanda Reifer debuting at number five. 

All of this pushed "Heat Waves" back two places to number six for Glass Animals (I am ready for this song to go the hell away if I am to be hobest)

The laat of Kendrick Lamar new entries is in at number seven with the album opener "United in Grief"...again no expectation that it will stick around.

"Big Energy" by Latoo feat. Mariah Carey and DJ Khaled slipped back two to number eight while "Thousand Miles' by The Kid Laroi slumped four places to number nine while The Kid Laroi's biggest hit to date "Stay" feat Justin Bieber slipped three places to number ten.

For those wondering how the top ten would look without the Kendrick album bomb...

1. As It Was

2. First Class

3. About Damn Time

4. Heat Waves

5. Big Energy

6. Thousand Miles

7. Stay

8. Bad Habits

9. Where Are You Now

10. Cold Heart (PNAU Remix)

Gains

There are none. Every single song that's not from Kendrick  lost hard this week.

Losses

So not to make this blog post a really long one, I am only going to cover the double digit losses which begins with the thirty place loss for "Churchill Downs" by Jack Harlow feat. Drake...ouch.

"Hurtless" by Dean Lewis suffered an eleven place fall while "Starlight" by Dave collapsed seventeen places to 42 and "Good 4 U" by Olivia Rodrigo tumbled eleven to 39.

The momentum has been zapped out of Leah Kate's "10 Things I Hate About You" as it fell 14 to 37 while Adele's "Easy On Me" took a 15 place fall to 34.

Jack Harlow's "Dua Lipa" got unceremoniously dumped 18 places to 31 while "Industry Baby" by Lil Nas X feat. Harlow took an eleven place slide to 26. 

Drop Outs

There's fifteen drop outs and with Harry Styles album bomb next week, some of these likely have ghad their chart runs ended permanently.

New entries from last week like "This Love (Taylor's Version)" by Taylor Swift, "The Heart Part 5" by Kendrick Lamar (weird, would thave thought name recognition alone would have kept the song in the top 50) and "Hold My Hand" by Lady Gaga.

The long running hits that took their exits this week like "Kiss Me More" by Doja Cat and SZA, "Happier Than Ever" by Billie Eilishm "Blinding Lights" by The Weeknd and "Watermelon Sugar" by Harry Styles, 

Older songs that got viralitylike "Lost" by Frank Ocean and "Iris" by the Goo Goo Dolls.

Newer songs that definitely won't qualify for the year end with "Flowers" by Lauren Spencer-Smith. 

Songs that are question marks for the year end like "Tom's Diner" by AnnenMayKentereit & Giant Rooks, "Nail Tech" by Jack Harlow

Definitely making the year end is "Down Under" by Luude feat. Colin Hay

New Entries

So we are in an album bomb situation so here's the Kendrick Lamar songs that charted that didn't qualify for best nor worst of the week.

48. "Auntie Diaries", 44. "Crown", 45. "Mr Morale" feat Tanna Leone, 30. "Savior" feat. Baby Keem and Sam Dew, 22. "Purple Hearts" feat. Ghostface Killah & Summer Walker, 21. "Silent Hill" feat. Kodak Black, 20. "Count Me Out", 17. "Worldwide Steppers", 16. "Rich Spirit", 12. "Father Time" feat. Sampha

So that leaves us with five new entries to talk about here however we aren't starting with Kendrick somehow because...

27. "Cooped Up" by Post Malone feat. Roddy Ricch

So did you know that Post Malone is literally dropping an album called "Twelve Carat Toothache" in June? Yeah given Post Malone was literally one of the biggest artists in the world around 2018/19, it is kind of amazing how under the radar Post Malone has managed to go however considering both "Motley Crue' and "One Right Now" weren't exactly the kind of hits that Post Malone would have expected in the lead of to the album I guess it's not that much of a surprise this upcoming album feels really low key so how is "Cooped Up"?

Like I was with "Motley Crue", I am really disappointed by this, feels like Post Malone is stepping back toward a trap comfort zone that doesn't even begin to make sense after the best album of his career in 2020, yeah the piano sounds good but Post Malone sounds like he is singing in pain over this trap beat that doesn't do much and couple that with Roddy Ricch dropping his most disappointing verse to date? Yeah I'm skipping this one. 

TW: Mentions of abuse. 

19. "We Cry Together" by Kendrick Lamar and Taylour Paige

This is my favourite song on "Mr Morale & The Big Steppers" and I don't say that lightly. More for the very real depiction by Kendrick Lamar and Taylour Paige of an ugly abusive abusive relationship where both Kendrick and Taylour say some terrible things to each other before Taylour Paige delivers a verse while she's in tears and the anger and frustratio felt by both is palpable before it culminates in the pair having sex. The song is set over this ska jazz groove which gives the song a lot more power and adds to the bitter darkness and rage that swells in the song. 

Probably not a song to listen to if you have been in an abusive relationship and find this sort of song triggering.

7. "United in Grief" by Kendrick Lamar

This is one of those songs where we discover that Kendrick Lamar is revealing his own fallibility as a human being questioning his own attitudes to women,  in that he cheated on his partner while he was on tour and the pain that this brief hook up caused her, reflections on his long career in the music industry, he knows and chooses the need to stay humble and all those accolades he has recieved won't last when he does die and how he has entered therapy to deal with his own mental health. If anything this might be the song where Kendrick is at his absolute best on the album in terms of being able to switch up his flow but it's also a painful reminder that like all of us, Kendrick is not perfect, he is also human...something that become more abundantly clear on the album.

5. "Die Hard" by Kendrick Lamar feat Blxst and Amanda Reifer

So this song is a slice of R & B that brings Blxst and Amanda Reifer on board as Kendrick begs for his partner to be patient with him as he is very much in a vulnerable place right now and pleading her to remain loyal to him and that in the hook delivered by Blxst that she can love him despite all his flaws and all that she has had to put up with from him. Kendrick knows that when he falls in love he falls in love hard which for him means a lot of emotion. Its definitely an intertesting song even though the instrumention is more upbeat and less dark than it is on other songs on the album. 

3. "N95" by Kendrick Lamar

Okay so the album opener charts the highest and is a reference to a particular type of mask used during lockdowns etc in 2020 and 2021 but it's Kendrick lashing out at the state of society in 2022 and with particular refernce to Afican-American culture, he warns against chasing material wealth and possessions amid the troubling economic circumstances of so many post COVID lockdowns. Kendrick also spends a bit of the song calling out the criminals who are on the end of attention of the feds. Not really the best song from the album but ehh, I'll take it. 

And that wraps up the week, a week that really was tough to get through but best and worst fell out easily with worst going to "Cooped Up" by Post Malone feat. Roddy Rich. Best of the week going to "We Cry Together" by Kendrick Lamar and Taylour Paige.

Next week, Harry Styles album bomb but we'll find out when the charts update at 5pm AEST on Friday.