LORDE‘S SOLAR POWER SHINES ATOP CONTEMPORARY CHART!
Lorde scoops her second chart-topper; Jade Bird earns new certifications!
Lorde nabs her second No.1 album on L.dK Weekly, as Solar Power scorches to a chart-topping debut with combined sales of 86,000 copies. It nabs the fourth-largest launch of the year, behind Lana Del Rey’s Chemtrails Over the Country Club (29 March – 160,000 units); Olivia Rodrigo’s SOUR (31 May – 111,000) and Billie Eilish’s Happier than Ever (09 August – 94,000).
Solar is Lorde’s first studio release since 2017’s Melodrama which topped the Weekly Top 50 for a then-record-breaking five weeks in Summer of that year. The album became the 3rd biggest record of 2019 and has sold almost 1.7 million units to date.
Overall, Solar is the star’s third Top-Five hit; her 2013 debut Pure Heroine reached a highpoint of No.2 earlier this year, and has since sold over 100,000 units.
Of Solar’s healthy first-week sales figure, 68,000 stem from first-week sales, while a further 18,000 units are pre-sales derived from singles released prior to the album.
Jade Bird’s Different Kinds of Light steps down to No.2 after debuting at the top spot. The album sold a further 51,000 units in its second frame, dropping twenty-two percent from its opening term.
Different has now been certified Gold for selling more than 100,000 copies since its release; it is Bird’s second release to be certified Gold, following her self-titled debut.
Billie Eilish sinks 2-3 with Happier than Ever, two weeks after topping the Contemporary Chart for its first two terms. The LP sold 43,000 units this week (down eighteen percent).
Two former No.1 discs follow from Taylor Swift: evermore falls 3-4 with 28,000 sold (down seven percent) and folklore slips 4-5 with 27,000 copies (down seven percent).
Outside the Top Five, five former chart-topping smashes make up the Top Ten: Lana Del Rey’s Chemtrails Over the Country Club drops 5-6 (22,000 units – down ten percent); Miley Cyrus’s Plastic Hearts dips 6-7 (18,000 units – on par with last week); Birdy’s Young Heart sinks 7-8 (15,000 units – up seven percent); Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia: Moonlight Edition descends 8-9 (12,000 units – down eight percent); and Taylor Swift’s Fearless (Taylor’s Version) dives 9-10 (10,000 units – down eighteen percent).
Onto Next Week: Halsey’s If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power could challenge for the largest debut of the year; it is currently looking to sell between 140,000 and 160,000 units in its opening frame. Big Red Machine are also gunning for a Top Five start with How Long Do You Think It’s Gonna Last?
TOP CONTEMPORARY ALBUMS
STEVIE NICKS CROWNS CATALOGUE ALBUMS CHART FOR SEVENTH WEEK!
Plus: Lorde nabs two entries in Top Ten!
Stevie Nicks crowns the Catalogue Albums Chart for a seventh non-consecutive week with her best-of set Crystal Visions – the Very Best of Stevie Nicks. The collection sold a further 22,000 copies this week (up four percent).
Joni Mitchell’s Blue keeps at No.3 with sales of 20,000 copies (on par with last week) and has now spent six months inside the Top Five of the list.
Lana Del Rey’s Norman Fucking Rockwell! remains at No.3 selling 18,000 units (down six percent). The album logs a record-extending 66th week in the Top Five and 97th week in the Top Ten. To date, NFR! has spent a whopping 104 weeks (two full years) on L.dK Weekly!
NFR! joins seven other albums in an exclusive group of releases that have spent a full two years on the charts:
- 154 weeks – Bella Donna , Stevie Nicks
- 134 weeks – Diva , Annie Lennox
- 128 weeks – Sweetener , Ariana Grande
- 119 weeks – Glasshouse , Jessie Ware
- 116 weeks – Greatest Hits , Fleetwood Mac
- 112 weeks – 25 , Adele & The Whole Story , Kate Bush
- 108 weeks – A Star is Born – OST , Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper
- 104 weeks – Norman Fucking Rockwell! , Lana Del Rey
Lorde re-enters at No.4 with the No.2-peaking Pure Heroine; her 2017 follow-up chart-topping Melodrama meanwhile returns at No.6. Boosted by the release of Lorde’s new Solar Power, the pair of records sold 17,000 and 13,000 copies respectively.
Kate Bush anchors this week’s Top Five with The Whole Story (down 4-5) selling 15,000 copies (up seven percent).
Outside the Top Five: Fleetwood Mac’s Greatest Hits backtracks 5-7 (12,000 units – down eight percent); Annie Lennox’s Diva springs 10-8 (10,000 units – up eleven percent); Jade Bird’s self-titled record descends 8-9 (9,000 units – down ten percent); and Stevie Nicks’s Bella Donna elevates 11-10 (9,000 units – even with last week).
Onto Next Week: Halsey could score multiple entries inside the Top Ten alongside the launch of her latest album If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power.
Notable Moves on Top Catalogue Albums
No.13 – Rock a Little / Stevie Nicks’s third solo studio album descends 12-13 (selling 8,000 copies) in its 103rd appearance on L.dK Weekly. After peaking at No.2 in 2017, Rock has cemented itself as one of the biggest albums ever, and as of this week has sold more than 1.2 million copies; It is one of only thirty-three albums to have been certified Quadruple Platinum!
No.23 – The Wild Heart / Stevie Nicks’s second solo record falls 19-23 this week (moving 6,000 units) in its ninety-first charting week. The set has now sold 1.2 million copies and is Nicks’s fourth record to sell as many units: following Crystal Visions – the Very Best of Stevie Nicks (1.88 million units); Bella Donna (1.77 million); and Rock a Little (1.20 million).
TOP CATALOGUE ALBUMS
Industry Sales
Contemporary Albums recorded sales of 405,000 units this week (up 12.5%) while Catalogue Albums generated sales of 287,000 units (down 2.8%). Contemporary accounted for 58.5% of all sales this week; versus 41.5% for Catalogue.
Total industry sales stand at 692,000 units for the week, increasing by 5.6% from the previous week. Compared to the same week last year (when 729,000 albums were sold), consumption is down 5.1%!
Note
This chart reflects my own personal music consumption; 1 song = 1,000 units. Top Contemporary Albums measures the performance of albums released within the past 18 months; Top Catalogue Albums ranks the performance of albums released prior to the past 18 months.
Certifications: Silver (60,000); Gold (100,000); Platinum (300,000); Multi-Platinum (600,000 etc.); Diamond (3,000,000).
L.dK Music 