Ed Sheeran’s Divide looks pretty unshakeable as he prepares to top the Official Albums Chart for a fifth straight week. He leads the way at this halfway stage of the chart week with a tally so far of just over 50,000 over physical, download and streaming equivalent sales.
Ed is also set to lead the Official Singles Chart simultaneously for a fifth consecutive week, as Shape Of You (1) and Galway Girl (2) battle for pole position, currently less than 500 equivalent units apart.
Jamiroquai are on track to be this week’s highest new entry and score a ninth Top 10 with their first album in over six years. The band, led by Jay Kay, are at 2 on today’s update, with Automaton.
Electronic duo Goldfrapp return with Silver Eye, which starts at 5; American heavy metal outfit Mastodon are at 7 with Emperor of Sand; and Kidz Bop, a collection of covers for children by young stars Kidz Bop Kids, is new at 8.
Folk hero Bob Dylan is in with a shot at a 39th Top 10 album with Triplicate, which lands at 10 today, and Brighton rockers British Sea Power start at 14 with Let The Dancers Inherit The Party, while a reissue of Fleetwood Mac’s Tango in the Night is new at 15.
UK soul group Stone Foundation are on track for their first Top 40 with the Paul Weller-produced Street Rituals, at 18, while American singer-songwriter Aimee Mann is eyeing her first Top 40 in over 23 years as Mental Illness starts at Number 32.
Potentially returning to the Top 40 this week are Elbow’s Little Fictions (34), Catfish and the Bottlemen’s The Ride (36) and Sia’s This Is Acting (39).
Katy Perry’s Chained To The Rhythm could be returning to the Top 10 this Friday, currently up nine places to Number 8, while Zedd and Alessia Cara’s collaboration Stay could claim a spot in the Top 10 for the first time, up one place to 10.
Calvin Harris is looking likely to claim this week’s highest new entry – his new collaboration with Ariana Grande, Pharrell and Young Thug, called Heatstroke, starts at 16. Meanwhile, Little Mix’s No More Sad Songs ft. Machine Gun Kelly vaults 33 spots to 18 after the release of its music video last week, and Kendrick Lamar’s latest single Humble is at 21.
Finally, three tracks could be making their Top 40 debut this Friday. Production duo Stargate – best known for turning out hits for likes of Rihanna and Coldplay – could be landing their first Top 40 single as a named act with Waterfall ft. Sia and Pink, up 52 places to 33. Martin Solveig’s Places ft. Ina Wroldsen climbs nine spots to 36, and Jason Derulo’s Swalla ft. Nicki Minaj and Ty Dolla $ign jumps 17 places to 40.
