Sam Fender and Olivia Dean remain at the top of the singles chart. Raye easily beats all rivals to get her first number one album.

Sam Fender and Olivia Dean’s Rein Me In gets another week at number one. Its current three week run matches the three weeks it spent at the top before being interrupted for a week by Harry Styles’ American Girls. Styles’ previous number one, the excellent Aperture, was also sandwiched between separate runs of the same song, in this case Dave and Tems’ Raindance.

Bella Kay climbs back up to number two with Iloveitiloveitiloveit. Tame Impala gets his first top ten singles as Dracula climbs to number three in its sixteenth week in the top forty. His first chart appearance came in 2012 when his Lonerism album reached number fourteen.

Harry Styles is still at number four with American Girls. BTS fall to number four with Swim. It looked like sinking far further earlier in the week, but the release of new physical copies boosted its sales.

Zara Larsson’s I Love It climbs to number seven, just four places below the number three peak it reached a decade ago. 

I always like to try to understand the appeal of certain types of music, even if I don’t like it myself. With some artists, that is a real struggle. Why do people choose to listen to Central Cee? However, they do and he has a new entry this week with Wagwan at number 31. It is, predictably, as awful as its title. Does it stand for something? Maybe What A Git, What A Numpty?

Nice To Each Other has regained its status as Olivia Dean's third most popular song. This means that The Hardest Part drops out of the chart while Nice To Each Other is back at number 30. Rein Me In counts as a Sam Fender song, so does not count towards Dean’s limit of three songs in the chart.

Sean Paul and Keyshia Cole’s (When You Gonna) Give It Up To Me climbs to number 26, ahead of its original peak in its initial chart run twenty years ago.

Last week I commented on Ella Langley's Choosin’ Texas, specifically the fact that it had spent eight weeks in the top forty without ever falling, but still only achieving a peak of number 32. This week it climbs again, to number 29. At this rate, it might be the last number one before Wham take over again in December.

Fleetwood Mac’s Landslide slips back into the top forty again at number 40.

Raye’s struggle to be able to release the music she wanted to release, rather than what record companies wanted her to release, has been well documented. It meant that her debut album, My 21st Century Blues, wasn’t released until 2023, more than six years after her first appearance in the singles chart. While the album didn’t quite get to number one - she was beaten to the top spot by Shania Twain - it did give her a first number one single in the forn of Escapism.

Last week Raye released her second album, This Music May Contain Hope, a set which includes another number one single, Where Is My Husband. There was never any real doubt that the album would go to number one and it has done so by a large margin. The fabulous Click Clack Symphony climbs to number eleven in the singles chart. The former number one single is back up to number fifteen while she gets a third track in the top forty with I Know You’re Hurting entering at number 22. With seventeen songs and a running time of 73 minutes, it is another album that bucks the general trend for pitifully short albums.

Olivia Dean’s The Art Of Loving returns to the top two at number two. BTS's Arirang falls to number four after a week at the top.

In recent years Kanye West has become known more for expressing some rather controversial views than for his musical output. He has also decided to shorten his name to a simple Ye. Apart from his debut, which stalled at number two, all of his studio albums have topped the chart in the USA while his performance in the UK chart has been less consistent. I haven’t counted Donda 2 as it was ruled ineligible for the US chart. His latest album Bully is a new entry at number three.

Two tracks from Ye’s album are in the singles chart. All The Love, featuring his music director Andre Troutman is at number 28. Father, featuring Travis Scott, is one place above it.

Melanie Martinez first entered the consciences of the American public when she appeared in the US version of The Voice in 2012. She lands at number five with her fourth album Hades, a very un-hellish debut position.

Don Broco will forever be included on the lists of bands whose name sounds like that of a solo artist. None of their members is called Don, or Broco for that matter. Their last album, Amazing Things, topped the chart in 2021. Their new set, Nightmare Tripping, hasn’t done quite such amazing things, but still enters at a respectable number seven.

When Queen released their second album, unimaginatively titled Queen II, they were still relatively unknown. Their debut album, Queen, had failed to chart and they were just getting their first hit single with Seven Seas Of Rye. Queen II eventually climbed to number five with their debut finally getting into the chart in its wake. Now, to mark the second anniversary of its fiftieth anniversary, there is a remastered edition with some added live recordings and tracks from BBC sessions. The new edition is at number fourteen. Their Greatest Hits drops out of the top forty for the first time this year in its 1,200th week in the top 100.

London singer-songwriter Tom Misch isn’t exactly a household name, but he gets a third top ten album this week with Full Circle at number nine.

Swedish singer Robyn finally gets a top ten album with Sexistential at number ten. Her previous albums chart peak was with her eponymous debut album which reached number eleven in 2008.

While they are generally thought of as a London band, Blur’s roots are actually in Colchester. If you consider Blur to be a Colchester band, Pet Needs’ chances of being the most successful band from the Essex town are close to zero. They are at number sixteen this week with Elbows Out! This Is Capitalism.

Comedian Dave Gorman once spent time gently ribbing Scouting For Girls for releasing a second Greatest Hits album when most people could only name one of their songs at most. They haven’t had a top forty single for nearly fifteen years, but they are still going. They have a new entry this week with These Are The Good Days at number seventeen.

Courtney Barnett is at number 29 with Creature Of Habit. Central Cee has persuaded enough people to listen to, or even buy, All Roads Lead Home for it to get to number 34. Catherine Garner thought it was a wise move to call herself Slayyyter for her musical career. She is at number 26 with Wor$t Girl In America.