Chart Review: 18th October 2024

Making sense of a nation’s musical tastes.

Let’s jump straight in with some new stuff out of South Korea. It’s fun to watch this stuff trickle across to these shores. I’m clueless about this scene for the most part, but from watching that band Seventeen (who aren’t for me but they’re quite the spectacle) on TV at Glastonbury, there’s clearly a growing appetite. 

Jennie’s “Mantra” is at (37). She’s from the band Blackpink, who I have heard of, and has a new solo record coming out in the presumably near future. On the strength of this tune, perhaps that’ll be my way into this musical movement, because this is a cracker. I’m always down for a totally shallow braggadocious tune as long as the beat’s right, and this one’s about as shallow as it gets (Jennie even says “it’s not that deep” on the chorus - no shit). The rapped parts are especially good, the bassline has a lovely bounce to it, and the stacking up of the vocal stems for a final chorus kicks this into anthem territory. If I could levy one complaint, I don’t really think a whole song can be a mantra, but you won’t exactly find me writing coherent lyrics in Korean, so there we are. 

Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso” has dropped to an all-time low (17) as the label shuffles the deck a little. “Please Please Please” is sacrificed altogether due to the rule re: no more than three songs per artist in the Top 40, and is replaced at (9) by “Bed Chem”. I’m a little surprised this one hasn’t had a turn in the charts already, because it plays particularly strongly to Carpenter’s ability to coin phrases, here the straight-into-the-lexicon title. 

You basically get the whole idea of the song from there, and for my money, grabby title aside, it’s not one of the best on the LP. Not that she’s a model of subtlety elsewhere, but this one is on the nose nearly to the point of cringe; you’re not far off calling the song “I Like Sex”. The instrumental is just fine - it’s quite Tango In The Night-era Fleetwood Mac with some Tears For Fears keys, lush and sultry but a bit boring. Carpenter’s charisma is on point as ever, though even she can’t sell some of the lyrical groaners. “Come right on me / I mean camaraderie” doesn’t work as a double entendre (or, really, a single), but “Where art thou? Why not uponeth me?” is an instant classic. 

Another Charli XCX Brat remix, this time “Sympathy Is A Knife” with Ariana Grande, is at (7). I was hoping this one might make it all the way to the top to break things up a bit, but it wasn’t to be, or not just yet anyway. This is a particularly strong remix from the new LP, one that ticks all the boxes. It doesn’t rip things up and start again and it expands on the original song and concept, but it’s got a different feel and palette to it. You could make strong arguments for either version being the better song.

I think I still like the harder edged, generally weirder solo cut on the album proper, but the slight softening of the synths and removing the blasts of discordance gives the track a new lease of life. There are some Tubeway Army vibes to the keys here that I like a lot. It’s a song about being misrepresented or picked apart by the media and fickle public, so tabloid fave Ariana Grande is a great choice for a featured artist. She gets a few zingers off in her verse (“​​It's a knife when you're so pretty, they think it must be fake”). I’m not a massive fan of her material but she’s obviously a great singer and it’s good to hear her keeping it mostly restrained. 

I had a quick check in on that Bruno Mars and Lady Gaga track “Die With A Smile” because it’s now all the way up to (2). It’s spent nine weeks in the Top 10 now and has either gone up or stayed put every chart. I don’t get it at all - it’s such an ordinary song, especially given the star power of at least one and arguably both featured players. Given the wildly negative reaction to her Joker film, though, perhaps something safe and dull is just what Gaga needs (though I think she’s essentially been spared the opprobrium). 

Sabrina Carpenter’s “Taste” is at the top again. I’ll make a bold prediction and say it won’t be there next week.

Pick of the week: Jennie - “Mantra”