Deja Cat gets her first UK number one single with Paint The Town Red. Royal Blood have a fourth number one album.

Doja Cat claws her way to the top of the singles chart. Royal Blood reign the albums chart for a week.

After coming close for the last few weeks, Doja Cat leads the way in the singles chart by a comfortable margin this week Her fourth top ten hit is the first to go all the way to the top.

As hinted at last week, the ascent of Paint The Town Red to the top of the chart means an eighth number one credit for one of the all-time great songwriting duos - Burt Bachach (who died in February) and Hal David thanks to the use of part of Dionne Warwick’s definitive version of Walk On By.. Their first UK number one was Michael Holiday’s The Story Of My Life, not the same song as the One Direction hit. The others are generally more well-known - Magic Moments (Perry Como), Anyone Who Had A Heart (Cilla Black), Always Something There To Remind Me (Sandie Shaw), Make It Easy On Yourself (The Walker Brothers) and I’ll Never Fall In Love Again (Bobbie Gentry) with the lesser known Tower Of Strength (Frankie Vaughan, nothing to do with the song by The Mission) completing the set.

The Bacharach and David songs that didn’t get to number one in the UK include Walk On By. The best known version, by Dionne Warwick on e used here, somehow only just reached the top ten in the UK. What were we thinking? A perfectly competent, but inferior, version by Gabrielle went two places higher and a rather different version by Guildford’s finest The Stranglers was also a hit. The one saving grace of Paint The Town Red reaching number one is that Dionne Warwick’s version has at least appeared on a number one single. It’s just a shame that the rest of it is so awful.

By title, other feline number ones include Tiger Feet (Mud, the follow-up The Cat Crept In stalled at number two), The Lion Sleeps Tonight (Tight Fit) and Matchstalk Men And Matchstalk Cats And Dogs (Brian and Michael). Thankfully, Jacob Rees-Moggy has never had a hit single. However, the Felix Jaehn remix of Omi’s Cheerleader did spend a month at the top in 2015. While Cat Stevens, sadly, never had a number one Ronan Keating, even more sadly, did come close with his typically insipid version of Father And Son.

The remainder of the top five positions were all decided by small margins. Taylor Swift's Cruel Summer is at number two. Olivia Rodrigo’s Vampire loses its bit already and falls to number three after a week at the summit. It continues the trend of every number one this year either spending a solitary week at the top or staying for at least eight w eeks. Billie Eilish is at number four with What Was I Made For. Peggy Gou remains at number five with (It Goes Like) Nanana.

There are just two new entries this week, one from a chart newcomer and one from a true veteran. The chart debutant is British singer-songwriter Kenya Grace with her single Strangers. I was tempted to describe the song as pleasant, but that might be construed as meaning it is also bland. That would be to do it an injustice. It enters at number twenty.

One place above Kenya Grace we have a new entry from Kylie Minogue who made her chart debut 35 years ago. Tension, which is not as good as Padam Padam, is her 53rd top forty hit and, against the odds, her second this year.

Worthing duo Royal Blood saw their first three albums go straight to the top of the chart. They now make it four out of four as Back To The Waters Below is this week’s number one.

Travis Scott’s Utopia is back up to number two. An anniversary edition of The 1975’s debut album enters at number three having topped the chart on its release ten years ago. The band have been in the news recently for remarks by Matt Healey which would have been uncontroversial in many countries but, in Malaysia, were deemed sufficient to ban him from the country. Burna Boy falls to number four after a week at number one. The Weeknd’s Highlights collection is at number five.

While Slowdive never achieved as much success as Ride or even Chapterhouse, they might be said to epitomise the shoe-gazing movement (also known as the scene that celebrates itself) more than their better known counterparts. Indeed, the scene that celebrates itself label was a reference to the rather self-indulgent (and, some would say, pretentious) nature of the material produced by Slowdive and others.

The shoegazing term was coined as a reference to the fact that audiences at gigs didn’t really know what to do so, legend has it, just gazed at their shoes. The more derogatory term was reserved for bands whose music could be said to have been written with the shoe-gazing description specifically in mind. No band, as far as I know, released an album called Music To Watch Shoes Go By.

Slowdive’s new album, Everything Is Alive, fits in rather well with the scene that celebrates itself label. Those of us who liked their 1990s output will probably enjoy it (and plan to see them on tour next year), but I doubt it will win many new fans. It enters at number six to give them a first ever top ten album.

Icelandic band Sigur Ros released their eighth studio album Atta back in June, almost exactly a decade after the release of album number seven. However, the initial release was only available on download and streaming sites and it failed to make an impression on the main albums char although it did reach number five on the separate albums download chart. Proving that the band’s fans prefer a product that they can see, the release of the album on CD and vinyl sees it enter the chart at number thirty.