Joseph's Hit 40

After being away for a while, British singer/songwriter George Ezra finally made his return last Friday (16th June). Don't Matter Now is the first single from his upcoming second album, and it's made a huge impression in my chart, becoming not just his first #1, but his first top 10 full stop! Previously, George made it as high as #15 with Blame It On Me, and also scored a top 20 hit with Budapest not long before.

Just missing out on a #1 debut is the new single from Jax Jones. Previously, Jax's personal best was the #8 peak scored by You Don't Know Me, which features RAYE, from earlier this year. Instruction immediately betters that, entering at #2 this week. It features Stefflon Don, who scores her first hit, and Demi Lovato, who is more of a chart veteran. Demi has two #1s, both as a feature on singles by The Vamps and Cheat Codes. Her solo peak is #2, with 2015's Cool for the Summer.

He scored his first chart hit earlier in the year, with #4 hit Unstable, and now Zak Abel has scored another top 5 hit with the follow-up single. All I Ever Do (Is Say Goodbye) is the second single from his long-awaited debut studio album (which has been subject to constant pushbacks in terms of release date) Only When We're Naked, and it's currently scheduled for an October release.

American singer/songwriter Alec Benjamin scored a top 20 hit last year with End of the Summer, a song I said should climb and be a top 10 hit but ultimately it fizzed out quickly and only spent three weeks in the top 40. He uploaded a new song to Soundcloud last year, entitled I Built a Friend, and it managed to make #34 in my chart. A few weeks ago, I Built a Friend got a full release onto iTunes and Spotify, with updated production, and this week, it jumps 10 places to give Alec his first top 10 hit, about a year after his first hit failed to make it!

Further down the chart, we have new personal bests for Citizen Four and Stormzy, plus chart debuts for R. City and Abi Hudson. R. City scored a UK #2 hit in 2015 with Locked Away but have failed to make my top 40 at any point, only making it in this week alongside Daniel Skye on his new single Feelin' You, the follow-up to two-week #1 hit ON from earlier this year.

Over in the album chart, we have a brand new #1 from Lorde with her second album Melodrama. Lorde's debut album Pure Heroine made it to the rather harsh position of #15 (ie. just scraping in), but this allows for an interesting statistic, because Lorde is the only person who scored a #15 album and managed to follow it up with a #1, quite an improvement! Harry Styles jumps two places back up to #2, boosted by the fact I got a ticket for his concert and am already feeling very hyped!