Chart Review: 25th October 2024

Making sense of a nation’s musical tastes.

There’s a fair amount of churn this week, mostly inspired by tragic real life events, which we’ll hop to in a minute. Firstly, at (40) is “Love Somebody” by Morgan Wallen. He is or was, I believe, basically the biggest name in country music stateside, but he doesn’t seem to have quite crossed over here in the way a Luke Combs, say, has. For my part I’ve listened to one of his records, “Dangerous”, which I liked a great deal, despite it being insanely long. 

He seems to be aiming for what used to be called crossover success, though 2024 of all years seems a mad time to tone down your countryness. This is one of those tunes that only gets filed into that genre at all due to the timbre of the Tennessee native’s voice, and the occasional half hearted peel of pedal steel. I’m not too interested in this tune. It’s a soft rock shuffle that sounds more fitting for a cocktail lounge at a beach bar than soundtracking the drowning of tears in a rural dive. There’s even a little tropical-sounding acoustic guitar solo. It’s not a stinker and Wallen’s vocals are actually really suited to the transition, but I’d rather hear him singing about doing country ass shit with his country ass friends. It’s also got the same melody as “Training Season”. 

Unsurprisingly, the death of Liam Payne has seen three One Direction tracks (and, tellingly, none by Payne as a soloist) leap into the charts, with “What Makes You Beautiful”, “Story Of My Life”, and “Night Changes” at (23), (90, and (6) respectively. Starting with “What Makes You Beautiful”, this is the only one I can strongly remember, having tuned into 1D’s series of The X Factor. I don’t doubt I found it annoying at the time but listening now, it’s a clever song. I don’t think the lads show much identity as individuals but they’re pitched perfectly - they’re not dweebs but they’re not sleazes, they’re red blooded but caring blokes with wide appeal. The verses are piffle, but they keep their powder dry for an enormous chorus, one of the biggest earworms of the era. 

“Story Of My Life” I remember less well, but I’m surprised this isn’t the one that’s landed highest following Payne’s death. I’m mainly saying that because of the rather sweet video that sees the boys (who’ve accrued an immense amount of tats in the two years since bursting onto the scene) recreating childhood photos with their families. It’s not exactly an amazing observation but they’ve had to do a lot of growing up in a short time, which is a key theme for every thinkpiece author discussing Payne’s troubled life. The song itself is more romantically self pitying, with the scattergun lyrical approach of the first single replaced with semi-poetic musics about bones and being frozen etc. You can also chart the overall musical trends through 1D’s songs: by 2013, we’re in the Mumford era, complete with that horrid basic drum all these folky songs were obsessed with. 

“Night Changes” I don’t remember at all, but it seems to be one of the group’s most acclaimed efforts. I can certainly see why - only a year on from the last one, it’s infinitely more mature and accomplished musically and thematically. The sulky poor me vibes from “Story” are replaced by wistful melancholy, and the complexity of the chorus comes as a real surprise. It’s tasteful, soulful pop - if you want to be cynical, you’d say it’s a stab at grabbing the mum market, because you could play this in almost any circumstances without getting a funny look. I think these chaps can still only be about 21 but they’ve had to change this up sharpish. Again the video’s interesting - Malik and Styles look absolutely poised to go and do their own thing, while Payne and Tomlinson look like, I’m sorry to say, estate agents. Niall Horan in his comfy jumper and spiky hair is the only one who seems to be clinging to his boyband days, which were numbered at this point. 

Gracie Abrahms is at (19) with “That’s So True”. She’s also at (5) with “I Love You I’m Sorry”, a song I liked so much that I listened to the album it comes from (and appreciated it to a point - I think she’s a superb lyricist but quite often a touch too derivative). This one I’m a lot less keen on. Firstly there’s the pop-folk stomp of it all, which is always going to put me off. I lived through all that stuff once, I really do not want to see it coming back. Abrams’ producers have a tendency to fiddle her voice more than necessary - I much prefer the unvarnished feel of “ILYIS”, which I’ll again cheerfully compare to Sufjan Stevens. She’s in Taylor Swift’s orbit and I think that’s to her detriment - she’s going for heart rending, screamalong stuff but the weary resignation of the more stripped back tracks is a lot more emotionally effective for my money. 

At (4) is “APT.” by Rosé and Bruno Mars. What a mixed bag it’s been for Mars of late. His track with Gaga I find deeply tedious, but this one’s a real gem. For the second week in a row this is a track from a former member of Korea’s Blackpink, and another utterly irresistible chorus. Apparently based on a Korean drinking game, “APT.” is built around a super catchy chant that Rosé positively spits out, all over bubblegum garage guitars. The more straightforward bridges feel like the only real concession to mainstream pop songwriting; not coincidentally they’re the least enjoyable part of the song (they feel like shavings from “Locked Out Of Heaven”, a track I don’t especially like).

For his part, Mars is on much finer form here. I can’t imagine he’d like this assessment, but he strikes me as a fundamentally unserious person, which is really no bad thing in pop music. The reason his Silk Sonic project is so enjoyable is because he’s clearly just fucking around doing soul pastiches, but at an unusually high standard. I don’t want to see him strumming a big hollow body Gretsch singing boring AM pop putting the handbrake on Lady Gaga. I want to hear him mucking about on a pure sugar bomb track like this.

Sabrina Carpenter at the top with “Taste” once again. With nine weeks on the bounce, I think that’s now her most successful tune, which is probably right, quality-wise.

Pick of the week: Rosé & Bruno Mars - “APT.”