I can't relate to desperation - my give-a-fucks are on vacation

Continuing my trip forward in time through the album charts

30/08/24 : Short N' Sweet - Sabrina Carpenter

Well I can't say this is the biggest surprise ever - with two of the biggest songs of the summer, her album was always gonna hit the top, wasn't it? And, if I'm being honest, I'm quite looking forward to listening to it.

Hmmm - it's OK but not really anything more than that, with it rarely reaching the highs of "Espresso". The lyrics are quite clever and wry (often of the "been there, done him, got the teeshirt" variety) but the music is generally pretty lightweight. It's all perfectly listenable but there's no danger of me ever revisiting it.

We're at a very unsurprising #1 with a new entry on the chart this week and we're going to consider the top five in two sections this week. Firstly, at #2 we have another new entry for Fontaines DC who I've found surprisingly bearable on our two previous visits and this isn't bad at all either - it's like a darker Suede and also has some great track titles including "Horseness Is The Whatness".

And then, we've got #3-#5 to consider together because they're all by the same artist - and you've have got good money on this happening last week, even if it's completely obvious when you see it now. Yes, they're the Oasis best-of, (What's The Story) Morning Glory and Definitely Maybe - they've also got the dreadful Be Here Now (#86) and the pointless The Masterplan (#98) in the chart as well. My only comment on the matter is that I'm astounded by how many people are interested in going to the gigs - you do realise they're going to be absolutely shit, don't you?

The other new entries in the chart this week are Lainey Wilson (#13 - it's VERY country), Travis Scott (#15 - I didn't bother with this one because I know it's not for me), a Louis Tomlinson live album (#33 - I'm not sure who was asking for this, but I guess they'll like it) and Casseyette (#39 - I quite liked this on first listen and she's an interesting live act having supported My Chemical Romance, Bring Me The Horizon and, err, Bryan Adams).

Last week I randomly guessed that Post Malone would be at #28 this week but I also made it clear there was no thought process behind that - and the fact that he's actually at #6 backs that up nicely. The lasses have been doing well in the chart recently so I'm guessing that Sabrina is going to hold on to the top spot and this week's Taylor stats are back to her usual - one in the top ten, six in the top thirty and ten in the entire chart.

Back to Sabrina, Wikipedia already has a chunky amount (167 milliPeppers) on the album but there's remarkably little content in there, although I was somewhat surprised to read that "romantic nihilism is a recurring motif". I also see that Jack Antonoff is involved - that man must have an absolute mountain of cash. The critics were mostly pretty nice about it, but it wasn't really going to make any difference because it's absolutely stormed the charts globally.

"Customers also listened to" Chappell Roan (a much more interesting album), Gracey Abrams, Lainey Wilson and Ariana Grande. I like Sabrina (pretty much based on the one time I caught her live), but this album doesn't live up to the promise of "Espresso", I'm afraid.

23/08/24 - More enjoyable than I was expecting
06/09/24 - Another pleasant surprise

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