There’s a heavyweight battle brewing on the U.K. albums chart, where new sets from Tame Impala and Justin Bieber are slugging it out.
Tame Impala’s fourth album The Slow Rush (Fiction) has a slim lead at the halfway stage in the chart cycle, to snag top spot on the Official Chart Update ahead of Bieber’s Changes (Def Jam).
Just 900 chart sales separate the two records, according to the Official Charts Company, with Kevin Parker’s psychedelic pop act leading on vinyl sales and the Canadian pop singer’s fifth studio LP ruling on streams.
Should The Slow Rush hold its position when the Official U.K. Albums Chart is published late Friday, Tame Impala would earn their first No. 1. The Aussie outfit, which won best international group at the 2016 BRIT Awards, has a U.K. chart best of No. 3, for 2015’s Currents.
Bieber has conquered the tally once, with 2012’s Believe.
Also flying high this week is British pop trio New Hope Club, whose self-titled EMI debut is at No. 4 on midweek data after clocking up more CD sales in three days than any other album.
East Coast hip-hop artist A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie could snare his first U.K. top 10 album with Artist 2.0 (Atlantic), new at No. 8, while David Gray’s classic White Ladder (IHT) returns to the chart off the back of its 20th anniversary reissue. It’s currently at No. 10.
Over on the singles chart, Billie Eilish continues to lead the race with the theme to the next James Bond film, “No Time to Die.” Eilish’s new release is at No. 1 on the Official Singles Chart Update, ahead of The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” (Republic Records).