* New albums coming this week from Lee Kernaghan (GH), The Lumineers, Elvis Costello, Cat Power, The Wombats, FKA Twigs, Earl Sweatshirt, Lime Cordiale & Idris Elba, Bonobo, Blood Red Shoes, Magnum.
Elton John and Dua Lipa's mash-up-duet "Cold Heart (PNAU Remix)" remains frozen at the No.1 spot in Australia for a seventh non-consecutive week at the top.
"Cold Heart (PNAU Remix)" (EOY#13) also logs a second week at No.1 in Canada this week, while it drops to No.2 in New Zealand after an Aussie DJ took over their top spot (more on that later). The song for Elton and Dua now becomes the third longest running No.1 single for this decade, behind "Stay" for Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber (14 weeks), and the tied tracks in second place "Blinding Lights" by The Weeknd and "Mood" for 24KGOLDN with Iann Dior, both at eleven weeks at the top of the ARIA Singles Chart.
Plus, Elton and Dua are tied in equal fourth place for 'Most Weeks at No.1: Singles (2020's)' behind further 11 week #1 holder Olivia Rodrigo in equal third alongside the aforementioned Weeknd and 24KGOLDN, while ahead of them both are Kid Laroi (15 weeks) and Justin Bieber is in first place with 16 accumulated weeks at the top for this decade. Elton John also climbs on the listing for 'Accumulated Weeks at No.1: Singles (1940 to 2022)' from equal 56th to now equal 46th, alongside Louis Armstrong and Britney Spears who've also both achieved 16 overall weeks at No.1 with five chart-topping singles (just ahead of them all is Taylor Swift {16 weeks from 8 #1's}). If Elton holds again next week he will just sit ahead of Adele and Kesha's totals of 17 weeks from 3 #1's, while for this week his No.1 song is now his longest running pinnacle holder, surpassing the six weeks achieved by 1997's "Candle in the Wind '97" / "Something About the Way You Look Tonight".
But knocking on Elton and Dua's No.1 mauring for a second time is the Gayle track "abcdeFU'', which moves back up one spot to it's former No.2 peak from December 20th, 2021, while the song lands it's first week at the top in England this week and it logs a second week at No.1 in Germany. Gayle is swapping places with the former No.1 for Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber and "Stay", down a spot to No.3. The song was the highest placed Australian performed single for the ARIA End of Year (EOY) listing for 2021, the No.2 single of the year and the song is newly certified 6x▲Platinum, while it's 27th week within the Top 10 makes it now the equal seventh longest running Top 10 of all time.
But the No.1 crown for 'Longest Running Top 10 Single' is still atop the Glass Animals track "Heat Waves", which remains at No..4 for this week and logs it's 50th week within the Top 10, plus the song was the No.1 selling single of 2021, a rare feat by an English act, with the last EOY #1 holder from England being Ed Sheeran in 2017 with "Shape of You" and the last English Band to hold that honour was Wet Wet Wet in 1994 with "Love is All Around", plus the song was also the No.1 single on Triple J's Hottest 100 from last year (which is what helped boost it to No.1 in the first place), and we've never had a JJJ#100 winner also be the No.1 single of the year.
Ed Sheeran's newly-minted 'Longest Running Top 10 Single' is his track "Bad Habits", which remains at No.5 this week and logs it's 28th week in the Top 10 (equal 6th longest), followed by his song "Shivers", also on hold at No.6, with the tracks being the 7th and 32nd biggest selling singles for 2021, followed by the EOY #33 placed single by Adele and "Easy on Me", which is the fifth and final non-mover within the Top 10 this week, holding at No.7. Adele's track re-took the No.1 spot in The U.S.A. this week for an eighth week at the top of their charts, while here the song is newly certified 2x▲Platinum in sales.
The first two Top 10 debuts for 2022 occur next, with newcomer Lauren Spencer-Smith from Canada, who was a contestant in the 2020 Season 18 of American Idol, but didn't make it through the Top 20 and has now issued her first single "Fingers Crossed", which debuts at No.8 this week, with the track coming in first week at No.1 in both Ireland and Norway, jumps from 90 to No.4 in England, and has debuted at No.3 in New Zealand.
Coming in first week at No.9 is The Weeknd with "Sacrifice", one of the eight tracks he has debuted this week of his thirteen overall entries within the Top 50, nine of them taken from his new No.1 album this week "Dawn FM". This new entry becomes his fourteenth Top 10 single in Australia, with his last two entries this high being as a guest on the Post Malone track "One Right Now" (HP-9, Nov 15th) and Swedish House Mafia's "Moth to a Flame" (HP-8, Nov 1st). Rounding out the Top 10 this week and down two spots to No.10 is the ACraze and Cherish track "Do it To it".
UP: The two tracks from the 'Encanto' soundtrack which debuted last week are both within the Top 30 this week, with "We Don't Talk About Bruno" rising eight places to a new peak of No.12 and "Surface Pressure" bounds up twenty places to land at No.24. The first track lifted from the new Weeknd album "Dawn FM" was "Take My Breath'', which makes it's return to the Top 100 this week at No.15, while also leaping into the Top 20 is the local DJ and producer Luude with Colin Hay and their D'n'B remix of "Down Under", which bounds up twenty-nine spots this week to a new chart peak of No.19. The song has just risen to No.1 in New Zealand this weekend, and this time forty years ago (Jan. 1982) the song was at No.1 in Australia for fifth (of 6) week, while 39 years ago (Jan. 1983) it was spending it's second of four weeks at the top in The U.S.A. The Swedish House Mafia and Weeknd collaboration "Moth to a Flame" flies back up the chart twelve spots to No.30, thanks to his new albums surge of new entries (and the track appearing on the expanded edition of the album), while the only other rising track within the entire Top 50 this week is a one place move to No.35 for the Billie Eilish track "Happier Than Ever" (EOY#39).
DOWN: Leaving the Top 10 this week are Lost Frequencies with Calum Scott and "Where Are You Now" (HP-10, WI10-1), down one to No.11 and the Lil' Nas X rebounder from last week "Industry Baby" (HP-4, WI10-21a, EOY#23) is back down four spots to No.13, while the song is now 3x▲Platinum in sales. "Good 4 U" by Olivia Rodrigo (EOY#6) is down five spots to No.16, "Kiss Me More" for Doja Cat (EOY#9) falls seven places to No.20, while Dua Lipa's "Levitating" (EOY#5) drops nine places to No.21. With a heap of new entries for The Weeknd this week, he drops down with three of his Top 50 entries, the Post Malone duet "One Right Now" (18 to No.23), "Save Your Tears" (19 to No.25, EOY#8) and "Blinding Lights" (EOY'21#16; EOY'20#1) which drops dramatically, down eighteen spots to No.39. Lil' Nas X still has three singles within the Top 50, and all three decline back down this week, with his second being "That's What I Want", down six to No.22, while his album's title track "Montero" (EOY#11) falls fourteen to No.40. NEIKED's "Better Days" drops nine places to No.26, Vance Joy's "Missing Piece" (EOY#43) declines seven spots to No.32, SZA and "I Hate U" dips three to No.34, Coldplay and BTS are also down seven places to land at No.37 with "My Universe", after which The Anxiety fall six spots to No.38 with "Meet Me at Our Spot". The fourth and final new ▲Platinum certification goes to Maneskin's "Beggin" (EOY#21), now 3xP and dropping twelve spots to No.41. Also tumbling down into the 41-50 chart region is Taylor Swift with "All Too Well", down nineteen places to No.43, followed by two ten-place drops for "I Am Woman" by Emmy Meli (34 to No.44) and "We Run the Night" remixes for Havana Brown (38 to No.48). After scoring a new peak last week of No.23, The Killers track "Mr. Brightside" (EOY#51) tumbles back down twenty-six places to No.49, while Jason DeRulo's "Acapulco" declines seventeen chart-rungs to No.50, with Top 40 dropouts from last week occurring for SHouse with "Love Tonight" (LW-22) and "Dreams" for both Fleetwood Mac (LW-27, EOY#22) and Jolyon Petch" (LW-39, EOY#78).
NEW ENTRIES: * #8 - Fingers Crossed by Lauren Spencer-Smith (Lauren Spencer-Smith)
* #9 - Sacrifice by The Weeknd (Republic) * #18 - Is There Someone Else? by The Weeknd (Republic) * #27 - How Do I Make You Love Me? by The Weeknd (Republic) * #28 - Gasoline by The Weeknd (Republic) * #29 - Out of Time by The Weeknd (Republic) * #45 - Best Friends by The Weeknd (Republic) * #46 - Here We Go... Again by The Weeknd (Republic) * #47 - Less Than Zero by The Weeknd feat Tyler, The Creator (Republic) are all taken from the fifth studio album by The Weeknd called "Dawn FM", which debuts at No.1 this week, while a ninth track in "Take My Breath" re-enters the chart at No.15, and the Swedish House Mafia track "Moth to a Flame" (42 to No.30) appearing on the expanded edition, while they also produced "Sacrifice" and "How Do I Make You Love Me?". The album features a narrator in Jim Carrey, and of the sixteen tracks on the album, there are potentially four to six which could have debuted in the lower fifty this week.
* #33 - Edamame by Bbno$ feat. Rich Brain (Bbon$/88 Rising) is the first lead entry for the Canadian rapper, singer and songwriter, whose name translates to 'baby no money', while he has previously charted as a guest on the Y2K track "LaLaLa" (HP-16, August 2019), with guest rapper being Rich Brain from Indonesia, who makes his first Top 100 appearance on this new entry, while he has managed to land two albums on the chart in 2018 and 2019.
* #36 - Miserable Man by David Kushner (David Kushner/Universal) is the debut single for the American singer / songwriter, with the song also debuting this week on the charts in Ireland (#19), New Zealand (#31) and England (#39). Last edited:
The first new No.1 Album for 2022 occurs this week as the fifth studio album for The Weeknd called "Dawn FM" becomes his fourth chart-topping album in Australia.
"Dawn FM" (Republic) is the 934th No.1 Album in Australia (1965 to 2022), the 784th for ARIA (1983 to 2022), the 20th No.1 for the record label Republic and the fourth for The Weeknd after "Beauty Behind the Madness" (7th Sept., 2015), "Starboy" (5th Dec., 2016) and "After Hours" (30th March, 2020), all of which spent a single week at No.1.
Which means that The Weeknd has now had four No.1's with a total of four weeks at the top, placing his at equal 140th on the list for 'Accumulated Weeks at No.1: Albums (1965 to 2022)' alongside other acts with 4x4wk #1's at the top like Bring Me the Horizon, Lana Del Rey, The Amity Affliction and 5 Seconds of Summer. "Dawn FM" has also landed its first week at the top in England, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Lithuania and The Netherlands.
Both of the words 'dawn' and 'FM" make their first appearance in No.1 Album titles, with the previous highest 'dawn' being Bernard Fanning with "Brutal Dawn" (HP-2, June 2017). The new No.1 Album also becomes the 36th chart-topping set for a Canadian artist (solo male or female, duo or group) and the 267th by a Solo Male Artist (local or overseas). The Weeknd is also now in a three-way tie with two other Solo Male Canadian artists in Justin Bieber and Drake with four No.1 Albums apiece, while the lead in that field for now is Michael Buble with five #1's.
Local artist Angus Stone debuts at No.2 this week with his third album under his moniker of Dope Lemon; "Rose Pink Cadillac", his fifth album all up, becoming his third No.2 solo album in the process, as his second release was as Angus Stone called "Broken Brights" (HP-2, July 2012), while his two previous Dope Lemon releases were "Honey Bones" (HP-11, April 2016) and "Smooth Big Cat" (HP-2, July 2019).
After seven weeks at No.1 the fourth Adele album "30" drops down two places to land at No.3, while the album was the second highest selling album for 2021 (EOY#2), and it has regained the No.1 spot in Canada this week (6th week overall). This is followed by Ed Sheeran and his "= (Equals)" (EOY#6) album, also down two spots, to sit at No.4 this week.
Two animated soundtracks sit within the Top 10 this week, with the Disney film 'Encanto' rising one spot to a new peak of No.5, while the Universal/Illumination movie "Sing 2" sees it's cast recording also up a single place, landing at a new peak of No.10, taking three weeks within the Top 50 to land a Top 10 berth, the same amount of time the first 'Sing' soundtrack took (although it leapt from 21 to No.3 in it's third chart week).
The No.1 Album for 2021 was the debut set for Olivia Rodrigo called "SOUR", which this week is down three spots to No.6, followed by a two place dip to No.7 for Doja Cat and "Planet Her" (EOY#8), while the new No.1 for The Weeknd helps his collection "The Highlights" (EOY #9) to move back up one spot to No.8, after which the album "Red (Taylor's version)" (EOY#19) for Taylor Swift drops five places to No.9 this week.
UP: Harry Styles remains stable at No.16 with "Fine Line" (EOY#7), which is newly certified 2x▲Platinum in sales, while the first rising album outside of the Top 10 this week is all the way down at No.21, the Maroon 5 "Singles Collection" (EOY#22) is back up four places, with a small one place rise to No.23 for the second Luke Combs album (EOY#14) and then a two place hike to No.28 for Eminem's "Curtain Call: The Hits" (EOY#25). Taylor Swift has two rising albums this week, both up five places apiece, "Lover" (EOY#37) to No.32 and "Reputation" (EOY#62) to No.34. The Weeknd's last album "After Hours" (EOY#50) rebounds twenty-eight places this week to No.36 thanks to his new No.1 set, while Morgan Wallen is back up three to No.38 with "Dangerous" (EOY#23), and the Little Mix best of "Between Us" rises seven spots to sit this week at No.39. Lewis Capaldi and his long-charting album (EOY#31) moves back up eight to No.41, the XXXTentacion set "?" (EOY#40) is back up five places to No.46, followed by "Donda" (EOY#36) for Kanye West, which moved seven spots this week to No.47.
DOWN: Two of the three Top 10 dropouts this week fall into the Top 20, "Future Nostalgia" by Dua Lipa (HP-1x2, WI10-56a, EOY#4) down three to No.11 and "Justice" by Justin Bieber (HP-1x3, WI10-26, EOY#5) also down three places to No.13. There are two place dips for Kid Laroi (12 to No.14, EOY#3), Billie Eilish (13 to No.15, EOY#17) and "÷ (Divide)" for Ed Sheeran (15 to No.17, EOY#13), while Lil' Nas X drops five places to No.19 with "Montero" (EOY#72). Elton John's "Diamonds" collection (EOY#16) falls seven places to No.24, followed by a five place dive to No.25 for the latest Juice WRLD album "Fighting Demons''. Fleetwood Mac's "Rumours" wain four spots to No.26 (EOY#21) and Taylor Swift drops down with "folklore" (28 to No.30, EOY#20) and "evermore" (34 to No.40, EOY#15). ABBA's "Voyage" (EOY#10) tumbles ten places this week to No.33, with other big declines occurring for Queen's 'Bohemian Rhapsody' soundtrack (35 to No.43, EOY#32), the INXS ``Very Best of" (32 to No.45, EOY#35), Nirvana's "Nevermind" (31 to No.48), "AM" for The Arctic Monkeys (36 to No.50, EOY#41) and leaving from last week's Top 10 is the Radiohead repackaged albums "Kid A Mnesia" (LW-7, WI10-2).
FURTHER NEW ENTRIES: * #1 (LP#5) - Dawn FM by The Weeknd (Republic)
* #2 (LP#5) - Rose Pink Cadillac by Dope Lemon (BMG/Warner)
* #12 (LP#3) - DS4EVER by Gunna (Young Stoner Life/300 Entertainment/Atlantic) is the third studio album for the American rapper born Sergio Kitchens, and the fourth in his Drip Season series, as this albums full title is Drip Season 4 Ever, as he has previously issued three 'Drip Season' mixtapes (2016, 2017 and 2018), while his first studio album was called "Drip or Drown 2", after which his second set "Wunna" became his second chart entry in Australia, peaking at No.17 in late May of 2020, prior to which he first chart appearance was alongside Lil' Baby on their collaborative mixtape "Drip Harder" (HP-45, Oct., 2018).
New Certifications: NEW CERTIFICATIONS: Singles; Stay by Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber ▲6 Easy on Me by Adele ▲2 Industry Baby by Lil' Nas X ▲3 Beggin' by Maneskin ▲3 Falling Up by Dean Lewis ▲ Eastside by Benny Blanco feat. Halsey & Khalid ▲11
Albums; Fine Line by Harry Styles ▲2 True by Avicii ▲2
*ARIA Chart info is based on sales for the week from the 7th to the 13th of January, 2022
edamame let on the chart AND a Weeknd album for like the first time ever, wow what a surprise. But mostly I'm just glad I can type these up under 20 minutes again.