U.K. MIDWEEKS: CHANGE AT THE TOP

After several weeks of creeping up the U.K.’s Official Singles Chart, LF System’s “Afraid to Feel” (Warner) appears headed for #1. Meanwhile, Paolo Nutini is on course to claim his third U.K. #1 album.

With “Afraid to Feel,” the Scottish DJ duo is among multiple acts looking to achieve new chart peaks; George Ezra’s “Green Green Grass” (Columbia) is up two to #3 at the midweek mark, Burna Boy’s “Last Last” (Bad Habit/Spaceship/Atlantic), at #17, has cracked the Top 20 for the first time and Ella Henderson is contemplating two entries in the Top 20—“Crazy What Love Can Do” (Parlophone) with David Guetta and “21 Reasons” with Nathan Dawe.

Nutini’s “Throughout the Echoes” (Atlantic) could be this week’s highest new entry. It’s pacing for a #23 debut.

At albums, there’s little doubt where Nutini’s Last Night in the Bittersweet will land; the set is currently outselling its closest competition 4:1. It’s the 35-year-old Scottish singer/songwriter’s first release in eight years. He previously topped the Official Albums Chart in 2014 and 2009.

Shinedown’s seventh studio album, Planet Zero (Parlophone), is eyeing a #2 entry, which would be its first Top 5 hit in the U.K. Unprecedented (UMC) from UB40 f/Ali Campbell and Astro is heading for a #6 debut. Nick Cave’s Seven Psalms (AWAL), a collection of spoken-word pieces set to music recorded with longtime collaborator Warren Ellis, is in line for #8. And Imagine Dragons’ Mercury–Acts 1 & 2 (Interscope) could land at #9.

The Baz Luhrmann film Elvis has rejuvenated enough interest in The King to push ELV1S: 30 Number 1 Hits (RCA) back into the Top 20. Adele’s BST Hyde Park performances over the weekend have resulted in the elevation of 30 (Columbia) 46 places to #28.