If this is the kinda quality you’re working with for your third single then, gurl, go right ahead and help yourself to that trophy.
Emeli Sandé has every reason to act like she’s dat bitch. The Scottish soul/R&B songwriter is off to a rather promising start with her solo career. Yes, she’s foremost known for featuring on Roll Deep‘s ‘Never Be Your Woman’ and Professor Green‘s ‘Read All About It’, the UK #1 hit that’s currently rising up the Australian ARIA Top 100 – but unlike most rent-a-vocalists, Ms Sandé‘s own material is solid enough to build a bankable career on.
‘Next To Me’ is possibly her most accessible release to date and given how close we are to the album drop date, putting out the more straightforward radio-ready track now might not be such a bad idea. Even though Sandé‘s last two singles – ‘Heaven’ and ‘Daddy’ – were great staples of modern soul, they’re nowhere near catchy or straightforward enough to be proper radio hits.
I’m not advocating for folks to dumb down their music – especially not when they’re as effective a songwriter as Emeli Sandé. All I’m saying is that, ‘Next To Me’ has the potential to reach further and appeal to a wider range of listeners than her more introspective first two singles.
‘Next To Me’ hears the Scottish chanteuse sing of a good man who’s faithful and who’s always there to support her. You know, it’s uplifting and inviting enough as it is without considering the lovely, driving soul music. Production wise, ‘Next To Me’ is a capable contemporary mix of Motown, urban and even a touch of gospel.
Enough about that. What about the video?
Ms Emeli is thankfully not testing our gag reflexes with saccharine depictions of a lovely couple enjoying a cosy night in on the couch.
‘Next To Me’ is a drastically low-key compared to her first two videos which were all flavoured with a bit of drama, grit and street realness. The completely in-studio production featuring a scene in a warehouse with two spotlights over a drummer and Emeli on piano really drives home the song’s simple message of companionship.
Colouration becomes a big deal in this video because there’s really nothing much on set to distract you. You’ll notice the contrasting switch from warm, earthy tones in Emeli‘s wardrobe in the scene with her male drummer to the glossy, V Magazine-ready bright colours of her solo shot. That to me symbolises the grounded, natural and homely state she’s in whenever she’s “next to” her man – a world that’s just the two of them and the beautiful music they’re making – as opposed to the glamorous editorialised version of Emeli Sandé, the chart-tearing pop singer.
Watch the music video for ‘Next To Me’:
Footnotes:
Emeli Sandé will release ‘Next To Me’ in the UK on 13 February, the same day her album arrives.
At this stage, there’s been no word on whether Aussies will get the single. But hey, Emeli‘s debut album Our Version of Events is confirmed to drop Down Under on 10 February.
Happy new year, y’all. I don’t know who approved my time off last Monday but I’m sorry for leaving y’all without a Christmas week chart feed.
I am back on the grind tonight because I know we need to start this year right. It’s such a traditionally quiet time of the year for music sales, technically all your underachieving faves should be making the Top 10 with no effort at all. But of course, there aren’t ever any surprises when you’re expecting it.
This week’s chart highlights include Michael Buble‘s record-breaking Christmas sales that has cancelled everything he’s put out before this year, Sia‘s third consecutive Aussie Top 30 appearance in five months, Havana Brown‘s American crossover, and shit loads more.
Reece Mastin was almost licking it on both sides this week with his winning single ‘Good Night’ returning to #1 and album debuting at #2 on our ARIA charts. Reece Mastin – a compilation of choons the kid purveyed on X Factor Australia – is the biggest new album in the country, instantly certified platinum for shipments of over 70,000 copies.
Needless to say, the fastest selling artist to ever come out of the local talent show franchise. The kid rocker’s cover of Maroon 5‘s ‘She Will Be Loved’ managed to break the ARIA Top 100 at #87 based on track downloads alone.
Timomatic‘s ‘Set It Off’ skyrockets to a new peak of #22 on our ARIA charts, marking another key success for Aussie pop this year. The man, who’s best known as the singer/dancer who came second on this year’s Australia’s Got Talent series, co-wrote ‘Set It Off’ with DNA – the same Sydney songwriting/production duo who’s responsible for Marvin Priest‘s ‘Own This Club’. DNA also currently has two songs in the ARIA Top 10 in Reece Mastin‘s ‘Good Night’ and Guy Sebastian‘s ‘Don’t Worry Be Happy’.
Matt Corby‘s experiencing some chart wonder with his EP Into The Flame climbing to a new peak of #33. This is the strummy la la artist’s biggest commercial success yet. He really is the new Lisa Mitchell-style success story from our Idol franchise.
Watch Matt‘s video for ‘Untitled’, a track featured on his Into The Flame EP. Side bar: I would totally do him.
Pink‘s beige ballad ‘Bridge of Light’ plummets to #34 on our ARIA charts – not surprising given its diminishing radio rotation. Her last single to miss our Top 20 was ‘I Don’t Believe You’, which peaked at #23 back in 2009.
Ricki-Lee‘s glorious ‘Raining Diamonds’ is probably set to retire soon. The underrated smash falls to #39 this week after clocking six weeks in our ARIA Top 50. Our gurl can still probably treat herself to a few Gasp dresses this Christmas – ‘Raining Diamonds’ has been certified gold sales for selling over 35,000 copies.
Cher Lloyd‘s summery smash ‘With Ur Love’ rises to a new peak of #43 on our Aussie charts. Snaps to the ‘Swagger Jagger’ singer for snagging herself an American recording contract with L.A. Reid‘s label Epic Records. I’m sure you’ll agree that her seriously on point debut album Sticks + Stones deserve some proper Stateside attention – check out where it lands on my Feed Limmy Top 30 Albums of 2011 list.
Watch Cher Lloyd do one of my favourite tracks ‘Want U Back’ acoustic style:
will.i.am‘s ‘T.H.E. (The Hardest Ever)’ blasts back into the ARIA Top 100 at #57 this week, thanks to interest surrounding the A-grade music video. Over in the States, ‘T.H.E.’ sinks to #193 on the Hot Digital Songs chart but we’ll see this Thursday if it cops a resurrection there too.
Lady Gaga‘s Born This Way album returns to our ARIA Top 50, probably thanks to the Christmas rush. Same goes for Katy Perry‘s Teenage Dream. Y’all know there are loads of unimaginative grown ups buying these records for their nieces and daughters. Meanwhile at the singles bar, Gaga’s two recent singles ‘You and I’ and ‘Marry The Night’ exit the Top 100 while ‘Born This Way’ and ‘The Edge of Glory’ keep selling. Born This Way: The Remix sinks to #100 on our ARIA Top 100.
Little Mix‘s winner’s single ‘Cannonball’ debuts at #1 in the UK, clocking 210,000 opening week sales to become the fastest selling single of 2011. The recently crowned British X Factor champs made history this week as the first girl group to go #1 in the UK since Girls Aloud‘s ‘The Promise’ in 2008. Damien Rice‘s original ‘Cannonball’ rides on the coattails back to #19 on the UK charts this week.
Leona Lewis‘ new single EP ‘Hurt’ enters at #8 in the UK, making it the second biggest new release there this week. It is also incidentally Leona‘s eighth UK Top 10 placement.
Watch an acoustic performance ‘Hurt’, which was recorded on the star’s recent webchat:
Jessie J‘s ‘Who You Are’ is bowled out of the UK Top 20 this week, tumbling from #9 to #21. Speaking of drastic drops – the latest X Factor charity single ‘Wishing On A Star’ sinks from #2 to #17, and Emeli Sandé‘s ‘Daddy’ falls from #43 to #76.
Kelendria Trene Rowland‘s Here I Am nosedives from a tepid peak of #43 to #63 on the UK charts this week. Totally not surprised to see it go down that hard. Meanwhile, the smash single ‘Down For Whatever’ leaves the UK Top 20.
Take That‘s Progress Live tour DVD is still the biggest selling music DVD in the UK but over in the US and Australia, Adele‘s Live at The Royal Albert Hall continues to reign on top. Lady Gaga‘s The Monster Ball tour sits at #13 on the UK music DVD charts but does better at #2 in Australia and #3 in the US. Beyoncé’s Live at Roseland DVD falls from #8 to #18 in the UK and from #4 to #6 in Australia but stays strong at #2 in the US.
Check out Queen Bey performing the life-defining ‘I Was Here’:
Michael Buble‘s Christmas album continues to rake in the chips with a 64% sales increase in its third week on top of the US Billboard 200. The lucrative seasonal album sold 479,000 copies in America in the last week, making it the crooner’s biggest #1 album yet. You really wonder why he hadn’t put out a Christmas album before. Buble‘s Christmas is also simultaneously topping the UK and Australian album charts.
The Black Keys have the highest selling new album in America with El Camino debuting at #2. It’s remarkably the rock band’s biggest commercial success yet – clocking over 206,000 first week sales. This is very much an improvement on last year’s Brothers, which entered at #3 with 73,000 copies.
Amy Winehouse‘s posthumous album Lioness: Hidden Treasures debuts at #5 in the US, off the back of 114,000 opening week sales. This is the late soul singer’s biggest chart debut ever. Mind you, Back to Black entered at #7 but eventually climbed to #2 on the Billboard 200.
Watch a mini doco about Amy Winehouse‘s Hidden Treasures:
Glee‘s season three Volume 7 album gives the franchise their lowest first-week sales yet for a regular compilation (ie. Volumes 1 – 7). The record comes in at #9 on the US Billboard 200 with 58,000 copies sold. The only other Glee releases to have opened with fewer copies were the Rocky Horror Glee EP (48,00) and The 3D Concert Movie soundtrack (20,000). We done here.
Robin Thicke‘s Love After War album debuts at #22 on the US Billboard 200, making this the sexy soul man’s first album to miss the Top 20 since his 2006 breakthrough. Love After War opened with 42,000 first week sales – a far cry from his last album Sex Therapy, which opened with 123,000 copies almost exactly two years ago.
Katy Perry‘s ‘The One That Got Away’ is starting to show its desperation to go #1. There’s the introduction of a rent-a-rapper remix featuring B.o.B. now impacting media – a trick she’s run up on with the last two singles (see: ‘Last Friday Night’ with Missy Elliott and ‘E.T.’ with Kanye West).
But then there’s also a drastic price slash on iTunes! All up, the discounted price managed to only push ‘The One That Got Away’ up to #6 on the US Digital Song chart with a 24% sales increase (117,000 copies). In the UK, ‘The One That Got Away’ rises to #20 but remains at its current peak of #27 in Australia for the second week in a row.
Listen to the odd new B.o.B remix of ‘The One That Got Away’:
Kelly Clarkson‘s ‘I’ll Be Home For Christmas’ enters the US Billboard 100 at #93. Meanwhile her next actual smash ‘What Doesn’t Kill You (Stronger)’ drops to #200 on the US Digital Song charts.
That kinda fuckery’s not tolerated here in Australia because we evidently can’t get enough of the song. ‘Stronger’ has been all over radios and it’s also thankfully rising up the ARIA charts to a new peak of #37.
Estelle‘s ‘Thank You’ leaps to #47 on the US R&B/Hip Hop song chart. It’s obvious that the British hip hop/soul siren’s been struggling to make an impact recently. Her last few singles ‘Freak’, ‘Fall in Love’ and ‘Break My Heart’ have all flopped, relegating the album to be pushed back for a February 2012 release.
Listen to Estelle‘s amazingly personal ‘Thank You’:
Jennifer Hudson‘s uplifting new single ‘I Got This’ plonks itself at #91 on the US R&B/Hip Hop song chart this week. Apart from ‘Where You At’ which made a meagre #64, none of the other I Remember Me singles have cracked the US Billboard Hot 100. Don’t hold your breath for this one. At least she can lay claim to one more appearance in ‘Night of Your Life’ (with David Guetta), which peaked at #81 a few months ago.
Beyoncé‘s ‘Countdown’ reigns wild at #1 on the US Billboard Dance/Club play charts. I sense that this single – as amazing as it truly is – will never see the mainstream success it deserves. ‘Countdown’ is out of the US Billboard Hot 100, overshadowed by ‘Party’ which is placed at #55. Over in the UK and Australia, ‘Love On Top’ takes precedence.
Wynter Gordon‘s flawless ‘Buy My Love’ has risen to an exciting new peak of #2 on the US Dance/Club play charts. Fuck me, this is gonna be bigger than ‘Til Death’. I am so happy for my gurl. Hopefully this will lead to some long awaited mainstream crossover in the States. Over in the UK, ‘Dirty Talk’ moves up to #35 on the dance charts this week. Very interesting belated development given that the song’s already been moving all year round.
Gloria Estefan‘s ‘Hotel Nacional’ debuts at #29 on the US Dance/Club play charts – making it the highest new entry there this week. I am so glad they went with this as her next single. It should speak to lovers of ‘We Speak No Americano’ and hopefully drive more people to check out Miss Little Havana, which made Feed Limmy’s Top 30 Albums of 2011.
Listen to a preview of ‘Hotel Nacional (Ralphi Rosario Club Mix)’:
Reece Mastin‘s ‘Good Night’ checks off its second week on top of our ARIA singles chart, now clocking over 70,000 sales to become one of the fastest selling singles here this year. ‘Good Night’ is unsurprisingly also the biggest gainer on our Aussie airplay chart (between 24 to 30 November), rising to #23.
Guy Sebastian‘s ‘Don’t Worry Be Happy’ improves on last week’s debut, now rising to #4 on the ARIA chart in its second week. Probably thanks to some decent radio rotation too. ‘Don’t Worry Be Happy’ leaps from #54 to #27 on the Australian airplay chart.
Adele has the biggest selling music DVD in Australia this week with Live at Royal Albert Hall debuting on top of the charts, beating off two other new tour DVD releases: Lady Gaga‘s Monster Ball Tour (#2) and Kylie‘s Aphrodite Les Folies (#3). I suppose someone should mention that Britney‘s Femme Fatale tour DVD arrived at #8? Such a non-factor.
Over in the UK, Kylie‘s Aphrodite Les Folies Live in London debuts at #72 on the album charts. It should show up on the DVD charts next week.
Watch Adele performing ‘Turning Tables’ live at The Royal Albert Hall:
Hilltop Hoods featuring Sia‘s ‘I Love It’ is the biggest new single in Australia this week, debuting at #18. It is also the second most added new song to local radios. This is now Sia‘s second appearance in the ARIA Top 20 this year, following her other smash guest appearance ‘Titanium’ with David Guetta.
Jessica Mauboy and Stan Walker‘s redundant ballad ‘Galaxy’ sits at #20 on the ARIA Top 50 and registers the biggest drop on the Australian airplay chart in the last week, sinking from #17 to #31. The song has strangely appeared on the UK release schedule with a tentative 12 December launch date. Meanwhile, Stan‘s new album Let The Music Play worringly drops from #18 to #27 in its second week here.
Kelly Clarkson‘s ‘What Doesn’t Kill You (Stronger)’ leaps to #44 on our ARIA singles chart this week, while its predecessor ‘Mr Know It All’ falls to #29. All these lesser songs need to take note and move out of the way too. Kelly‘s hit album Stronger falls to #20 in its sixth week here.
Lana Del Rey‘s ‘Video Games’ breaks into a new peak of #56 on our ARIA charts. The gospel of Del Rey continues to spread across Europe – in fact, ‘Video Games’ is currently reigning in the iTunes Top 10 in Germany, Austria and the Netherlands.
Watch Lana perform ‘Blue Jeans’ – a track featured on her ‘Video Games’ EP:
One Direction has the biggest selling new album in Australia this week with Up All Night making a strong debut at #5, simultaneously certifying gold sales of 35,000 copies shipped.
Olly Murs finally gets a UK #1 album with In Case You Didn’t Know debuting on top, selling 148,000 copies in its first week. His first album Olly Murs arrived at roughly the same time last year but only managed to sell 108,000 copies to debut at #2. Well done, you.
Take That’s Progress Live album enters at #12 in the UK this week, making sure Gary Barlow‘s not left penniless this Christmas while his X Factor cohorts all manage chart appearances. Progress Live remains as the biggest selling music DVD in the UK for the second week in a row, keeping Adele‘s Live At Royal Hall from claiming the throne.
Watch Take That performing one of my faves ‘Kidz’ live on their Progress tour:
Joe McElderry‘s Classic Christmas album debuts at #15 in the UK this week. This time next year, Craig Colton will be doing the same.
N-Dubz‘s Greatest Hits debuts at a humble #38 this week. It was such a pointless cash grab to coincide with Tulisa‘s X Factor gig and Dappy’s recent solo success. Tulisa‘s own solo album’s not slated for release until the first quarter of next year.
Kelly Rowland‘s Here I Am (International Version) cops a red-faced flop in the UK this week, entering at #56 despite all the promo she’s put in during the week including a mini concert for BBC 1Xtra – which was an utter hot mess, by the way. The album turns up at #23 on the UK digital charts, which doesn’t look too bad I guess. Kelendria‘s current single ‘Down For Whatever’ drops to #9 there while the sexy American urban smash ‘Lay It On Me’ starts charting at #81 in the UK.
Here I Am has a slight chance of faring better in its second week, especially after today’s X Factor performance. Look, I really don’t think it’s gonna significantly turn fortunes around for the diva but kudos for trying anyway.
Watch Ms Kelly turn out a medley performance of ‘When Love Takes Over/Down For Whatever’ on UK X Factor:
The Saturdays‘ On Your Radar sinks from its disappointing #23 debut to #53 this week. It’s officially a success of Sweet 7 proportions now, am I right – guys? The pop quintet has just kicked off their All Fired Up tour so with any luck, this should support sales a little.
X Factor Finalists‘ woeful charity single ‘Wishing On A Star’ did go #1 after all, making this the fourth consecutive year where the show has slapped a benefit release on top of the charts.
Jessie J‘s defining ballad ‘Who You Are’ races from #37 to #8 this week, thanks to her performance on the UK X Factor and not to mention a complimentary warble by axed contestant Misha B.
Rebecca Ferguson‘s debut album Heaven arrives in UK storefronts today and it’ll be interesting to see where it ends up given the lukewarm chart response to ‘Nothing’s Real But Love’. The slow-burning single does a death drop from #10 to #30 this week.
Emeli Sandé‘s second solo single ‘Daddy’ debuts at #21 this week, obviously gonna be a hard match for ‘Heaven’s peak at #2. The flawless singer/songwriter will drop her debut album Our Version of Events on 6 February.
Watch Emeli‘s video for ‘Daddy’:
Beyoncé‘s ‘Love On Top’ flies to #28 in the UK this week, making this Queen Bey‘s 19th solo Top 30 smash in the country. The last closest reach she had was with ‘Countdown’ just a few weeks ago, peaking at #35.
Michael Buble‘s Christmas album squeezes to the #1 spot on the US Billboard 200 with a marginal 0.18% lead over Nickelback‘s Here and Now, which debuted at #2. This is said to be the closest race to the top since November 2007.
Christmas is Buble‘s third US #1 album and with 227,000 copies sold, this is actually the biggest weekly sales he’s ever clocked. I’m thinking he’s gonna be doing seasonal records more often now. Interestingly enough with Justin Bieber‘s Under The Mistletoe and Michael Buble‘s Christmas going #1, 2011 is now the first year to yield two US #1 Christmas albums since 1957, when Elvis and Bing Crosby scaled such heights.
Watch Michael Buble recording ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’:
Nickelback‘s Here and Now is the band’s third consecutive album to make the US top two. Although, the opening week sales don’t quite match that of 2005′s All The Right Reasons (325,000) and 2008′s Dark Horse (326,000).
Rihanna‘s Talk That Talk debuts at #3 in the US, nabbing 197,000 first week sales. Last year’s blockbuster album Loud managed to debut at #2 with 207,000 copies sold. Over at the singles bar, ‘We Found Love’ continues to reign on top of the US Billboard Hot 100 while ‘Talk That Talk’ becomes the biggest new single in the country, debuting at #31. Elsewhere, ‘You Da One’ drops from #14 to #22 while ‘Where Have You Been’ cracks the Top 100 at #65.
In the UK, Talk That Talk drops to #3 in its second week. The pull downwards is also reflected on the singles chart with ‘We Found Love’ slipping to #3 and ‘You Da One’ dipping one spot to #40. The more drastic drops were felt by album tracks: ‘Talk That Talk’ (#25 to #47) and ‘Where Have You Been’ (#61 to #94).
Here in Australia, ’We Found Love’ is still securely seated in the ARIA Top 5 while its predecessor ‘You Da One’ ascends to a new peak of #31. Its other sister tracks ‘Where Have You Been’ and ‘Talk That Talk’ drop to #63 and #73 respectively, while the new album slides to #7 in its second week. Talk That Talk has now been certified gold sales for shipments of 35,000 copies in Australia.
Listen to Rihanna‘s fierce as fuck ‘Cockiness (Love It)’:
Lady Gaga‘s Monster Ball Tour at Madison Square Garden is the biggest selling music DVD in the US, debuting straight at #1 ahead of two other major titles out in the same week: Britney‘s The Femme Fatale Tour (#2) and Beyoncé‘s Live at Roseland (#3).
A Very Gaga Holiday EP debuts at #52 on the US Billboard 200 while Born This Way – The Remix enters at a lowly #105. Over at the singles chart, ‘You and I’ sits at #29 while ‘Marry The Night’ ascends from #97 to #59.
In the UK, Born This Way – The Remix debuts at #77 while ’Marry The Night’ edges to a new peak of #16. Here in Australia, Born This Way – The Remix debuts at #62 on our ARIA charts but ’Marry The Night’ has yet to return to our ARIA Top 100.
Watch the hilarious Cooking with Gaga segment on Alan Carr‘s Chatty Man:
will.i.am‘s new single ‘T.H.E. (The Hardest Ever)’ featuring Mick Jagger and Jennifer Lopez debuts at #36 on the US Billboard Hot 100, selling 70,000 first week downloads. Meanwhile here in Australia, ‘T.H.E.’ enters our ARIA charts at #68. The Black Eyed Peas frontman’s last solo hit here was last year’s ‘Check It Out’ (featuring Nicki Minaj), which made #21.
Monica‘s new ballad ‘Until It’s Gone’ moves up to a new peak of #26 on the US R&B/Hip Hop charts. There hasn’t been as much of a buzz with this new era for Mo so let’s hope things pick up in the new year. Her seventh studio album New Life is slated for a 21 February release in the States.
Selena Gomez & The Scene‘s ‘Love You Like A Love Song’ finally tops the US Billboard Dance/Club play charts with Beyoncé‘s ‘Countdown’ closing in at #2. Shout out to these key risers: Wynter Gordon‘s amazing ‘Buy My Love’ (#7), Nervo‘s ‘We’re All No One’ (#8) and Katy Perry‘s ‘The One That Got Away’ (#13).
Darren Hayes has the biggest selling new Aussie album here this week with Secret Codes & Battleships debuting at #10 on our ARIA charts. This is the ex-Savage Gardener’s first Top 10 placement since 2004′s The Tension & The Spark. Darren‘s current Aussie single ‘Bloodstained Heart’ also finally cracks our ARIA Top 100 this week at #80, after two months of languishing on the digital shelves. The man is set to kick off his three-date Australian Secret Tour this Wednesday in Melbourne and I absolutely can’t wait to be there, finally seeing my idol live and in the flesh. Over in the UK, Darren‘s Secret Codes & Battleships debuts at #29 this week, despite a promising placement of #11 in the mid-weeks.
Watch Darren Hayes performing ‘Bloodstained Heart’ on Sunrise last week:
Coldplay effortlessly topped the Australian and UK charts this week with Mylo Xyloto. The album was instantly certified gold sales in Australia (for shipments of over 35,000 copies – whatever that means) while over in the UK, Mylo Xyloto managed to pull 208,000 copies in its first week. This means that Coldplay now has the second biggest opening week sales of 2011 – only marginally trumped by Lady Gaga‘s Born This Way, which debuted with 215,639 copies. Mylo Xyloto is expected to also debut at #1 in the US later this week, scaling sales north of 450,000 copies. The album’s currently #1 on every iTunes store in the world – except Denmark, they just don’t get it.
Meanwhile over at the singles bar, Coldplay‘s current hit ’Paradise’ leaps to a new peak of #18 on the Australian ARIA chart and ‘Every Tear Drop Is A Waterfall’ re-enters at #32. Over in the UK, ‘Paradise’ belatedly debuts at #14. Even though it’s been released since mid-September, it wasn’t eligible to chart because the song was sold as a free download when you pre-ordered the album. The next Coldplay single – ‘Princess of China’ (featuring Rihanna) – debuts at #33 in the UK this week, making this RiRi‘s 27th UK Top 40 single all up.
Listen to Coldplay‘s ‘Paradise (Electrolightz Remix)’:
Kelly Clarkson‘s Stronger is the second biggest new album in Australia this week, debuting at #3. This is now Clarko’s fourth consecutive Top 5 album in this country, the only one to never chart as favourably was her debut album Thankful (which only made #33). Over in the UK, Kelly Clarkson‘s Stronger enters at #5 and later this week, we can expect for it to debut well in the US Top 10.
Washington‘s Insomnia EP debuts at #24 in Australia this week. A pretty unsurprising entrance, given the minimal promo and airplay for her stunning new single ‘Holy Moses’. Insomnia, the collection of eight new tracks, is meant to appease her Aussies while the Brisbane-born singer sets off to do an international release of her massive I Believe You Liar album. The international version of I Believe You Liar (featuring ‘Holy Moses’) will arrive in the UK on 7 November.
Watch Washington‘s defining ‘Holy Moses’ video, if you haven’t already:
Ricki-Lee‘s wig-snatching ‘Raining Diamonds’ rises to #55 in its second week. I think what’s obviously missing now is some well-placed television promo for the girl. She’s already started doing the odd live performances here and there for ‘Raining Diamonds’ – the word is well and truly out by now. In fact, if you’re not doing anything this Friday night, come join me at the GH Hotel to watch the ex-Young Diva perform this song with full force eleganza.
Havana Brown‘s ‘Get It’ rises to #57 this week on our ARIA charts, demonstrating surprising staying power beyond the realms of my comprehension. I suppose we can expect for it to go back into the Top 50 next week after this Tuesday’s X Factor performance? Hovana will be sharing the elimination episode line up with fellow Aussie popstars Jessica Mauboy and Stan Walker, who will both warble their new single ‘Galaxy’.
Altiyan Childs‘ new single ‘Ordinary Man’ drops to #61 after only two weeks in our ARIA Top 100. Is there no returning this man to the Top 50? Elsewhere, other Aussies on the way out include Shannon Noll‘s ‘Switch Me On’ (#59) and 360‘s ‘Killer’ (#91), while all of the following fall out of the ARIA Top 100 altogether: Elen Levon‘Naughty’, Vanessa Amorosi‘Amazing’, Short Stack ‘Bang Bang Sexy’, Stan Walker‘Loud’ and Israel Cruz ‘Party Up’.
The Wanted‘s ‘Lightning’ impressively debuts at #99 in Australia this week sans any promo or rapid radio addition. All I know is, they’ve now got a captive audience of teenage girls and the EP was plastered all over the iTunes home page. You do the math. Over in the UK, ‘Lightning’ drops from #2 to #9.
Check out The Wanted‘s ‘Lightning (Chuckie Remix)’:
Professor Green scores his first ever UK #1 smash this week with ‘Read All About It’ (featuring Emeli Sandé). The song managed opening week sales of 153,000 copies – just one per cent shy of One Direction‘s ‘What Makes You Beautiful’, which is currently the UK’s fastest-selling single of 2011. This is singer/songwriter Emeli Sandé‘s fourth UK chart appearance (third as a featured artist). The divine Ms Sandé will release her second solo single ‘Daddy’ (featuring Naughty Boy) in the UK on 21 November and her long-awaited album Our Version of Events will drop on 30 January.
Lana Del Rey‘s flawless ‘Video Games’ sinks from #9 to #15 in the UK this week. Amidst all the excitement surrounding her recent signing to Interscope Records, it would seem that her debut album and next single ‘Born To Die’ is now etched for an early 2012 release. Could she be the Adele of 2012? Or will she end up as a basic success like Rumer or Clare Maguire? ‘Video Games’ is in the iTunes Top 10 in three different countries right now.
Watch Lana Del Rey performing ‘Video Games’ live at The Premises:
Matt Cardle‘s ‘Run For Your Life’ continues its rapid exit from the charts, plummeting from #23 to #52 in its third week. Meanwhile, his album Letters slips from #2 to #6. You can see why his label is anxious to rush out another single before the year’s end, right? ‘Starlight’ is scheduled to drop in the UK on 5 December.
Florence + The Machine‘s ‘Shake It Out’ sinks to #57 after just four weeks on the UK charts. The flame-haired diva is expected to launch her third Ceremonials single – ‘No Light No Light’ – on 16 January in the UK. Fingers crossed for a favourable album chart entry on Monday.
Adele‘s back to ruling both the US singles and albums chart with ‘Someone Like You’ retaining the top spot and album 21 returning to #1. In the last week, Adele managed to sell 106,000 copies of 21 in America – pushing its total sales to 4.1 million. Most definitely the biggest album of the year now. Next in line is Lady Gaga‘s Born This Way, managing 1.9 million sales to date. That’s quite a gap there.
The British warbler will release her next single – ‘Rumour Has It’ – on 21 November in the UK. The song has already impacted Aussie radios to coincide with her first live CD/DVD set - Adele: Live at The Royal Albert Hall - which will arrive here on 25 November and 28 November in the UK.
Watch Adele performing ‘Rumour Has It’ – fuck, I love her banter:
Rihanna could actually lynch the US #1 spot from Adele this coming week. ‘We Found Love’ is currently the most downloaded song in America, racking up 231,000 digital sales in its fifth week. On the overall US Billboard Hot 100, ‘We Found Love’ has ascended to a new peak of #2 – the only thing realistically preventing it from toppling Adele‘s ‘Someone Like You’ is radio airplay. Here is where the gap widens between these two hits. ‘Someone Like You’ is the second most played song on American radios while ‘We Found Love’ is placed at #11 on the airplay charts. ‘We Found Love’ is currently the #1 iTunes single in 11 different countries including US, UK, France and Canada.
Justin Bieber‘s ‘Mistletoe’ is the biggest new single in the US, debuting at #11 on the Billboard Hot 100 with 164,000 first week downloads. The teen pop sensation is set to film the music video for ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’ with Mariah Carey this week in New York City. This’ll be Mimi‘s first music video appearance since she had her gorgeous twins.
Beyoncé‘s ‘Countdown’ rises to #77 on the US Billboard Hot 100 while the urban single ‘Party’ (featuring André 3000) fares better at #75. Meanwhile over in the UK, ‘Countdown’ flies to #39, making this the megastar’s 21st UK Top 40 smash (not counting the ones with Destiny’s Child).
Beysus‘ brand new live DVD package - Live in Roseland: Elements of 4 - lands in Australia on 2 December. Just in time for Christmas. On top of the live tour show, there’ll also be a bonus disc containing seven music videos – including one of the deluxe edition album track, ‘Dance For You’. Santa better come correct for me this year.
Listen to Beyoncé‘s ‘Countdown (Jochen Simms Club Remix)’:
Kelly Rowland‘s ‘Down For Whatever’ drops in Australia and some European nations today, complete with a slew of A-grade remixes. At the moment, this new release is not publicised anywhere on our iTunes store. I’ve checked the pop, dance/electronic and even R&B sections – tumbleweeds. Even Estelle‘s got a single on display but not Kelendria. ‘Down For Whatever’ is currently in the iTunes Top 10 R&B/Soul songs chart in Denmark and Norway.
It’ll be interesting to see if ‘Down For Whatever’ fares any better than her last solo single (‘Commander’) and whether people are any more motivated to buy her album. The international edition of Here I Am – which should technically contain more pop/dance inflected material – is set to drop on 2 December in Australia. Over in the UK, Kelendria will release ‘Down For Whatever’ on 21 November and the album will drop the following week. Seriously gagging to see how big they’ll make her X Factor performance. Trust me, you don’t wanna settle for less than what Cheryl Cole has delivered in the last two years.
Listen to Kelendria‘s ‘Down For Whatever (Max Sanna & Steve Pitron Club Mix):
Jennifer Lopez‘s ‘Papi’ finally ascends to #1 on the US Billboard Dance/Club Play charts, making this her sixth consecutive solo single to do so. Basically, every song since 2007′s ‘Do It Well’ has been a dance chart topper – yes, even ‘Louboutins’. Meanwhile, ex-Pussycat DollJessica Sutta‘s ‘Show Me’ rises to #2 on the US Billboard Dance/Club Play charts. Nicole who? The Scherzingernator‘s ‘Dont’ Hold Your Breath’ pulls up to the bumper at #3.
Wynter Gordon‘s amazing ‘Buy My Love’ finally debuts at #45 on the US Billboard Dance/Club charts! I am extremely overjoyed for my gurl. Let’s hope this moves up to the Top 3 in the way that ‘Dirty Talk’ and ‘Til Death’ did. Wynter opened for The Wanted‘s New York city shows recently, so let’s hope this association strikes a chord with pop music lovers who are yet to discover With The Music I Die. ‘Buy My Love’ and the album will drop in the UK on 7 November, five months after it was first launched in Australia.
David Guetta has the #1 iTunes dance song in 16 different countries right now – 13 of them belong to ‘Without You’ (featuring Usher) and three to ‘Titanium’ (featuring Sia).
Gotye and Kimbra‘s ‘Somebody That I Used To Know’ is currently the #1 single on Netherlands and Belgium iTunes. It feels like some European countries are more receptive to his stuff than others. Back in Australia, Gotye‘s next single ‘I Feel Better’ becomes the third most added new song to local radios.
Gotye and Kimbra chalk up their second week on top of the ARIA charts with ‘Somebody That I Used To Know’, now certified platinum sales. No prize for guess where his new album will land on next Monday’s charts. Y’all know Gotye‘s Making Mirrors is pretty much set to come out on top, I mean, he’ll at least debut at #2 if he’s unable to mount the gargantuan Adele. Gotyemania is already heating up this week with his last studio album – 2006′s Like Drawing Blood - reaching a new peak of #12.
Maroon 5 and Christina Aguilera‘s ‘Moves Like Jagger’ is still surprisingly cock blocked from reaching the top, staggering at #2 in Australia after oh so many weeks of loitering about. ’Moves Like Jagger’ may be the most downloaded song in America but it’s also stalling similarly at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100. It has already ascended to #1 position in New Zealand last week and over in the UK, it debuts at #3 this week. ’MVJ’ is the most played song on Australian radios this week. What I find interesting about the airplay charts is that the Top 5 most played songs in every capital and major city is vastly different to each other and sometimes almost estranged from the overall nation-wide tally.
In Sydney, ‘Moves Like Jagger’ is moving out – their most played song this week is Calvin Harris and Kelis‘ ‘Bounce’, incidentally also the #1 club song in Australia. Sydney airwaves have some of the strongest concentration of dance music anywhere in the country. This week, they’re the only city to have Alexandra Stan‘s ‘Mr Saxobeat’, Cobra Starship feat. Sabi‘s ‘You Make Me Feel’ and David Guetta feat. Ludacris and Taio Cruz‘s ‘Little Bad Girl’ in their Top 10. The radio support for the latter two reflected favourably on their overall ARIA chart performance with Cobra Starship debuting at #31 and Guetta et al re-entering the digital charts at #18.
Here in Melbourne, ‘Moves Like Jagger’ dominates the airwaves and unlike the rest of the nation, we’re still keeping Katy Perry‘s ‘Last Friday Night (TGIF)’ and Lady Gaga‘s ‘The Edge of Glory’ on Top 5 rotation.
Brisbane radios love them some Jessica Mauboy ’Inescapable’ – it’s the second most played song there this week, giving it more priority than any other Australian city. ’Inescapable’ holds tight to #4 position on the ARIA charts while her Get ‘Em Girls album make a triumphant re-entry this week at #9, thanks to the new beefed up two-disc deluxe edition. It’s a huge feat for Jess once again to still be the nation’s best selling female solo popstar. Just take a look around – there are no other homegrown solo pop artists around the Top 50 mark. Bossbitch.
Eskimo Joe‘s Ghosts of The Past debuts at #3 in Australia to become the highest selling new album this week. The single ’Love Is A Drug’ starts charting at #38, enjoying the strongest radio support in Perth this last week. Elsewhere, speaking of our fellow countrymen - Shannon Noll‘s comeback single ‘Switch Me On’ may have yet to crack the ARIA Top 50 or even the Australian digital Top 40 but he’s #1 on the Gold Coast airplay charts. Golf claps for Nolly.
I really think it’s time for a video break, there’s been too many texts scrolling down. Eskimo Joe‘s ‘Love Is A Drug’ video, anyone? *slurps drink loudly*
David Guetta and Sia‘s ‘Titanium’ bullets through to #10 in Australia this week – making this Sia‘s first Top 10 entry ever. Good to see that Guetta’s local label is wasting no time with this track, sending it off to radios despite ‘Titanium’ only being initially issued as just an iTunes digital promo to foreshadow his album release.
‘Titanium’ is the third most added new song to Australian radios this week. In the US, the single enters the Billboard Hot 100 at #66. Needless to say this is Sia‘s first time on the chart. She’s had two US Top 40 albums and two Top 30 dance singles but this is shaping up to be a proper mainstream single success, y’all. Over in the UK, ‘Titanium’ tumbles out of the Top 30 after just two weeks. Further down, Guetta’s new digital promo single ‘Lunar’ – an instrumental dance track with Afrojack – debuts at #90.
Jason DeRulo‘s dreadful new single ‘It Girl’ debuts at #16 here and #39 on the US Billboard Hot 100 this week. I’m sorry y’all. Sometimes doing my Monday breakfast radio segment is the only time I experience what most daytime radio listeners have to endure and today when ‘It Girl’ came on – mmph! Let me tell you, it was bleak.
Lady Gaga‘s ‘Yoü and I’ enters at #34 in Australia this week. Over in the US, the single re-enters the US Billboard Hot 100 at #96. Rejoice. Have y’all had the pleasure of line-dancing to this amazing Shania-friendly Mark Taylor remix yet?
Dolly would be proud:
Calvin Harris still rules the Australian club charts with ‘Bounce’ but his follow up single ‘Feels So Close’ is one of the biggest movers there this week, leaping from #34 to #8. Looking further down, there’s a huge selection of new impacting dance tunes on the Australian club scene. Highlights include Denzal Park‘s ‘Militia’ (#26), The Potbelleez‘Midnight Midnight’ (#31), David Guetta/Sia‘s ‘Titanium (#35) and finally, mah gurl Wynter Gordon‘s ‘Buy My Love (Chuckie Remix)’ entering at #47. Yes!
Emeli Sandé‘s superb single ‘Heaven’ debuts at #2 in the UK in what’s evidently been a mad-rush of a week for three strong new releases. The UK Top 3 this week is all taken up by new records with Wretch 32 feat. Josh Kumra‘s ‘Don’t Go’ taking the top spot.
But back to Ms Sandé – her time as a solo artist has been a long time coming. She has appeared on two UK Top 10 smashes – first on Chipmunk‘s ‘Diamond Rings’ and then on Roll Deep‘s ‘Never Be Your Woman’. She has written for the likes of Tinie Tempah, Cheryl Cole, Susan Boyle, Cher Lloyd and Leona Lewis - excelling in soulful compositions. It’s great that she’s such a gifted writer and all, but I really hope she finds success as a recording artist too.
Watch her stunning video for ‘Heaven’:
Joe Jonas‘ new single ‘See No More’ debuts at #53 in the UK this week. Expect this to pick up when he joins Britney on her Femme Fatale tour of Europe in the coming weeks. Back in the States, dude hasn’t bettered his Billboard Hot 100 peak of #92 and he’s just starting to prove to all of us that even the mighty Jonas reputation isn’t always as bankable as it seems.
Nero scores a UK #1 debut with their first album Welcome To Reality intercepting the almighty Amy Winehouse and Adele tandem ruling. Dub step is definitely the flavour of the moment right now and Nero’s the latest success story for the electronica sub genre. Their single ‘Promises’ broke out at #1 last week, making it the second dub step single to ever top the UK charts. The pioneering single only came last month when DJ Fresh‘s ‘Louder’ ascended to the top. It’s no surprise that everyone’s jumping on board and clamouring for a Skrillex remix – or the like – these days. Even young Cher Lloyd‘s in on it with her dub step inflected ‘Swagger Jagger’ remixes and rather blatant follow up single ‘Dub On The Track’ set to impact soon.
Jedward‘s second album Victory enters at #34 in the UK this week. Remember when nobody even wanted to sign them for any more than two singles? Look how times have changed for X Factor‘s stylised Twiddle-dee and Twiddle-dum. The pair were inducted into the Celebrity Big Brother house last week and once again, you gotta hand it to Louis Walsh for making cringeworthy decisions work for these two. Jedward’s Victory contains the singles ‘Lipstick’ and ‘Bad Behaviour’ – and was entirely produced by DEEKAY, the team behind records for Sugababes (circa Change), Joe McElderry and even K-pop bands like TVXQ and Girls’ Generation.
Watch Jedward‘s latest music video ‘Bad Behaviour’ featuring a cameo from Piggy Perez:
Kelly Rowland‘s Here I Am dips on the UK urban charts to #26 this week. It’ll be interesting to see how her album fares on next Monday’s charts – I mean, by the grace of Beysus, it could even crack the UK Top 100! She’s practically new TV royalty there now, if the strong ratings for X Factor‘s season premiere was anything to go by. 12 million people tuned in to watch Kelendria judge, flirt with Gary and sass out a rude contestant on Saturday night. I doubt she’ll be doing very much else in the UK apart from the show because she’s got a tour to hit up with Chris Brown over in the States soon. Back in America, Here I Am falls out of the Top 20 in just three weeks – landing itself at #24.
Jay-Z and Kanye West‘s Watch The Throne has entered at #1 on the US Billboard Hot 200 as expected, pulling over 436,000 first week sales. Scanning the globe, the album has also gone #1 in Canada and Norway, and managed to go Top 3 in the UK, Australia, Denmark and the Netherlands.
Evanescence‘s comeback single ‘What You Want’ debuts at #68 on the US Billboard Hot 100. It’s been one hell of a campaign to get these guys back to mainstream attention and it seems like their team’s working the social networking sites to great effect. Billboard reports that during the single’s debut week, Evanescence gained 110,000 Facebook fans and 5,600 Twitter followers. Streaming media from Facebook and Myspace were also factored into their overall comeback success – with ‘What You Want’ garnering over 100,000 plays on Facebook and 10,000 on Myspace.
Britney Spears claims her third consecutive #1 US dance single with ‘I Wanna Go’ leapfrogging Kylie‘s ‘Put Your Hands Up’ to the top spot. Femme Fatale is so far Britney’s second album to ever have all its singles go #1 on the American dance charts. You might’ve guessed that the other was her equally fierce Blackout album. So whatever that fourth Femme Fatale single is, don’t fuck it up.
Elsewhere on the dance charts, major movers include Leona Lewis/Avicii‘s ‘Collide’ (#22), Luciana‘s ‘I’m Still Hot’ (#23) and Jennifer Hudson‘s ‘No One Gonna Love You’ (#33) – all moving at least 10 places up. That’s nice about the J Hud song but really, it’s only gonna clear the dance floor when everybody hears what she’s offering on David Guetta‘s ‘Night of Your Life’ [see above]. The song serves as the French DJ/producer’s third and final digital promo single to precede the release of Nothing But The Beat.
