A close race at the top of the singles chart Sam Fender and Olivia Dean’s Rein Me In takes a tumble after falling victim to a chart rule. Alex Warren gets his second number one album.

Three times in the last six months I have been able to report that Sam Fender and Olivia Dean’s Rein Me In has fallen from number one. There are at least two reasons why this week’s report that it has happened again is historic. First, as Rein Me In is the first song in history to get four spells at the top in a single chart run, it is now the first song to fall from the summit from the summit for the fourth time in the same chart run.

That piece of chart history was clearly going to happen when Rein Me In climbed back to number one ten weeks ago. However, this time it is different. Apart from a spell in December, for obvious reasons, streams of Rein Me In have not declined for three successive weeks in a chart run lasting over a year. Until now. That three-week decline in streams means that Rein Me In is now on the Accelerated Chart Ratio (ACR). The value of its streams has been halved. Without that change it would have been at number one yet again. As it is, the race for the top was one of the closest for many years with several songs in contention.

After Dolly Parton’s death last month, two of her songs, Jolene and 9 To 5, were among the contenders. They occupied the top two positions in early updates, but had slipped down the chart by Wednesday, suggesting that they were no longer serious contenders.

For many months the slow rise of Ella Langley's Choosin' Texas has led to jokes about it either finally getting to number one just before Christmas or the start of next year. It entered the top forty in February (the week before Rein Me In first topped the chart) and has been climbing ever so slowly since then. In normal circumstances, it would not be unusual for a number one to be succeeded by a song that entered the chart at about the time that song first climbed to the top. However, Rein Me In is no ordinary number one.

The next contender was Hugel, Imael Angel and Ultra Nate’s controversial Movin’ To The Sun. The reason for the controversy is the part that AI played in the composition of the song. Hugel created a new version of the song himself, but it seems unlikely that the song would exist without AI. Movin’ To The Sun is a relative newcomer having entered the top forty at the beginning of June.

Sienna Spiro’s Great Expectation is the freshest of the contenders, joining the top forty in July.

After all the numbers were crunched, Ella Langley was declared the winner with Choosin’ Texas topping the chart in its 31st week in the top forty. Sienna Spiro’s Great Expectation climbs to number two, one place ahead of Hugel, Imael Angel and Ultra nate’s Movin’ To The Sun.

Stella Lefty stays at number four with Boston. Dolly Parton is at number five with 9 To 5 (sadly it didn’t climb there from number nine) while Jolene is at number six. Both Parton songs have reached new peaks this week.

In its sixteenth week in the top 100 Noah Kahan’s Willing And Able enters the top forty for the first time at number 39.

Rein Me In falls to number seven after a total of 23 weeks at the top. The fact that it is now on ACR means that it is unlikely to return to the summit, although it may well remain in the chart for many more months.

Dua Lipa’s 2024 hit Training Season is a re-entry at number eighteen. Slovakian singer Adela re-enters at number 26 with Ain’ In LA, beating its previous best position of number 32. She may not be in LA but LA is in Adelam right at the end. As well as giving a whole host of acts their first radio airplay, John Peel also had a reputation for playing records at the wrong speed. Part of Ain’t In LA sounds like it is being played too slowly.

In the week that the longest-running UK number one in history vacated the summit there is a reminder of another long-running number one. Alex Warren’s Ordinary spent a total of thirteen weeks at the top last year and is still in the singles chart this week. Ordinary was on Warren’s debut album, itself a number one, released in July last year. His second set, Wildchild, was released last week and it is at number one today. As well as the title track, there is a song called Passenger. Is Alex Warren an Iggy Pop fan?

Lovers of chart trivia will forever be amused by the fact that The Courteeners’ biggest hit Bot Nineteen Forever is their highest-charting single, peaking at number nineteen. The Scottish band’s albums have all reached the top ten. That run continues this week as their seventh collection, Pink Cactus Café debuts at number two.

The Essential Michael Jackson is at number three, one place ahead of Olivia Rodrigo’s You Seem Pretty Sad For A Girl So In Love.

Dolly Parton’s Diamonds and Rhinestones: The Greatest Hits Collection climbs one place to number five, a new peak.

Bananarama were always more of a singles band than an albums band. Only one of their studio albums reached the top ten with their 1986 release True Confessions limping in at number 46. Forty years on there is an anniversary edition at number six.

We don’t get many Mexican acts in the UK charts but there is one this week. Rock band The Warning make their UK chart debut with their fifth album Everything’s Falling. It will probably be falling next week.

Steve Hackett and Steve Rothery, former member of Genesis and current member of Marillion respectively. Enter at number 24 with The Roaring Waves. Former Beastie Boy is at number 28 with Thank You. 

American heavy metal band Mastodon are at number 27 with Marrow Deep. Their fellow Americans Interpol are at 33 with This Mirror Weighs A Ton.