Hozier tops the singles chart for the first time. The Libertines have their second number one album.

Hozier has his first number one single. The Libertines top the albums chart with their first release in nearly nine years.

Last week I posited the possibility that the release of Benson Boone’s album would see his Beautiful Things single return to the top of the chart. In Monday's update, the answer was “Maybe” as it held a very slender lead at number one. By Wednesday, the answer had changed to “Probably not” as it was back at number two, behind Hozier's Two Sweet. Yes, the main challenger to Benson Boone was a potential new number one rather than Beyonce trying to get a sixth week at the top.

Hozier had his first major hit with Take Me To Church in 2014. It was a classic example of a sleeper hit, spending a long time in the lower reaches of the chart before suddenly taking off. It reached the top ten for the first time in its eighteenth week in the top 100 and then stayed there for fifteen weeks. It never quite made it to number one, spending four weeks in the runner-up position. The rise of Too Sweet has been rather faster, perhaps appropriately as its title is almost French for immediately. It went straight to number eight two weeks ago, climbed to number four last week and now makes it to the top.

Hozier thus joins the ranks of artists with a lengthy gap between their first hit and their first number one. Some of those, such as Elton John and Stevie Wonder, had a string of hits before finally making it to the top. Hozier’s chart history is more like that of Sia who had a top ten hit in 2000 before topping the chart with her second top forty hit over eleven years later.

Beyonce’s Texas Hold ‘Em is at number three after a one-week stay at the top to add to its previous four-week run. Teddy Swims falls one place to number four with Lose Control.

Artemas climbs one place to number five with I Like The Way You Kiss Me. By the time that song entered the top forty two weeks ago, he had already spent a couple months in the lower reaches of the top 100 with another song, If U Think I’m Pretty. This week that song makes it into the top forty at number 39.

David Guetta gets his 49th top forty single with I Don’t Wanna Wait at number 37. It features OneRepublic who ended a six-year top forty drought when I Ain’t Worried reached number three in 2022. I’ve already forgotten how it goes and it only finished a few minutes ago.

J Cole released a new album last week. Don’t blame me, I’m just reporting the facts. Thankfully, just two songs from the album are in the top forty. The lower of them, 7 Minute Drill, is only at number 38. The other entry is HYB (which features Central Cee and Bas) at number 29. I won’t attempt to put them in any order of quality as that would mean having to listen to them again.

Abubakar Shariff-Farr, recording simply as Bakar, reached number 20 last year with Hell And Back, a track originally released in 2019. This week it bounces back at number 26.


Pete Doherty is a talented songwriter who has generally under-achieved, largely due to a somewhat chaotic lifestyle. That lifestyle has meant that new material from his various projects have been something of a rarity. The latest Libertines album All Quiet On The Eastern Esplanade, released last week, is only the band’s third release in twenty years.

When a band waits almost a decade between releases, there will always be a good deal of uncertainty over the quality of a new album. Will they have lost their touch or will the break have done them some good? In this case, the latter seems to apply as All Quiet On The Eastern Esplanade is a good album. The Libertines are rewarded with a second number one album, following their eponymous second album in 2004.

Beyonce’s Cowboy Carter slips to number two after a week at the top. Olivia Rodrigo is at number five with Guts. The Weeknd’s Highlights is out of the top five for only the third time this year.

My Last.fm account tells me that I first heard something from The K’s back in 2018. However, it has taken them until now to release their debut album I Wonder If The World Knows? The question mark is theirs, not mine. They appear to have used the last six years wisely, enabling them to release a highly competent debut set. It is a new entry at number three.

Conan Gray (yes, that is his real name), a singer-songwriter born in California and raised in Texas, enters at number four with his third studio album Found Heaven, He achieves a new chart high having reached number eight with its predecessor Superache two years ago.

Each time Feeder release a new album, I’m inclined to react by saying I thought they split up ages ago. In fact, they have been releasing albums every few years since they formed around thirty years ago. Their latest, Black / Red, comes just two years after their last release. Furthermore, it is a double album with eighteen tracks. It enters at number eight, giving them a run of four consecutive top ten albums.

The fact that none of the tracks from J Cole’s new album charted very highly in the singles chart provides a clue that the album itself would not get a particularly high chart position, particularly as rap albums tend to rely heavily on streams rather than physical sales. Its actual position of number seven for Might Delete Later (my advice - do it now) is perhaps a little higher than might have been expected given the performance in the singles chart.

After a long wait, Vampire Weekend finally released their fifth album, Only God Was Above Us, last week. As ever with this band, any attempt to describe it makes it sound like it should be an incoherent mess. The Observer last weekend went with “a dazzling auditory romp that takes in feedback and distortion, arpeggiating pianos, curlicued orchestral pop, 90s hip-hop rhythms and levels of chef’s kiss production best appreciated on headphones”. Thankfully, the album is actually great, marking a return to form after the disappointing Father Of The Bride released in 2019.

Given that Vampire Weekend’s last three albums reached the top three (although none of them made it to the top), another top five placing seemed to be fairly likely. The fact that the first update of the week showed them just inside the top ten was, therefore, both a surprise and a disappointment. At the final count, Only God Was Above Us makes it to number eleven.

As mentioned already, Benson Boone released his debut album Fireworks & Rollerblades last week. However, the release strategy is rather curious. The physical release has been delayed until today (Friday), thereby lessening the usual first-week impact. The album, which is mostly good although there are a couple weaker tracks, enters at number sixteen. It remains to be seen whether the physical release sees it climb next week.

The Black Keys get an eighth top forty album (from twelve releases) with Ohio Players at number thirteen. Bryson Tiller is at number 34 with an unimaginatively-titled album.

Both members of Bob Vylan call themselves by a name very similar top the band name, one calling himself Bobby, the other Bobbie. Strangely, they claim that the name is not influenced by the man born Robert Zimmerman. They are at number 22 with Humble As The Sun. Theirs isn’t the oddest name of the week. That honour goes to Texas band Khruangbin who enter at number eighteen with A La Sala.