One Direction has moved ahead of Justin Bieber at the halfway point in the race to this week’s U.K. No. 1 album. Bieber is also in the thick of it on the singles chart, where he has taken a slim advantage over Adele’s “Hello”.
According to U.K. charts compiler the OCC, 1D’s fifth album Made in the A.M. (Syco) is No. 1 on the Official Albums Chart Update with a lead of 14,000 combined chart sales over Bieber’s Purpose (Def Jam), his fourth album.
Both acts know the view from the U.K. chart summit. The British and Irish boyband has three No. 1 albums (Take Me Home from 2012, Midnight Memoriesfrom 2013 and Four from 2014) while Bieber hit the top with his last album, 2013’s Believe.
Meanwhile, Jeff Lynne’s reunited ELO enjoys two appearances on the mid-week chart with Alone In The Universe (RCA) new at No. 3 and All Over The World – The Very Best Of (Epic) re-entering at No. 20.
The current leader on the Official U.K. Albums Chart, Elvis Presley’s If I Can Dream (RCA), drops to No. 4 on the midweek tally, and sits just one place ahead of Little Mix’s Get Weird (Syco), which is down 2-5.
Kylie Minogue is on track to notch her 16th Top 10 this week with her yuletide-themed album Kylie Christmas, which is No. 6 on the midweek chart. The Aussie pop singer’s yuletide-themed album features collaborations with James Corden, Frank Sinatra, Iggy Pop, Chris Martin and her sister Dannii.
Other key new entries expected to impact the next chart include Eva Cassidy’sposthumous set Nightbird (Blix Street), which marks the 20th anniversary of her Blues Alley concert; Neil Young’s Bluenote Cafe (Reprise) at No. 27 (for what would be his 36th Top 40 album), and Kurt Cobain’s Montage Of Heck – The Home Recordings (UMC) at No. 33.
On the Official Singles Chart Update, there’s a lot of action in the upper tier where Bieber’s track “Sorry” holds a lead of just 150 sales on Adele’s “Hello” (XL) for the No. 1 position.
Adele’s comeback track has owned the top spot on the tally for the last three weeks, notching up combined sales of more than 600,000 in the process. “Hello” is the fastest-selling song of the year and the U.K.’s one-week streaming record holder.
