U.K. MIDWEEKS: COLE, WELLER VIE FOR TOP SLOT

J. Cole is duking it out with Paul Weller for the top slot on Friday’s Official Albums Chart, while three songs from Cole's latest Interscope release are headed for Top 20 debuts.

Weller’s 16th studio album, Fat Pop (Polydor), is #1 at the midweek mark, having notched the most CD and vinyl sales of the week; he’s got a 13k chart-sales lead over Cole’s The Off-Season (Interscope), the week’s top streamer. If it holds, Fat Pop would be Weller’s sixth U.K. #1 and second in less than 12 months—On Sunset topped the 7/10/20 chart.

The current #1, Rag’n’Bone Man’s Life by Misadventure (Columbia) drops to #3 but is the week’s most-downloaded album.

Other new arrivals in the Top 10 are St. Vincent’s Daddy’s Home (Loma Vista) at #4; The Black Keys’ tribute to north Mississippi blues, Delta Kream (Nonesuch), at #5; and Myles Kennedy’s The Ides of March (Napalm) at #7.

Eyeing Top 20 debuts are Matt Berry’s The Blue Elephant (Acid Jazz), currently at a personal-best #11; Nicki Minaj’s mixtape Beam Me Up Scotty (Republic) at #13; Jorja Smith’s Be Right Back (Famm) at #14; David Gray’s Skellig (Laugh a Minute/AWAL) at #15; and Rhino’s 50th-anniversary edition of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young’s Deja Vu at #20.

On the singles chart, Cole has three tracks angling to be the week’s top new arrivals. Leading the way is “95.south” at #9, which would be his second U.K. Top 10 single, followed by “my.life” f/21 Savage & Morray at #10 and “amari” at #11.

Tion Wayne & Russ Millions’ “Body” (Atlantic) is on course for a third week at #1 as it’s the most-streamed track across the first 48 hours of the tracking period.

Olivia Rodrigo’s new single, “good 4 u” (Geffen), is on track for a Top 20 placement ahead of Friday’s release of her debut album, SOUR; "good" is currently #14.

BRIT Awards performances continue to affect the chart: P!nk and Rag’n’Bone Man’s “Anywhere Away From Here” (Best Laid Plans/Columbia) is up three slots to #6 and “Black Hole” (Warner) from Rising Star Award winner Griff rockets 17 places to #19.