It’s a quiet week as a whole on the chart, thanks mainly to my preoccupation of digging through artists who played at SXSW in Austin this week. Very little movement occurs within the top twenty, save two entries by Christine and the Queens and Kelly Clarkson. Rachel Platten’s “Fight Song” makes a big jump of 36 positions to land at #40, and Sam Hunt (“Take Your Time,” 77-46) and The Veronicas (“You Ruin Me,” 95-64) each score 31-position jumps. The week’s highest debut belongs to Martin Luke Brown, who returns at #75 with “Take Out Of Me,” the title track from his upcoming EP. Delta Rae debuts another album preview track, as do AIR BAG ONE with their debut track “1992” and Of Monsters And Men with new single “Crystals;” Kelly Clarkson’s “Second Wind” also appropriately makes a re-entry at the bottom of the chart.
2015 charts
The top ten is stagnant save its bottom spot, which is newly occupied by Carly Rae Jepsen’s “I Really Like You.” For the second week in a row, Christine and the Queens have the highest debut: this time, “Saint Claude” enters at #34. The Chainsmokers and Great Good Fine OK have the biggest mover with “Let You Go,” up 38 spots to #42, followed by CAFUNÉ’s “Instant Crush” (up 23 to #75) and Kelly Clarkson’s “Someone” (up 20 to #38). In the bottom quadrant of the chart, eight more debuts are led by Rachel Platten, Sam Hunt, and Olly Murs featuring Demi Lovato.
Alabama Shakes are one of the week’s biggest movers and shakers, launching 39-3 with Sound & Color album cut “Gimme All Your Love,” one spot ahead of lead single “Don’t Wanna Fight.” Carly Rae Jepsen makes the highest jump as “I Really Like You” jumps 45 spots to #18, while Kelly Clarkson and John Legend duet “Run Run Run” is second, jumping from #77 to #37. French artist Christine and the Queens makes her first chart appearance at #40 with her first English song, “Tilted,” from her forthcoming EP Saint Claude. She beats out four more Kelly Clarkson debuts, led by “Nostalgic” at #59. Also charting their first songs this week are XYLØ, The Chainsmokers (featuring the formerly-charting Great Good Fine OK), and current American Idol contestant Clark Beckham, as well as a new cover from CAFUNÉ.
In his second week on the chart, Nate Ruess is the week’s biggest mover with “Nothing Without Love,” launching from #86 to #12. Tor Miller also makes a big jump, moving up twenty to a new peak of #19 with “Headlights;” all three of the other tracks on his EP of the same name track upward as well. Alabama Shakes scores the biggest debut of the week with a third track from upcoming album Sound & Color, “Gimme All Your Love.” Kacey Musgraves rounds out the top half of the chart with new entry “Biscuits,” while Kelly Clarkson lands six debuts from her album Piece By Piece. Additional debuts include new music from Carly Rae Jepsen and Delta Rae, as well as a pair of tracks from newcomers STELLA // JAMES.
Below an unchanged top ten, Taylor Swift slides into the top twenty as “Out Of The Woods” moves up one spot for the fourth week in a row. Delta Rae’s “Scared,” the week’s biggest mover, jumps 98-30 in its second week. Meanwhile, they also chart two re-entries as the chart’s two highest entrants: “Run” (#74) and “Chasing Twisters” (#83) both reappear for the first time in just over a year thanks to new recordings for the band’s upcoming sophomore album, After It All. Included in the week’s eight debuts are tracks from Imagine Dragons, Nate Ruess, and vōx. Justin Mauriello also scores a re-entry with “Forgotten” at a new peak of #87.
Though Walk The Moon scores a third week on top with “Shut Up And Dance,” Ellie Goulding creeps ever closer as “Love Me Like You Do” is now a single spot away. Alabama Shakes enter at #3 with “Don’t Wanna Fight,” the lead single from upcoming sophomore album Sound & Color; another cut, “Future People,” debuts at #73.
Christina Perri continues to edge forward with “The Words,” which reaches #13 in its fifteenth week on the chart. It has moved up on each of the fifteen charts on which it has appeared, beginning from its #97 debut back in early November.
Florence + The Machine scores the second-highest debut at #27 with “What Kind Of Man,” the lead single from their upcoming third album, How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful. After two weeks off, Zac Brown Band returns with a brand-new peak for “Homegrown,” re-entering at #68. Along with the aforementioned trio of debuts, eight more entries include new tracks from Tor Miller and Youth Club, as well as newcomers Lucie Silvas, Charlie Puth (featuring Meghan Trainor), and James Bay.
Walk The Moon notches a second week at #1 with “Shut Up And Dance,” while Ellie Goulding moves into the top three with “Love Me Like You Do.” Two songs also enter the top ten: Taylor Swift’s “Style” moves 11-5 and Tori Kelly’s “Nobody Love” climbs 25-9 in its second week. Fancy makes a big thirty-position jump to #23 with “Goodbye,” dwarfed only by Max Frost’s jump of 34 positions as “Let Me Down Easy” leaps to #60. Emily Hearn makes the week’s highest debut, with “Volcano” exploding in at #36. Additional new entrants are Imagine Dragons, COIN, Tor Miller, Leon Bridges, Youth Club, and Mikky Ekko.
After a fourteen-week run at the top, Martin Luke Brown slips out of the pole position as Walk The Moon’s “Shut Up And Dance” ascends to #1 in its 21st week on the chart. The rest of the top ten gets a slight shake-up as well, with Walk The Moon’s “Aquaman” also moving into the top three, Ellie Goulding continuing her upward momentum as “Love Me Like You Do” goes from #6 to #4, and Carrie Underwood’s newly-announced single “Little Toy Guns” moving 12-10. Tori Kelly scores the week’s highest debut, with new single “Nobody Love” entering at a lofty #25. Toward the bottom of the chart, XOV, Max Frost, and Sam Smith re-enter the chart, while new songs come in from Train, Coasts, Justin Mauriello, and Lee Ann Womack.
Many of last week’s notable movers continue to head upward, including Ellie Goulding’s “Love Me Like You Do,” Taylor Swift’s “Style,” and Bea Miller’s “Fire N Gold.” While there are eight debuts, they come from only two artists, as Swift and Jamie Scott each add four new entries, the highest of which being Scott’s “Crazy For Loving Me” at #39.
The top ten gets a pair of new entries: Ellie Goulding’s “Love Me Like You Do” vaults from #36 to #8 in its second week, while just below at #9, Kelly Clarkson scores the week’s highest debut with “Heartbeat Song.” Three more of last week’s debuts are the week’s biggest movers — Echosmith’s “Bright” ties Goulding with a 28-position jump for “Bright” (up 82-54), Bea Miller’s “Fire N Gold” jumps from #50 to #26, and Taylor Swift scores her highest-charting 1989 single yet with “Style” (up 42-23). XOV, who just missed the top 100 last fall with Hunger Games track “Animal,” scores three debuts this week from his Lucifer EP: the title track at #41, “Chaos” at #88, and “Blood Honey” at #100. Mickey Guyton’s “Better Than You Left Me” re-enters the chart, while Charli XCX featuring Rita Ora, HISTORY, and Zac Brown Band all make their way onto the chart.