Something's got a hold of me lately

Continuing my trip forward in time through the album charts

20/12/24 : I've Tried Everything But Therapy (Part 1) - Teddy Swims

This album has been around a long time but has its highest chart placement this week - even so, it was lucky to get a look-in. I know I've heard one of the singles and thought it was OK, but apart from that, I'm pretty much at a loss as to what I'm gonna get.

Ah yes, I know "Lose Control" ("I lose con-tro-oh-oh-oll") and I think I'd upgrade it to at least pretty decent - it's well done indeed. As is the rest of the album - but it's not something I feel the need to have in my life in the slightest. It's kinda Rag'n'Bone Man/Lewis Capaldi territory, so if you dig that scene then check this out (although I'm guessing you probably already have)

We're at #12 in the chart this week with a new entry on a 35 week run, with him having previously had a 14 week run, so he's been in the chart for most of the year. The rest of the top five are Sabrina Carpenter (HOW?), Michael Bublé, Chappell Roan, Taylor Swift and The Reytons (a new entry) - the ladies are ruling the Xmas chart. Hold on a minute - if The Reytons are a new entry, why aren't we listening to that? Well, let's check out all of the surprisingly numerous new entries to find out...

The Reytons (#5)
The reason this gets ignored is that it's a live album - it's a home-town gig and sounds like everyone was having an absolute blast. Personally, I really didn't need 83 minutes of it but I suspect those who bought it would argue with me - I feel they did well to get as high as #5 though.

Snoop Dogg & Dr Dre (#24)
I surprised myself by enjoying this - it's quite old-school, but it's a load of fun. I will, of course, never listen to it again though. 

The National (#71)
This is another live album that was far longer than I needed, but I'm sure the fans love it. I did like "Fake Empire" though. 

Niall Horan (#79)
And yet another live album - I didn't listen to it but let's imagine it was far longer than I needed but I'm sure the fans will love it.

Wunderhose (#81)
Fresh from supporting Sam Fender (and being completely ignored by me), this was another one I enjoyed - it's like a slightly goth early Oasis. It's an interesting album which I feel would benefit from further listens.

Stray Kids (#91)
For about ten seconds, I thought this was Stray Cats and I was super confused. It's the usual K-pop boyband nonsense - I was reminded of Backstreet Boys or NSYNC because it's reasonable singing and shit rapping.

Last week I said that Rosé would drop to #15 - did I get a Xmas present by being 100% correct? Did I bollocks - she's at #49. Since Teddy's been around for a long time, I can't see him moving too much - let's go for #20. And this week's Taylor stats are one in the top ten, four in the top forty (just - she's at #38 and #39) and eight in the entire chart (just - she's at #100) - I'll be surprised if her dominance continues for another year.

Wikipedia tells us this is his debut album - and that's pretty much your lot, although there is a Part 1.5 version if you fancy some more. There's absolutely no word on critical reception, but it's done very well commercially making the top ten in a load of countries, although it didn't hit the top spot anywhere, with #2 in The Netherlands being its best placing (it got to #17 in the US). I also learned that his real name is Jaten Dimsdale, which is surprisingly sillier than his stage name.

"Customers also listened to" Rag'n'Bone Man, Myles Smyth, Benson Boone and Meghan Traynor - I'm not quite sure where Meghan fits in there. If you like this sort of thing though then I feel you're gonna like Teddy - there's nothing wrong with it for me, but it's also not something I will search out.

13/12/24 - Less challenging than I expected
27/12/24 - Coming to this quite late