Sam Fender and Olivia Dean continue their reign at the top of the singles chart. BTS go to number one with their comeback album.

Sam Fender and Olivia Dean hold on at the top of the singles chart. Rein Me In now has a total of five weeks at number one. It is the longest-running number one since Taylor Swift’s The Fate Of Ophelia spent seven weeks at the summit in October and November last year. Like Rein Me In, that song had two separate runs at the top.

Last week BTS released a new album.There is more on that to come, but the album’s release has also had an impact on the singles chart with three tracks entering this week. The most popular by far is Swim which is at number two, becoming their fifth top ten single. Further down the chart, Body To Body is at number 28 and FYA is at 39. They have now had twelve top forty hits.

Bella Kay falls to number three with a triple dose of Iloveit. Harry Styles’ American Girls is at number three. PinkPantheress falls one place to number five with Stateside.

German Hans Zimmer is probably the second most famous composer of film soundtracks behind John Williams. His work includes soundtracks for Gladiator, the Pirates of the Caribbean films and Dunkirk. He had a hit single in 2007 with Spider Pig, one of the shortest “songs” ever to reach the chart. Nineteen years on, he enters the top forty for a second time, this time playing second fiddle (not literally) to Raye on the rather wonderful Click Clack Symphony. There has been just one previous chart hit with the word clack in the title. Bryan Hyland, best known for Sealed With A Kiss, had a number 29 hit with Four Little Heels (The CLickety Clack Song) in November 1960. It would be great to see this Raye song climb a loy higher than its current position of number ???

Ella Langley entered the top one hundred three months ago with Choosin’ Texas. A month later it reached the top forty. In all the time it has been in the chart it has either climbed or stayed in the same position. In its eighth week in the top fort, it climbs to a new high of number 32 this week. Tame Impala’s Dracula also continues to climb. It reaches a new peak of number twelve five months after first entering the top forty.

Some people who usually oppose the idea of National Service may have found themselves grateful that it is still practised in South Korea. It has been responsible for BTS being unable to release any new music for the last three years. Other people will have disagreed. Regardless, it is a simple fact that BTS, one of the very biggest names in K-Pop, did release an album last week. 

Three years is a long gap for such a band, a gap which could easily have seen their fans move on to other acts. BTS seem to have risen above that as Arirang becomes their second number one album. The title is the name of a traditional Korean folk song. Several of the tracks have a dozen or more credited songwriters with the co-writers including OneRepublic’s Ryan Tedder.

Harry Styles slips to number two after two weeks at number one with Kiss All The Time. Disco Occasionally. Olivia Dean’s The Art Of Loving is at number three, ending a run of nineteen consecutive weeks in the top two. It still hasn’t left the top five since it entered the chart exactly six months ago. Fleetwood Mac’s 50 Years: Don’t Stop is at number five.

Like most American country singers, Luke Combs remained pretty anonymous in the UK for many years. His albums made brief appearances in the chart but he didn’t receive much attention until his version of Tracy Chapman’s Fast Car became a hit. While many albums these days are relatively short, Combs’ latest, The Way I Am’s 22 tracks clock in at a total of 73 minutes. It is a new entry at number four, one place ahead of his previous highest position.

Back in the days when reality TV was unscripted and featured real people rather than people seeking fame, the BBC chowed a series called The Cruise, following the staff of a luxury cruise ship. The one member of staff who might have hoped that the series would lead to bigger things was the resident singer Jane McDonald. She proved popular with viewers which led to a recording contract and a debut album which reached number one in 1998. She has now released an eleventh studio album. Living The Dream, which is described as a nod to country music. It is a new entry at number ten.