Taylor Swift is still singing about Ophelia at the top of the singles chart. Olivia Dean returns to the top of the albums chart.

Taylor Swift spends a fourth consecutive week at number one with The Fate Of Ophelia. It has now spent a total of seven weeks at the summit, making it Swift’s longest-running chart-topping single.

Raye remains at number two with Where Is My Husband. A clear sign that Taylor Swift may well be in her last week at the top (at least until next year) is that Wham’s Last Christmas is at number three with Mariah Carey’s All I Want For Christmas Is You at five. Brenda Lee is at number six with Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree.

With the release of the first part of the final series of Stranger Things, some people have clearly gone back to watch the previous series. That, in turn, has led them to start streaming Kate Bush’s Running Up That Hill again. That excellent judgement sees the song back in the chart at number 37.

Still on the subject of Stranger Things, Djo - who, apparently is in it - has a re-entry at number 34 with End Of Beginning. It reached number four last year.

Those two songs are, of course, not the only re-entries this week. Yes, there is a whole bunch of Christmas songs returning to the chart as well. One of the consequences of the Christmas takeover is that Alex Warren’s Ordinary has dropped out of the top twenty for the first time after 42 weeks.

Before we get to those re-entries, there is actually one brand new entry. As usual, one of the streaming sites has a song that is only available on their site. This year it is Xmas by Australian singer Kylie Minogue. Isn’t it great to see new artists being given a boost? Well, it would be if that happened. As it is, Minogue gets her 54th top forty hit with a new entry at number 24. Last week’s Christmas exclusive, Laufey’s version of Winter Wonderland re-enters at number eighteen, gaining a new peak now that it is available more widely.

Here we go then. I shall simply list this week’s festive re-entries.

Step Into Christmas - Elton John, number twenty.

Do They Know It’s Christmas - Band Aid, 22.

Andy Williams - It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year, 23.

Wonderful Christmastime - Paul McCartney, 25.

Sleigh Ride - The Ronettes, 28.

It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas, Michael Buble, 29.

Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) - Darlene Love, 31.

Snowman - Sia, 32.

Feliz Navidad - Jose Feliciano, 33.

Happy Christmas (War Is Over) - John Lennon, Yoko Ono and the Plastic Ono Band with the Harlem Community Choir, 34.

Mistletoe - Justin Bieber, 36.

Holly Jolly Christmas - Michael Buble, 38.

Driving Home For Christmas - Chris Rea, 40.

Over half of the top forty is now made up of Christmas songs.

As the albums market enters a quiet period with very few new releases, Olivia Dean returns to number one with The Art Of Loving.

Taylor Swift is at number two with The Life Of A Showgirl. Sabrina Carpenter’s Man’s Best Friend is at number three and Tate McRae is at five with So Close To What. The album preventing another all female top five is Michael Buble’s perennial; Christmas album at number four.

Since the release of her last full studio album in 2014, Jessie J has had a very traumatic time. She has suffered a miscarriage, been diagnosed with a disease affecting her hearing, and been treated for breast cancer. On a much happier note, she has also given birth to her first child. All these events have influenced the lyrics of her fourth album Don’t Tease Me With A Good Time. Her previous studio albums all reached the top five - a Christmas album in 2018 failed to reach the chart at all. This one is a new entry at number nineteen.

As far as new entries go, that’s it for this week. We can expect a similar pattern until the new year. There are, however, some re-entries. Teddy Swims is at number 25 with I’ve Tried Everything But Therapy - The Complete Edition. It reached number thirteen in the summer. Chappell Roan is back at number 29 with The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess. Sam Fender’s People Watching returned at number 34 while Fontaines DC’s brilliant 2024 album Romance is at 37.

Next Friday (12 December) is the day of my departmental Christmas meal. Therefore, next week’s commentary may be delayed until Saturday. Alternatively, I could just repost my commentary from the same week last year and see whether anyone notices!