Taylor Swift holds on at number one in the singles chart, but faces stiff opposition at the top of the albums chart.

After topping both the singles and albums charts for the last two weeks, Taylor Swift started the week looking to perform the double for a third successive week. The midweek updates indicated that she would succeed in getting a third week at number one in the singles chart with The Fate Of Ophelia, but the albums chart was a different matter. Of her four previous number one singles, only Anti-Hero has spent longer at the top. Swift’s Opalite falls to number five this week.

HUNTR/X, EJAE, AUDREY NUNA, REI AMI & KPop Demon Hunters Cast’s Golden is still at number three. Olivia Dean’s Man I Need remains at number two. Ray’s Where Is My Husband is at number four.

The top ten comprises three Taylor Swift songs, four featuring Olivia Dean and two from the KPop Demon Hunters film. Oh, and one song by Raye.

The reason Olivia Dean is able to feature on four songs in the chart, given that there is a three-song limit per artist, is that only the first named artist counts (although an exception has been made for the KPop Demon Hunters Cast). She takes second billing on her duet with Sam Fender, Rein Me In. Earlier this week Fender’s People watching album was awarded the Mercury Music Prize . That has led to Rein Me In climbing back in to the top ten at number ten.

Sam Fender’s Mercury Prize win has led to another duet entering the chart. His guest on Talk To You, a new entry at number twenty, is Elton John who gets his 71st top forty single, albeit this time as a piano player rather than as a vocalist. Don’t shoot him for it. His first hit, Your Song, was released in January 1970, 24 years before Fender was born. The album’s title track, People Watching is a re-entry at number 28. It reached number four last November.

As mentioned above, the KPop Demon Hunters cast are being counted as the lead artist on songs from the film, even though they are named last on the lengthy credits. As happened last week, one such song leaves the chart this week to be replaced by another. The replacement this week is What It Sounds Like which is credited to HUNTR/X, EJAE, AUDREY NUNA, REI AMI & KPop Demon Hunters Cast , the same as Golden. What It Sounds Like is at number thirteen. What does it sound like? Surprisingly, it’s actually OK.

George Miller’s name doesn’t exactly sound like that of someone born in the Japanese city of Osaka. His chosen moniker Joji sounds a lot more like that of a Far Eastern artist. He gets his third top forty single this week with Pixelated Kisses at number 37. It is, unsurprisingly, the first song with any form of the word pixel in its title.

Just two weeks after getting his first top forty single, Kevin Parker, better known as Tame Impala, gets his second. My Own Way is a new entry at number 39, the position occupied by Dracula last week. That song jumps eighteen places to number 21.

Myles Smith re-enters t number 38 with Stay (If You Wanna Dance). Ed Sheeran’s Sapphire is a re-entry at number 40, two weeks after it slipped out.

I opened this week’s commentary by saying that Taylor Swift faced some stiff opposition at the top of the albums chart. The midweek updates suggested that she would be deprived of a third week at number one (for now at least) by Last Dinner Party’s From The Pyre. Their debut album Prelude To Ecstasy topped the chart and was nominated for the 2024 Mercury Prize. Had Swift’s release date been announced further in advance (it was only made public in August), perhaps the record company would have chosen to release From The Pyre at a different time.Sadly, Last Dinner Party have to be content with a number two debut as The Life Of A Showgirl gets a third week at number one.

In the week’s first update on Monday, Taylor Swift was at number three behind both Last Dinner Party and Tame Impala’s fifth studio album Deadbeat. However, the latter was only 164 sales ahead of The Life Of A Showgirl, so it was never going to be as high as number two by the end of the week. The last two Tame Impala albums have entered at number three.Deadbeat is at number four.

Olivia Dean is at number three with The Art Of Loving. Sabrina Carpenter’s Man’s Best Friend is at number five.

Judging by this year’s contest, Sam Ryder looks like retaining his status as the last UK act to finish in the top three at a Eurovision Song Contest for many years to come. His success in the 2022 contest helped his debut album, It’s Nothing But Space Man, get to number one. His second set Heartland is at number eleven.

Twenty years after I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor was at number one (eek!), Arctic Monkeys’ singer Alex Turner’s mate Miles Kane has a new album. Sadly there is no sign of a revival for their joint project Last Shadow Puppets. In the meantime, Sunlight In The Shadows, Kane’s sixth solo album, is at number thirteen.

A rather older solo artist known for his work as part of a band is at number twelve in the shape of Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour with his ninth solo top forty album The Luck And Strange Concerts.

Of Monsters And Men, the Icelandic band who aren’t Sigur Ros, are at number sixteen with All Is Love And Pain In The Mouse Parade. Swedish singer-songwriter Rianne Downey makes her chart debut with The Consequence Of Love at number eighteen. Ashnikko lands at number 32 with Smoochies.

We have already seen that Sam Fender’s Mercury Prize win has given a boost to some of the tracks from the album. Not surprisingly, the album itself has also benefitted. People Watching soars 58 places to return to the top forty at number seventeen, a number with a special meaning for him.