Music
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Welcome to Billboard Pro’s Trending Up newsletter, where we take a closer look at the songs, artists, curiosities and trends that have caught the music industry’s attention. Some have come out of nowhere, others have taken months to catch on, and all of them could become ubiquitous in the blink of a TikTok clip. This week: Netflix has a new hit series on its hands and many alt-pop artists are benefiting from it, an ’00s indie rock classic proves timeless once again, it’s Girl in Red season again and much more.
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‘Nobody Wants This,’ But Lots of People Want the Soundtrack
The new Netflix series Nobody Wants This is one of the breakout hits of this late-2024 TV season, with good reviews and word-of-mouth buzz spreading the Kristen Bell and Adam Brody co-starring series – about the romantic relationship between a podcaster and a rabbi, and the reactions of their respective families and communities – all over social media and pop culture. That of course extends to the series’ soundtrack, which is stacked with synchs from some of the most popular and acclaimed alt-pop artists of the past decade-plus, as well as some exciting new up-and-comers.
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Perhaps the biggest beneficiary so far has been Francis and the Lights’ “See Her Out (That’s Just Life),” which plays in multiple key scenes in the season, including during the first kiss between Bell’s and Brody’s characters. The song racked up 432,000 official on-demand streams in the U.S. last week (ending Oct. 3) following the show’s Sept. 26 debut, up from just 13,000 streams the prior frame – an eye-popping gain of 3,157%, according to Luminate. Multiple songs from star sister trio HAIM are also featured, with the group’s “Now I’m in It” jumping 120% to 177,000 streams over the same period, while “You & I” from veteran Swedish pop singer-songwriter LÉON is also up 245% to 196,000.
The series has also had a big impact on the catalog of newer singer-songwriter Anna Graves, who has a couple songs featured in the series. Her “Fly” is up 304% to 63,000 streams over this period, while her “When the Love Is Gone” spikes 615% to 41,000 streams. – ANDREW UNTERBERGER
Wait, They Don’t TikTok Like I TikTok: Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ ‘Maps’ Gets a Viral Trend
Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ “Maps”: early-00’s classic, timeless alt-rock love song, iconic music video, the anthem that unwittingly launched Karen O and co. towards indie stardom. And now, more than 20 years after the 2003 single’s release, “Maps” is getting the viral treatment on TikTok thanks to the “Maps Dance,” in which a remixed version of the song soundtracks users shaking their hips and hitting them with their hands, then pausing (or moving in slow motion) when Karen O declares, “Wait!,” as in, “Wait! They don’t love you like I love you!”
The TikTok trend has helped “Maps” nearly double in U.S. on-demand weekly streams over a two-week period: the YYYs track earned 1.49 million streams during the week ending on Oct. 3, according to Luminate, up from 766,000 streams for the week ending Sept. 19. “Maps” crept onto the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 87 in 2004; depending on how this trend grows, maybe the Yeah Yeah Yeahs can hip-shake back onto the chart two decades later. – JASON LIPSHUTZ
‘Joker’ Sequel & Harlequin LP Lift Lady Gaga’s Jazz Catalog
Although Joker: Folie à Deux has suffered from dismal reviews and a disastrous box office performance, there is a silver lining for the film’s leading lady. Lady Gaga, who portrays Harley Quinn in the new film, injects the Joker sequel with her love for jazz standards, which spilled over into both Harlequin, her new Billboard chart-topping companion album featuring both covers and original cuts, and even to a couple her older jazz collections.
According to Luminate, combined official on-demand U.S. streams for Cheek to Cheek and Love for Sale – Gaga’s two Grammy-winning duets albums with the late Tony Bennett – have risen 30% since the release of Harlequin (Sept. 27). During the period of Sept. 20-26, the two LPs earned about 380,000 combined official on-demand U.S. streams. That figure ballooned to over 490,000 combined streams in the week following Harlequin’s release (Sept. 27-Oct. 3). It’s unlikely – but not completely out of the question – that Harlequin will launch a Hot 100 hit, but its arrival has spurred some gains for Gaga’s non-pop catalog. A win is a win!
Latto Squeezes Another Streaming Hit Out of ‘Sugar Honey Iced Tea’
Latto’s Billboard chart-topping Sugar Honey Iced Tea already boasts streaming hits like “Big Mama” and “Brokey,” and it looks like “Georgia Peach,” the record’s intro, could join those ranks.
Bolstered by a rise in social media adoration for the song – alongside the album and Latto in general – official on-demand U.S. streams for “Georgia Peach” have risen over 83% from Sept. 27-20 to Oct. 4-7, according to Luminate. During the period of Sept. 27-30, the Southern hip-hop banger collected over 588,000 streams, which rose to over 1.07 million streams during the period of Oct. 4-7. On TikTok, the official “Georgia Peach” sound boasts nearly 30,000 clips, while an unofficial upload soundtracks a further 13,000 videos.
Although “Georgia Peach” does have an official music video, it’s rise in popularity isn’t tied to that clip, a dance trend or anything else. Should its streams continue to rise, “Georgia Peach” could become the fourth Hot 100 entry from Sugar Honey Iced Tea. — KD
Q&A: Sarah Patellos, Head of Spotify Music Studios, on What’s Trending Up in Her World
How did the Spotify Anniversaries series idea form?
This concept was born as a result of a few creative inspirations from our team. We wanted to find a way to celebrate iconic catalog music, especially as we’ve seen listeners engage positively in that space over the past few years. Our Los Angeles Spotify Studio is an incredible space that has always birthed creativity, so the idea of bringing artists into the space to revisit their classics as a series felt like it had a lot of potential. It would give existing fans something new to experience, while engaging new fans in discovering the music for the first time.
From that initial internal excitement, we started to build out what the series would be. On that would exist through music and video. Knowing that every project’s lifespan is unique, our thought was to allow for a flexible anniversary window that made sense for each album and artists’ milestones. That gave us a wide canvas to find the right projects to bring back to life.
How did you decide on the artists and projects that made sense for the series, and what goes into each one?
Spotify Anniversaries celebrates the staying power of iconic albums. We’ve worked with artists from different genres, but the throughline is the timelessness of the projects we’re celebrating. From Isaiah Rashad’s EP Cilvia Demo to Weezer’s The Blue Album to Christina Aguilera’s debut album Christina Aguilera – we are honored to have the opportunity to help celebrate these anniversaries.
For each episode, we invite the artists to perform 4-6 songs from the project, ideally both the hits and the tracks that embody this milestone for the project. We partner closely with the artist to create an environment in our Spotify Studio that feels aesthetically right for the project and their vision, but keep it really focused on the live performance and the quality of the studio recording.
What have been some highlights thus far?
Our first episode with Isaiah Rashad felt incredibly special – he is such a captivating performer and really set the stage for the vision of this series. For Christina Aguilera, her special guests Ron Fair, Heather Holley, mgk and Sabrina Carpenter brought a unique element to the making of the project, while also reimagining and bringing new life to it.
Weezer was also a highlight. The band chose the direction to perform facing each other, which led to a really natural conversation and allowed the meaning of the project amongst the band to shine beautifully. Not only were the songs being revisited, but watching the band connect face-to-face created a unique experience, and that’s one of the reasons why that episode in particular has been so impactful. It’s a great example how artists can take the series and steer it into their own creative space.
How has Spotify Anniversaries impacted engagement with those projects on the Spotify platform?
The beauty of this project is that is led by music, but supported by video on socials and YouTube. Each Spotify Anniversaries episode has a live EP that lives exclusively on platform. We’ve seen incredible responses to each EP release – the Christina/Sabrina collab was even seen on New Music Friday and Teen Beats. The more this program grows, the more ways we are testing the use of other products to make this even more layered. – JL
Season’s Gainings: Leaves Turning, Pumpkin Spice Lattes Arriving & Girl in Red Rising
If Earth, Wind & Fire’s moment has already passed and you’re not hearing Ray Parker Jr. and Bobby “Boris” Pickett & The Crypt-Kickers everyone just yet, that must mean it’s Girl in Red season. As happens annually around this time of year, the Norwegian singer-songwriter born Marie Ulven Ringheim is rising on streaming with her indie-pop modern classic “We Fell in Love in October” – with the song racking up 3.6 million official on-demand U.S. streams over the first four days of the month, a 73% gain from the 2.1 million combined streams of the prior four-day period. The song even hit a new all-time peak of No. 38 on the Spotify Daily Top Songs USA chart, suggesting that folks are falling even more in love with Girl in Red this October. – AU
It may only be October, but the first Monday in May is already on the mind. Vogue announced on Wednesday (Oct. 9) that the theme for the 2025 Met Gala is “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,” which draws inspiration from Monica L. Miller’s 2009 book, Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity. […]
JO1’s “WHERE DO WE GO” hits No. 1 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100, dated Oct. 9, tallying the week ending Oct. 6.
The title track of JO1’s ninth single debuted at No. 31 on the chart dated Sept. 18 after being released digitally on Sept. 9. It remained in the Japan Hot 100 since then and soared 73-1 powered by sales with the release of the CD on Oct. 2. The track rules sales this week while coming in at No. 4 for downloads, No. 36 for streaming, No. 2 for radio airplay, and No. 29 for video views. The CD sold 732,009 copies, coming in second to the group’s previous single “HITCHHIKER” (738,776 copies), currently the record-holder for highest first-week sales for the band.
SKE48’s “Kokuhaku Shinpakusu” debuts at No. 2. The group’s 33rd single launched with 319,722 copies to come in at No. 2 for sales, while hitting No. 64 for radio.
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Mrs. GREEN APPLE’s “Lilac” slips a notch to No. 3. The former No. 1 hit continues to rule streaming for the 16th straight week, though showing a slight decrease (94%) from the week before. The track comes in at No. 3 for video, No. 15 for downloads, and No. 5 for karaoke.
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ATEEZ’s “Birthday” bows at No. 4. The title track off the K-pop boy band’s fourth single in Japan sold 154,296 copies in its first week to debut at No. 3 for sales. The track also comes in at No. 93 for downloads and No. 65 for radio. No. 4 on the Japan Hot 100 is tied for the group’s best position so far, previously achieved by “NOT OKAY.”
King & Prince’s “WOW” enters at No. 5. The track off the duo’s sixth album Re:ERA dropped digitally on Sept. 30 and rules downloads and radio, while also coming in at No. 25 for video. This is the second time King & Prince topped downloads, following “halfmoon.”
Official HIGE DANdism’s “Same Blue” debuts at No. 7. The opener for the anime series Blue Box comes in at No. 2 for downloads (11,375 units), No. 4 for radio, No. 20 for video, and No. 27 for streaming.
The Billboard Japan Hot 100 combines physical and digital sales, audio streams, radio airplay, video views and karaoke data.
See the full Billboard Japan Hot 100 chart, tallying the week from Sept. 30 to Oct. 6, here. For more on Japanese music and charts, visit Billboard Japan’s English X account.
HARU NEMURI dropped her collaborative EP with Frost Children called Soul Kiss on Oct. 4, and also shared the new music video accompanying “Burn,” a track off the project. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Frost Children is a duo based in New York, consisting of siblings […]
By the mid-2000s, Swedish songwriter and producer ILYA — who was then in his late teens — was “grinding, grinding, grinding” without gaining much momentum. It wasn’t until years later, thanks to a fortuitous meeting, that his career finally took off.
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ILYA, now 38, recalls how meeting producer Shellback changed his life, as the latter introduced him to the acclaimed and mysterious Max Martin. Soon after, ILYA scored his first smash hit co-producing and co-writing on Ariana Grande and Iggy Azalea’s 2014 collaboration “Problem,” which hit No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. His working relationship with Martin — and Grande — has continued, most recently on the pop star’s sixth No. 1 album on the Billboard 200, Eternal Sunshine.
The album produced two Hot 100 No. 1s: lead single “Yes, And?” and “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for Your Love),” both of which credit ILYA. But those are from far the only hits he’s had a hand in this year; ILYA’s 2024 credits also include Conan Gray, Coldplay and Tate McRae, the latter of whom ILYA helped score her highest Hot 100 debut to date with “It’s ok I’m ok.”
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“It wasn’t that long after [McRae’s 2023 second album] Think Later that we were in the studio again,” says ILYA, who reveals that they ideated her current smash before Think Later even arrived. “It was just an idea that just popped back into our life and we were like, ‘Actually, let’s finish this thing.’ It’s just been continuous since that.”
You’ve worked with Tate before. What is your metric of, “I want to keep this relationship going?”
Nowadays, it’s just good vibes. I don’t want to be stressed at work because I’ve been doing it for such a long time now. So my main thing is just like, can we just have fun in the studio?
When did sessions start after her 2023 album, Think Later?
It was a little continuous because she loves writing and being in the studio. “It’s ok I’m ok” is one of those records where it was like, “Let’s just have fun; let’s make something weird.” I think it shows a brand-new side to her. The more I’ve worked with her, the more I feel like she knows herself as an artist. This one was [started] before Think Later — she knew that it wasn’t right for that moment, but she picked it back up and we really worked to make it into her vision of what she was seeing the song as. That, to me, is really amazing to see.
Tell me more about how the song came together.
The chorus started as a joke. We were in Sweden writing, and when she’s in the studio and so focused, she doesn’t want to eat or drink anything. She’s just like, “I need to finish this song now.” Me being the way I am, I’m always like, “Do you want something to drink? Do you want something to eat?” And she would be like, “It’s OK, I’m OK,” [always] in the same note. And I was just like, “Wait, that’s actually kind of catchy.” And now it’s a song. I like it because it came from her — that’s how she says it.
Do you have a favorite part of this song?
It’s harder for me to listen in that sense, because I’m a part of the song. But I do love when people pinpoint little details that you’ve put there on purpose. I love that.
You have to let go of analyzing. Once the song is out, depending on how people [react] to it, I’m also affected on how I’m listening. If a song comes out and it doesn’t work or it’s not a big thing, then I’m trying to analyze why it wasn’t instead of just enjoying the song. But nowadays I’m a little bit better at that.
Your credits in 2024 include other notable projects such as Ariana Grande’s Eternal Sunshine. With the Grammys approaching, what are your hopes?
I think next year’s Grammys [ceremony on Feb. 2] is going to be insane. I’m hoping we’re going to get nominated, but it’s going to be such a competitive year. It might be the best Grammys in a long time in the sense of who’s going to be nominated and what potential performances there might be. There was so much good music this year.
This article originally appeared in the Oct. 5 issue of Billboard.
Tyler, the Creator appears to have had a change of heart when it comes to his sentiments regarding tech and business tycoon Elon Musk. The Grammy-winning rapper took the stage to close out weekend one of 2024 Austin City Limits Festival as Sunday’s (Oct. 6) headliner, when he tweaked lyrics to Flower Boy‘s “911/Mr. Lonely” […]
Sheryl Crow, Keith Urban and Bailey Zimmerman have joined the lineup for Concert for Carolina, a benefit show dedicated to Hurricane Helene relief. They join previously announced performers Luke Combs, Eric Church, Billy Strings and James Taylor. Concert for Carolina will take place at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, on October 26. All proceeds from the […]
BMI announced this week that Alabama frontman Randy Owen will be celebrated as a BMI Icon during the 72nd annual BMI Country Awards on Nov. 19 at the BMI office in Nashville. The award has previously been bestowed on such country greats as Matraca Berg, Toby Keith, Loretta Lynn, Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, Dolly Parton, Kris Kristofferson, Dean Dillon and Hank Williams Jr.
Owen wrote such signature Alabama hits as “Tennessee River,” “Feels So Right,” “Mountain Music” and “Lady Down on Love.” He was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2013.
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Alabama, of course, is one of the most successful country groups in history. They had 33 No. 1 hits on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart, stretching from “Tennessee River” in August 1980 to “Old Alabama,” a collab with Brad Paisley, in June 2011.
Alabama was the first act to win entertainer of the year three times at the CMA Awards. They won in that category five times at the ACM Awards. They were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2005, becoming just the third group (defined as more than two people) to be so honored, following The Carter Family, Sons of the Pioneers and The Jordanaires.
Remarkably, Alabama hit No. 1 on Hot Country Songs with 21 consecutive singles, discounting a holiday song (“Christmas in Dixie) and another artist’s single on which they were featured (Lionel Richie’s “Deep River Woman”). Their longest-running No. 1, “Jukebox in My Mind,” remained on top for four weeks in September 1990.
One of Alabama’s No. 1 country hits, “Touch Me When We’re Dancing,” had been a No. 1 hit on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart in 1981 for the Carpenters. Another, “Face to Face,” featured an uncredited guest vocal by K.T. Oslin.
Now it’s your turn to weigh in: Which is your favorite of Alabama’s No. 1 hits on Hot Country Songs? Vote here!
Retired KISS bassist/singer Gene Simmons is known for unapologetically wagging his legendarily long tongue and for his self-described reputation as a lusty Lothario. But during a guest judging stint on Tuesday night’s (Oct. 8) “Hair Metal Night” on Dancing With the Stars some commenters thought he went too far by focusing on pulchritude instead of Paso doble.
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First, Simmons reportedly got a loud round of boos on air after he gave a bewigged Reginald VelJohnson (Family Matters, Die Hard) a lowly score of 5 for his stiff cha cha to Twisted Sister’s “I Wanna Rock.” According to EW, the studio audience did not take kindly to fellow permanent judges Derek Hough and Bruno Tonioli posting the same score — Carrie Ann Inaba gave them a more magnanimous 6 — but when Simmons followed suit, the boos reportedly got significantly louder.
The low score came after Simmons had previously been generous to the fellow septuagenarian, saying before the dance, “Hey Reggie, you’ve got a beautiful woman right beside you who can twist it and turn it and knows how to move it and all that. But I want to tell you, as a guy that’s been on the stage for half a century around the world, I’m kind of a big deal, Reggie. It’s all in the attitude. And you’ve got something in that beautiful face. They love you.”
VelJohnson — who was eliminated on Tuesday night — had had consistently low scores so far this season, but EW said Inaba noted that he’d been a season 33 fan favorite as he hoofed alongside such fellow stars as previous eliminees con artist Anna Delvey, actors Eric Roberts and Tori Spelling, as well as still-active contestants Olympic gymnast Stephen Nedoroscik, NFL player Danny Amendola, NBA center Dwight Howard, Olympic rugby star Ilona Maher, model Brooks Nader and Bachelorette star Jenn Tran, among others.
Simmons was repeatedly called out by viewers in comments on X for what they dubbed his “creepy” remarks, which some said treated the female dancers as if they were in a beauty pageant. The pointed to Simmons saying he couldn’t decide which one was more “hot hot hot” among Amendola and pro dancer Witney Carson and telling 24-year-old actress Chandler Kinney (Pretty Little Liars) that she “fogged up my glasses” and that she “moved me — not just with your gyrations, but with your beautiful face.”
“ABC needs to issue an apology after having Gene Simmons on there and subjecting their cast to that . Why didn’t a producer tell him to knock it off,” wrote one X user, while another joked, “Gene Simmons comments about the ladies are giving the energy of the gross uncle who corners you at the reunion.” A similar comment read, “it’s only the first dance and i’m already over gene simmons being a creep,” as one added, “Gene Simmons is seriously sucking all the energy out of the ballroom with his creepy comments about the female dancers.”
Well known for speaking his mind on all manner of subjects, Forbes noted that Simmons has been called out before for his thoughts on the opposite sex, including over a passage in his 2017 book, On Power: My Journey Through the Corridors of Power and How You Can Get More Power, in which he wrote that leveraging sexuality is still the fastest route to the top for women.
“Women have a choice,” he said in an interview with the New York Post while promoting the book in 2017. “They can dress in potato sacks, [but] as soon as they pretty themselves up with lipstick, lift and separate them and point them in our general direction, they’re gonna get a response. Guys are jackasses — we will buy them mansions and houses . . . all because of sex.” In that same interview, Simmons told women to “get over” their biological urges, opining, “It’s natural to want to have kids, but, sorry, you can’t have it both ways. You have to commit to either career or family. It’s very difficult to have both.”
KISS said that after five decades on tour their End of the Road Tour — which wrapped in December — would be their last go-round. The group then sold its name, image and likeness rights and announced a virtual Las Vegas performance set to launch in 2027.
Watch VelJohnson’s routine and see some of the comments about Simmons below.
If Gene doesn’t think the woman is hot, she gets a low score. Get this man off my screen. No reason he tried to give Brooks a ten and THE Phaedra Parks a five? #DWTS— Shelby🌻 (@shelbykvosburg) October 9, 2024
Dear @officialdwts ,Shame on Gene Simmons for treating this like a beauty pageant. Never have him on the show again. EVER. He ruined it. #gross #DWTSWith love, Everyone— StarSamantha21 (@StarrSamantha21) October 9, 2024
underscoring the asian and black female contestants relative to the other judge’s scores after inflating scores all night??? gene simmons you may just be a racist #dwts pic.twitter.com/8MuuMVLeu2— lau (@kodylavenders) October 9, 2024
The Contenders is a midweek column that looks at artists aiming for the top of the Billboard charts, and the strategies behind their efforts. This week, for the Billboard 200 dated Oct. 19, we look at the latest from 21st century rock greats Coldplay, whose unusual approach to physical releases may help them get back atop the albums chart.
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Coldplay, Moon Music (Parlophone/Atlantic): Few rock bands this century are as familiar with the top spot of the Billboard 200 as Coldplay, which has reached No. 1 four times already – although not since 2014, when they last topped the chart with Ghost Stories. In the decade since, the band’s crossover success in the U.S. has been a little more modest, with their only top 20 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 coming along with then-superpowers The Chainsmokers (“Something Just Like This,” 2017) and BTS (“My Universe,” 2021). And even with “My Universe” on its tracklist, the group’s most recent album (2021’s Music of the Spheres) tapped out at No. 4 on the Billboard 200.
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For its new album, Friday’s (Oct. 4) Moon Music, Coldplay is really giving it the old college try. The group has already made a number of promotional appearances, including playing two new songs from the set on last weekend’s Saturday Night Live (while frontman Chris Martin showed up on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon a couple days earlier to perform “We Pray” in the style of various rock legends). The band also played an underplay show at Music Hall of Williamsburg in New York City on Monday, and earlier that day, released a Full Moon deluxe edition of the 10-song set, expanding it to 20 tracks for DSPs and digital retailers.
The album does not yet have a true breakout hit, and is not expected to stream in extraordinary numbers. However, it should sell well, having been released in a variety of physical variants – with all releases designed with an eye towards environmental consciousness, as sustainability has been a major priority for the band in recent years. Each of the album’s LP releases will contain some nine recycled PET-plastic bottles recovered from post-consumer waste, and the CD version is claimed to be the “world’s first” to be released on EcoCD, which is created from 90% recycled polycarbonate, also sourced from post-consumer waste.
We will see this week just how much environmental sustainability excites Coldplay’s fanbase into buying one of the available versions of the band’s new album – which includes yellow, red, pink (with a signed art card) and “Spotify Fans First” green vinyl variants, and a “Notebook Edition” exclusive to their webstore, which also features a 12” hardback replica of Martin’s studio notebook with 28 pages of notes and personal illustrations, a bonus CD of voicenote recordings, and even a pair of moongoggles. But the Notebook Edition is sold out on the webstore, and Moon Music is off to one of the best starts of the decade for a U.K. act in the lads’ home country, so perhaps that bodes well for their U.S. fortunes.
Sabrina Carpenter, Short n’ Sweet (Island): To be The Man, Moon Music will have to beat The Man – and “The Man” in this case is of course Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet, which after briefly ceding the title to Travis Scott’s Days Before Rodeo is back atop the Billboard 200 for a fourth week this frame. Short n’ Sweet is still pulling six-digit consumption weeks – though just barely, as last week it notched exactly 100,000 units – and was actually up 1% in its performance from the week before, with added interest from the beginning of the accompanying Short n’ Sweet Tour no doubt helping there. That interest may be due to recede slightly this week, but Moon Music’s first-week units will still likely need to land in the 100,000s for the band to comfortably clear the pint-sized superstar with its new release.
IN THE MIX
Megan Moroney, Am I Okay? (Sony Music/Columbia): Megan Moroney has proven herself one of the most reliable streaming performers in modern country music with her set Am I Okay?, which debuted in the top 10 on the Billboard 200 a couple months ago and has continued to hang around the top 100 in the weeks since (landing at No. 77 this week). The set should make a big jump next week following the digital release of its (I’ll Be Fine) deluxe edition, which tacks another three cuts onto the 14-track original, including the heartbroken “Break It Right Back,” which is already off to a strong start on streaming.
Finneas, For Cryin’ Out Loud! (OYOY/Interscope): While sister and collaborator Billie Eilish continues to storm the Billboard Hot 100 – her “Birds of a Feather” is up to a new peak of No. 2 – writer/producer and recording artist Finneas also sets his sights on the charts this week with his own solo LP, For Cryin’ Out Loud! The solo artist has also gone the Coldplay route with his new set’s physical release, as the album is available on his webstore on orange, gold and pink biovinyl (a sustainable product made from polyvinyl chloride) as well as on a signed CD and a as part of a fan pack with a CD and logo T-shirt.
Aphex Twin, Selected Ambient Works Volume II (Warp): How often do we get to talk about 30-year-old ambient albums on The Contenders? It’s a rarity for sure, but Aphex Twin’s 1994 classic double-album Selected Ambient Works Vol. 2 – widely considered one of the great electronic releases of the ‘90s — should make a chart impact this week, as the set was re-released as a 4x LP box set, collecting all the tracks available on different previous permutations of the album and even featuring two unreleased tracks being included on the physical version for the first time. Any Billboard 200 entrance this week would instantly mark the set’s peak; it failed to chart upon its original release three decades ago.