Taylor Swift’s ‘Midnights’ on Track For Fifth Week at No. 1 In U.K. – Billboard
Taylor Swift’s Midnights (via EMI) is set to extend its reign in the U.K.
Based on midweek data published by the Official Charts Company, Swift’s tenth and latest studio album is on track for a fifth non-consecutive week at No. 1.
It’s already Swift’s longest-reigning album in the U.K., overtaking the three-week lead for 2020’s Folklore.
Meanwhile, SZA holds at No. 2 on the midweek chart with SOS (RCA/Top Dawg), while The Weeknd’s The Highlights (Republic Records/XO) should complete the podium.
The highest debut on the next chart would appear to be Gabrielle Aplin’s Phosphorescent (Never Fade), the English singer-songwriter’s fourth LP. Phosphorescent lights up the Official Chart Update at No. 4, and should give Aplin her first top 10 since English Rain, her debut album which peaked at No. 2 back in 2013.
Also on the brink of a top 10 finish is punk legend Iggy Pop, whose 19th album Every Loser (Atlantic) is on track for a No. 9 start. If it holds its course, Iggy’s LP would be just his second top 10 appearance as a solo artist, after 2016’s Post Pop Depression peaked at No. 5.
Former The Maccabees frontman Orlando Weeks’ could nab a solo top 40 appearance with The Gritterman (Blood), the original soundtrack to his debut book of the same name. It’s at No. 36 on the midweek chart. The Maccabees landed four top 40 albums, including a No. 1 for 2015’s Marks To Prove It.
The Gritterman, first published as an ebook in 2017, and the following year in paperback, is described as “a song for the unsung hero” and “a bittersweet story about stoicism, dignity and a man leaving behind the work that he loves,” with illustrations by Weeks.
Over on the midweek singles chart, Lewis Capaldi’s “Pointless” (Vertigo) leapfrogs Raye’s current leader, “Escapsim” (Human Re Sources), in what’s shaping as a tight race.
All will be revealed when the Official Charts are published late Friday.
