Sabrina Carpenter remains at number one in the singles chart, although she no longer occupies the whole of the top three. David Gilmour has the number one album.

Sabrina Carpenter remains at number one in the singles chart. David Gilmour gets his third number one album as a solo artist.

Sabrina Carpenter extends her domination of the singles charts this summer (even though it has been a bit chilly for the past few days) with Taste getting a third week at number one. Her Espresso is at number two. Her top three domination has come to an end. Please Please Please falls to number five. Chappell Roan is at number three with Good Luck, Babe.

With three Oasis songs, two from Coldplay and one from NSync in last week’s top forty, we already had rather more songs by bands than has become the norm in recent years. Now we have another one. As with all the others, the band responsible was formed in the 1990s, so we’re not exactly talking about up and coming new bands. Still, at least it is a third current song, adding to the two by Coldplay, rather than another oldie being revived thanks to YouTok or a Disflix programme.

I’m not going to pretend to be a fan of Linkin Park or their new single, The Emptiness Machine. However, they deserve a pat on the back for getting a new singles chart peak of number four with this single. Their previous peak was at number six with What I’ve Done in 2007. The Emptiness Machine is their first new material since the death of vocalist Chester Bennington in 2017. Their hits collection Papercuts, released earlier this year, climbs back up to number eight.

After fifteen weeks in the top 100 Alex Warren’s Carry You Home enters the top 40 at number 36. The Californian released his first single in 2021; he had a top ten hit in Norway and Flanders earlier this year with Before You Leave Me. Belgium has separate charts for Flanders and Wallonia.

There are a number of ways of taking a decent piece of music, a song with Raye’s vocals would be a good example, and doing something that is almost guaranteed to ruin it. Few options would be more likely to ruin the song than adding Central Cee. The bits of Moi that involve Raye are perfectly pleasant. The bits with Central Cee are not. Perhaps they could release a Central Cee-free version. If so, it would deserve to climb higher than number 38 which is where it has entered the chart this week.

Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour gets his third number one solo album (from five releases) with Luck And strange. Sometime Brighton resident Gilmour played a gig with his daughter in a Brighton pub earlier this week. His three solo number one albums are in addition to the six he had with Pink Floyd.

Sabrina Carpenter’s Short ‘n’ Sweet is at number two. Three Oasis albums complete the top five. The Time Flies collection is at number three. After a week back at number one (thirty years after its first one-week spell at the top) Definitely maybe falls to number four. Noel Gallagher has helped to design a Manchester City shirt based on the album’s cover although I doubt the team will ever wear it for a match. The number five spot is occupied by (What’s The Story) Morning Glory.

Fred Again, who hails from Balham, gateway to the south, is at number seven with Ten Days. Perhaps Craig David could release an album named after one of his most famous songs and take it to number ten.

Rex Orange County, possibly the most American name used by a British artist, is at number fifteen with The Alexander Technique. The title is, presumably, a reference to his real name - Alexander O’Connor. Similarly, the Orange County part of his pseudonym is inspired by the OC part of his real name.

Fat Dog are at number sixteen with the hilariously-titled Woof. They are at number one in the Record Store chart which only counts sales from independent record shops.

Among the odder names chosen by a band (or technically, in this case, a solo artist using a band name) is The The, the chosen moniker of Matt Johnson back in the 1970s. In 1981, the band / solo artist contributed a song to a compilation by the emerging Some Bizzare record label but didn’t bother to give it a title, so it was listed with just the The The name. Hurrah, another triple epizeuxis (sort of).

This week’s anniversary edition is a 40th anniversary edition of Ultravox’s Lament. The original release got to number eight in 1984; forty years on, the reissue is at number 35.

Last week English Teacher won the Mercury Prize, much to the amusement of English teachers around the country. Like Lament, This Could Be Texas originally peaked at number eight. Following their win, it is back at number 40.