U.K. MIDWEEKS: A SWIFT RISE IN BLIGHTY

Taylor Swift is on course to claim her fourth consecutive U.K. #1 album as with Lover (Virgin EMI) has clocked up 36k combined sales so far. Over on singles, Ed Sheeran’s “Take me Back To London” f/Stormzy (Atlantic) leads the way.

Lover’s biggest challenger is Sheeran’s No.6 Collaborations Project at #2.

The Top 5 has two other new entries: Bradford band New Model Army’s From Here (Ear Music) is #4, followed by London rapper Headie One with his Music X Road mixtape (Relentless) at #5.

Brockhampton’s Ginger (RCA) opens at #12, while Massive Attack’s 1998 album, Mezzanine (Virgin), is set to make a Top 40 return thanks to an anniversary reissue.

Headliners from last weekend’s Reading and Leeds Festivals, which were covered heavily by the BBC, are seeing a surge in sales: Post Malone’s Beerbongs & Bentleys (Island) is so far up three places to #25; and Foo Fighters’ Greatest Hits (Roswell Records) has climbed six places to #27.

On the U.K.’s Official Singles midweeks, Sheeran looks set to claim a third #1 single from No.6 thanks in part to two new remixes of “Take Me Back To London” f/Stormzy. The track was re-released Friday with a version featuring U.K. rappers Jaykae and Aitch and another remixed by grime producer Sir Spyro.

Following the release of Lover, Swift has three tracks in the Top 20: “Lover” rises to #9 from #23; “The Man” is at #13; and “Cruel Summer” starts at #16.