This Week In Pop – 9 November, 2020

Welcome to This Week In Pop.

This week, Midnight Oil land their fourth #1 album and Ariana hits both charts. Sam Smith, Mr Bungle and Bring Me The Horizon lead the week's debuts.

This week's album chartifacts

#1: Midnight Oil ‘The Makarrata Project’ – Returning with 'The Makarrata Project', their new music in 18 years, ARIA Hall Of Fame inductees Midnight Oil take out their fifth #1 album on the ARIA Charts. The Sydney band’s 14th Top Ten album is their first #1 since the compilation '20,000 Watt R.S.L.' (#1 October ’97) and their first studio album to hit #1 since 'Blue Sky Mining' (#1 March ’90). The mini-album The Makarrata Project features the band collaborating with Indigenous artists and First Nations people including Jessica Mauboy, Kev Carmody, Troy Cassar-Daley, Dan Sultan and Frank Yamma.
#2: Ariana Grande ‘Positions’ – Releasing 'Positions', Ariana Grande scores her sixth Top Ten on the ARIA Albums Chart. The American star’s sixth studio album is the follow-up to 'Thank U, Next' (#1 February ’19) and features the title track/lead single ‘Positions’ (#1 Nov. ’20), which is at #1 for a second week on the Singles Chart.
#3: Sam Smith ‘Love Goes’ – British singer-songwriter Sam Smith releases 'Love Goes', their third album and their first in three years. The follow-up to 'The Thrill Of It All' (#2 November ’17) includes ‘Diamonds’ (#33 November ’20), plus a number of previous singles as bonus tracks.
#6: Mr. Bungle ‘The Raging Wrath Of The Easter Bunny Demo’ – American rock band Mr. Bungle regroup and release their first album since 1999, 'The Raging Wrath Of The Easter Bunny Demo', debuting at #6. The new album is a re-recording of the band’s first self-released demo tape from 1986. It becomes Mr. Bungle’s first Top 50 entry since 'Disco Volante' (#40 November ’95) and their first ever Top Ten.
#7: Bring Me The Horizon ‘Post Human: Survival Horror’ – After hitting #1 with their last four albums, British metalcore band Bring Me The Horizon hit #7 as they release the EP, 'Post Human: Survival Horror'. The group’s second EP in under a year includes collaborations with Yungblud, Babymetal and Evanescence singer Amy Lee. Bring Me The Horizon have hit #1 with 'There Is A Hell, Believe Me I've Seen It. There Is A Heaven, Let's Keep It A Secret' (#1 Oct. ’10), 'Sempiternal' (#1 Apr. ’13), 'That's The Spirit' (#1 September ’15) and 'Amo' (#1 February ’19).
#8: Triple One ‘Panic Force’ – Sydney hip hop group Triple One make their ARIA Albums Chart debut at #8 with 'Panic Force'. The quartet’s debut album follows on from three EPs released between 2017 and 2019. Since 2017, Triple One have released 23 singles including collaborations with Matt Corby, Kwame and Chillinit.
#9: Kate Miller-Heidke ‘Child In Reverse’ – More than six years after her last studio album, multiple-ARIA nominee Kate Miller-Heidke debuts at #9 with her fifth album, 'Child In Reverse'. Between the release of 'O Vertigo!' (#4 March ’14) and the new album, the singer-songwriter released 'The Best Of Kate Miller-Heidke: Act One' (#35 December ’16), 'Live At The Sydney Opera House' (#31 August ’17), co-wrote the musical 'Muriel’s Wedding' and represented Australia at the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest. This is Miller-Heidke’s fourth Top Ten album.
#10: Troye Sivan ‘In A Dream’ – Following its release on vinyl, Troye Sivan’s 'In A Dream' storms back into the chart at #10. The EP previously debuted at #3 in August of this year.

This week's single chartifacts

#1: Ariana Grande ‘Positions’ – For the second week in a row, Ariana Grande is #1 on the ARIA Singles Chart with ‘Positions’. On the back of the #2 debut of Grande’s album sixth album - also called 'Positions' - seven more tracks by the American pop superstar have hit the Top 50 this week, including ‘34+35’ at #9. The other debuts this week are ‘Motive’ (#19), ‘Off The Table’ (#32), ‘POV’ (#39), ‘Just Like Magic’ (#40), ‘Safety Net’ (#42) and 'Shut Up’ (#45).

Top 10 Albums

1. 'The Makarrata Project' – Midnight Oil
2. 'Positions' – Ariana Grande
3. 'Love Goes' – Sam Smith
4. 'Letter To You' – Bruce Springsteen
5. 'T.R.U.T.H.' – Guy Sebastian
6. 'The Raging Wrath Of The Easter Bunny Demo' – Mr Bungle
7. 'Post Human: Survival Horror' – Bring Me The Horizon
8. 'Panic Force' – Triple One
9. 'Child In Reverse' – Kate Miller-Heidke
10. 'In A Dream' – Troye Sivan

Top 10 Singles

1. 'Positions' – Ariana Grande
2. 'Mood' – 24kGoldn featuring Iann Dior
3. 'Head & Heart' – Joel Corry, MNEK
4. 'Holy' – Justin Bieber featuring Chance The Rapper
5. 'Lemonade' – Internet Money, Gunna featuring Don Toliver, NAV
6. 'WAP' – Cardi B featuring Megan Thee Stallion
7. 'What You Know Bout Love' – Pop Smoke
8. 'You Broke Me First' – Tate McRae
9. '34+35' – Ariana Grande
10. 'Dreams' – Fleetwood Mac