Wolf Alice is the leader of the pack.
After two No. 2 albums in the U.K., the indie-rock outfit goes one better with Blue Weekend (Dirty Hit), which debuts atop the Official Albums Chart.
Blue Weekend opens with 36,000 chart sales, eclipsing Royal Blood’s Typhoons for the biggest opening week for a British act in 2021 so far, according to the Official Charts Company.
Some 14,700 units of Blue Weekend (41% of the total) were on vinyl, a market-leading tally.
With Wolf Alice reaching the summit for the first time, Olivia Rodrigo’s Sour (Geffen), the week’s most-streamed album, is bumped 1-2 on the main chart.
Coming in at No. 3 is James with All The Colours of You (Nothing But Love Music), for the Manchester act’s 10th Top 10 album.
Dua Lipa, the most popular act across the U.K.’s airwaves in 2020, according to a report published last week by collecting society PPL, stages a return to the Top 5 with her Brit and Grammy Award-winning sophomore album Future Nostalgia (Warner Records). It lifts 8-4 in its 63rd week on the chart.
Rounding out the Top 5 is U.S. rappers Lil Baby & Lil Durk’s collaborative album The Voice of the Heroes (Motown/Quality Control), new at No. 5, while Crowded House’s first album in 11 years, Dreamers Are Waiting (EMI), starts at No. 6 for the New Zealand/Australian group’s fifth U.K. Top 10.
Finally, U.S. alternative rock act Rise Against earn a fourth U.K. Top 40 with Nowhere Generation (Loma Vista). It’s new at No. 19.
