007 Chart Commentary - 3rd June 2012

Rudimental feat John Newman - Feel The Love enters at #1

We have a new #1 this week as East London based duo Rudimental debut at #1 with huge drum & bass hit Feel The Love, knocking Fun's We Are Young down to #2. The duo take their name from a type of drumming called rudimental. Rudimental have made remixes of various recent hits from the likes of Ed Sheeran, Wretch 32 and Labrinth, as well as releasing a limited edition single entitled Spoons. Feel The Love is their first full release and features vocals from British singer John Newman.

Loreen - Euphoria enters at #3

The winners of this year's Eurovision Song Contest were Sweden, whose entry came from 28 year old Swedish pop singer Lorine Zineb Noka Talhaoui known as Loreen. After appearing on Idol 2004 then disappearing whilst directing some other Swedish talent shows, Loreen took part in Melodifestivalen 2011 with the song My Heart Is Refusing Me. She did not get through, however this year she tried again with the track Euphoria and ended up winning the contest. The song has been a #1 hit already in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Noway and Ireland, now a #3 hit in the UK. Unfortunately our entry from Engelbert Humperdinck has missed out on a top 40 placing, after UK coming second last in the competition.

Lawson - When She Was Mine enters at #4

London based 4 piece pop rock band Lawson get a new entry at #4 with their debut single When She Was Mine this week. Lead singer Andy Brown was a member of the boyband Avenue, alongside Max George who is the lead singer of The Wanted. The band Avenue were banned from participation in 2006's X Factor, amidst accusations of professional representation. Andy recruited drummer Adam Pitts, bass player Ryan Fletcher and guitarist Joel Peat to form Lawson. Their debut single When She Was Mine was aparently written about Andy Brown's split with Saturdays singer Molly King, whom he was dating up until last year.

Gary Barlow & Commonwealth Band - Sing enters at #11

In case there is anyone out there who doesn't know, this is the Queen's Diamond Jubilee weekend celebrating 60 years on the throne for Her Majesty. Amongst the many events taking place, Gary Barlow has organised a special concert and has composed an official jubilee song entitled Sing. The song features various musicians from across the Commonwealth, including the Military Wives choir, Andrew Lloyd Webber and none other than Prince Harry on tambourine. Released as an EP, the bundle features 7 tracks including a cover of Here Comes The Sun and Amazing Grace. This means that the track Sing appears as a standalone track in the singles chart but also appears in the album charts as an EP, so as a cherry picked track Sing enters at #11.

Sebastian Ingrosso & Alesso - Calling (Lose My Mind) enters at #19

Swedish DJ Sebastian Ingrosso has been active since 2000, producing remixes and working with the likes of Steve Angelo, Axwell and Kylie Minogue. He made his breakthrough 2010 as a third of Swedish House Mafia, alongside the aforementioned Steve Angelo and Axwell. Now he joins his fellow house mates in getting a top 20 hit of his own, as Calling (Lose My Mind) hits #19.

Alexandra Burke - Let It Go enters at #33

Flop of the week has to go to 2008's X Factor winner Alexandra Burke, as her new single Let It Go does just that and limps in at #33 this week. This follows the #3 peak of her last single Elephant, and serves as the 2nd single from her 2nd album Heartbreak On Hold, due to be released next week. Her debut album Overcome spawned 5 massive top 10 hits, 3 of which were #1s with her winner's cover of Hallelujah selling over a million. This is something of a comedown, only time will tell if this is just a glitch or if it spells the end for Ms Burke.

Justin Bieber - Die In Your Arms enters at #34

Canadian teen star Justin Bieber gets yet another new entry in the top 40 this week as the latest promotional release for his album enters at #34, entitled Die In Your Arms. This follows the #39 entry for Turn To You (Mother's Day Dedication) 3 weeks ago, this track was also released mid-week on Tuesday. You can expect a further 2 new entries of this nature leading up to the release of the album Believe.

Wretch 32 feat Ed Sheeran Hush Little Baby enters at #35

Rapper Wretch 32 gets a 4th top 40 hit this week as Hush Little Baby enters the top 40 at #35, after spending sveeral weeks outside. The UK grime rapper first came on the scene last year when he scored a trio of top 5 hits with Traktor (#5), Unorthodox (#2) and Don't Go (#1), followed by flop single Forgiveness. Mr 32 teamed up with Example for last year's Unorthodox and Josh Kumra for Don't Go, now he brings in Ed Sheeran for Hush Little Baby. This is now Ed's 4th top 40 hit, with a 5th very likely next week following his performance of Small Bump on The Voice final.

Gary Barlow tops the album chart with Sing

Released as a single but with the EP featuring 7 tracks, this means that Gary Barlow has claimed the number one album with his new single release Sing. That technicality means that Paloma Faith debuts at #2 with the best selling full album of the week, her second album Fall To Grace. Rumer enters at #3 with her second album Boys Don't Cry, in a top 5 made entirely of new entries. In at #4 is Scissor Sisters 4th album Magic Hour and at #5 is Anthems by opera singer Russell Watson. Icelandic group Sigur Ros debut at #8 with their 6th studio album Valtari (Icelandic for Steamroller) and 2nd to get a top 10 placing. Meoldy Gardot, Ultravox, Alt-J and Regina Spektor are amongst the many other significant new entries this week.

Opinion

I am not particularly happy to see Rudimental top the charts this week, as I am not keen on the song ... it's not that bad just not my kind of thing. I really like Euphoria by Loreen, even if it is a little overrated on this site! Lawson's When She Was Mine is really good, as is the Coldplay/Rihanna track working its way up. Gary Barlow's Sing is very good in a Military Wives kind of way, it features them anyway! Sebastian Ingrosso's song is not bad but again not really my kind of thing. Alexandra Burke's new single is pretty rubbish, especially after some of her other good songs like All Night Long, Bad Boys and The Silence. Beiber's new one isn't quite as bad as most of his other material, mind you that doesn't make it good by any means but just half listenable! Hush Little Baby is just as bad as most of Wretch 32's output so far, even the presence of the brilliant Ed Sheeran doesn't improve it much. Paloma Faith's new album really is fabulous, pity it was robbed of #1 by a technicality.