Chart Review: 08th March 2023

Making sense of a nation’s musical tastes

This has been the week of Raye, whose record breaking BRIT award haul marked the high point of an enviable career run, including a praised Glastonbury performance and a well received album. As a result she has a new track and a re-entry on the Top 40. “Worth It” (38) is the newbie - it’s quite nice laid back R&B of the evergreen variety. It’s the kind of track that could fit on almost any playlist, that couldn’t reasonably offend anyone. It’s elevated by Raye herself, who does have a terrific voice (she gets Winehouse comparisons which I think stem from both being young women from South London who seem quite normal and like retro stuff - i.e. they sound nothing alike). The song’s fine, I can’t quite understand getting excited by it. 

More interesting is “Escapism” (13) featuring 070 Shake. More of a neo-soul number, it’s lyrically dark and self-destructive with a solid beat and again a hugely charismatic performance at the forefront. I don’t think I’d listen to it myself (I have heard the album, I thought it was decent enough), but clearly she’s got a lot going for her, and I’m still big on “Prada” which she features on (and has similarly enjoyed the Raye bounce, up nine spots to (18)). From a cynical perspective I can only imagine the record label power brokers are just desperate to get their hands on her; she’s spoken about extremely negative experiences in the industry, so will hopefully be savvy enough to keep clear of the scumbags. 

Twenty One Pilots are one of those bands I’d heard of a few times then suddenly saw their name way up on a poster for a major music festival. Apparently they’re one of only three acts to have two concurrent singles in the Billboard Hot 100 (along with The Beatles and Elvis), so they’re probably one of the biggest bands/duos I know absolutely nothing about. Their new single “Overcompensate” (34) is absolutely awful. The opening minute of fairly basic dance music is fine. Then the tempo dips for some indie-rap-rock that for me doesn’t coalesce at all. Obviously this is a Seymour Skinner “it’s the children who are wrong” moment for me but no - don’t like it. 

There’s only one other new entry this week, but it’s a proper winner. I’d held off on listening to Charli XCX’s “Von Dutch” (26) in readiness for it dropping in the charts. I like XCX’s gear quite a lot, particularly her bonkers lockdown album. The last record was a bit more polished and had some great stuff but I did miss that hyperpop sound. On “Von Dutch” she’s somewhere in between. It’s relentless stuff, a super simple driving beat, bass and synths swelling and dropping. She’s doing a sort of mid ‘00s throwback dance vibe - indeed it feels ready made to be played in a blissfully extended form, which is sad because it means I’ll never hear it in its natural habitat. 

For some reason this week was my first time hearing 21 Savage’s “Redrum” (17), enjoying its eighth week in the Top 40. I liked it a lot; my knowledge of modern hiphop isn’t exactly great but Savage’s flow seems a lot more confident than a lot of rappers who don’t seem to put much weight behind their words, and the beat is terrific, built from simple percussion and a sample of Brazilian singer Elza Laranjeira. Content-wise it’s not hitting anything new but Savage carries it off well.

Taylor Swift’s “Cruel Summer” remains at (9), having bounced around the Top 10 for an age and a position in the charts for 38 weeks. My understanding is this was a minor single or even an album track that caught the imagination of fans and has been elevated accordingly. It’s a smart bit of songwriting, it’s got a chorus you can’t help howl along to. She delivers one line (“he looks so pretty like a devil” or something) with such a funny, manufactured snarl that I can’t help laugh whenever I hear it, but the song’s otherwise pretty good.

The Top 3 remain the same, but Benson Boone’s abysmal “Beautiful Things” (2) has overtaken Teddy Swims’ “Lose Control” (3) in the runner up spot once more. Thankfully Beyonce remains at the top, though I’d love to see XCX take it next week. 

Pick of the week: Charli XCX - “Von Dutch”