Eminem gets a second week at number one, ahead of two Sabrina Carpenter songs. Taylor Swift still has the number one album.

Eminem escapes from his number one curse. There is a tight battle at the top of the albums chart, won by somebody who wasn’t even in the race at the start of the week.

Eminem’s eleventh number one single, Houdini, becomes his first to spend a second week at the top. This means that, somewhat ironically, Taylor Swift’s Fortnight remains the only number one single this year not to have spent at least two weeks at the top.

Sabrina Carpenter’s Espresso remains at number two. Carpenter is also at number three with a new entry, Please Please Please. I was hoping for a song called, for example, Earl Grey or English Breakfast. Perhaps even Lapsang Souchong.

Billie Eilish’s Birds Of A Feather climbs one place to number four, displacing Shaboozee’s Bar Song (Tipsy) which occupies the number five spot previously held by Eilish.

Genesis belatedly becomes the latest entry in the list of titles of a hit song which is also the name of a band with at least one chart hit. Genesis was the title of Grimes’ debut single but, sadly, it was not a hit. Now another mononymed female singer, Raye, has released a song of the same name and it is a new entry at number 22. It is OK, but I prefer the Grimes one.

A few weeks ago Charli XCX just missed out on her sixteenth top forty single when 360 entered at number 41. It fell for the next two weeks, but turned full circle and bounced back up to number 41 last week. This week she avoids the rare feat of a song peaking at number 41 twice by climbing in to the top forty at number 27.

Gracie Abrams makes her top forty debut at number 35 with Close To You. Three previous singes have reached the top 100 without climbing into the broadcast part of the chart.

Search for Flex UK on Google and you will be presented with sites about a power tool company. I assume that the Flex(UK) with a new entry at number 40 is not the same. He / she / they have recorded an exceptionally dreary song called 6 In The Morning. Faron Young’s Four In The Morning is far better. This effort features Nate Dogg who died in 2011 and was last in the chart in 2004.

This week Taylor Swift’s massive Eras tour reached the UK, receiving very positive reviews. That has helped keep her latest album The Tortured Poets Department at number one for a sixth week, making it her longest-lasting number one album. It has also helped Cruel Summer to re-enter the singles chart once again (having been excluded by the three-song limit since the release of the new album) at number seventeen.

At the start of the week, the race for the top appeared to be between two new albums but, as already noted, neither of them won. Charli XCX now seems to have settled into a routine of releasing an album every year or two. Her last album, Crash, released in 2022, saw her reach the top ten in the albums for the first time, going all the way to number one. Her hopes of getting a second chart-topper were dashed when Taylor Swift’s record company found some unsold copies at the back of the sofa and released them for sale. Brat, XCX’s sixth studio album, is at number two.

Bon Jovi have been releasing their brand of American rock since 1980 without ever releasing anything particularly interesting. Their sixteenth studio album Forever (which could describe what it is like to listen to a whole Bon Jovi album) is at number three.

Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard And Soft is at number four. Eminem’s hits collection Curtain Call climbs back up to number five.

Meghan Trainor’s popularity seems to be waning, for which we can be very grateful. Her first two albums reached the top five. Her third set, Timeless, can only make it to number twelve. Norwegian singer Aurora enters at number What Happened To The Heart, matching her previous album The Gods We Can Touch (2022).

Blues singer Seasick Steve gets his eleventh top forty album with A Trip A Stumble A Fal Down On Your Knees at number 23. Nigerian singer Tems is at number 25 with Born In The Wild.

South Korean-born DJ and singer Peggy Gou is now based in Berlin. Whether she will be attending any of the Euro 24 matches, I know not. She enters at number 39 with her debut album I Hear You. She has resisted the temptation to include a cover of Depeche Mode’s I See you, assuming she has even heard of it.

Chappell Roan’s The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess continues its steady climb. This week it is up eight places to number fifteen in its ninth week in the top 100 (three of the in the top forty).