2026 Singles Chart - the first quarter

My top pics of The GWIM Project for the past decade (2016-2025)

Updated April 2026 SINGLES: Olivia Dean “It’s So Easy (To Fall In Love) https://youtu.be/3sur4BmjQt8?si=CPHzveA6wQjwZ9sz Katseye “Internet Girl” https://youtu.be/5q9EjSUovc4?si=hTiv9EUSnGtHyscq Harry Styles “Aperture” https://youtu.be/7sxVHYZ_PnA?si=YOz4SFGbalNw-y6B Bella Kay “iloveitiloveitiloveit” https://youtu.be/4D6qatXG5-A?si=2tBpiXdaulYh9h19 Sienna Spiro “The Visitor” https://youtu.be/5Wq1iDyEjF8?si=l-2KW_bS5AdWhi3F RIP Magic “5words” https://youtu.be/Nztx

Important Notes - NOT THE GWIM PROJECT AT ALL “ Creep ” (The Easter 2024 Sessions) https://youtu.be/mZ_gp11UApo?si=pAVOgwk1rxWI1Trw “ Amazed ” (The Easter 2024 Sessions) https://youtu.be/rem93W1SPP4?si=abe5k5q2GxAStcw5 “ Forget About You ” (The Easter 2024 Sessions) https://youtu.be/_CAnoLtDsJ8?si=zl_bd_Zm-CFSx2wM “ Encore: Night Boat To Cairo ” (The Easter 20×4 Sessions) https://youtu.be/eQiWg-P8ZdM?si=lxsl0WHYqeeP_Kfb “Bloopers from The Easter 2024 Sessions”...

Originally posted Sept 2025 Jade Thirlwall. The Geordie from Little Mix who astounded me with her debut solo single “Angel Of My Dreams”. So much so I declared it my favourite singles of 2024. She has continued to impress me every since. https://youtu.be/ZP3XMEayaVo?si=nWaz45_zv-3gxvqM I think her outstanding talent was solidified with me when I saw/heard her version of “Backbone”. Wow! Chase & Status, and Stormzy “Backbone” https://youtu.be/Qtogm_mo1AQ?si=XpndgRxrS3_qXLWy Ja

Originally posted June 2025 So after almost 24 years since the last album, lengthy hiatuses, solo albums, reunion performances, old members returning, returning members leaving again, a few recordings, and a death – Pulp announced a new album for 2025. I had mixed feelings about this. The vast majority of times this happens, the nostalgia is fantastic, but the actual music is disappointing. I'm can't always pinpoint the reason. Is it truly poor? Or is it because it is bound u

Originally posted May 2024 This year I’ve taken on a ‘get with it, man’ Project, having been progressively out of touch for twenty-five years. In an early post, I said that I’d review a brand new album by a new band/artist before the year was out. ‘Radical Optimism’ dropped (yea, that’s right, I say 'dropped' now)) on May 3 rd . To me, Dua Lipa is a new artist. I can hear the voices of those ten or so years younger than me exclaiming ‘she’s been around 8 years....... hardly ‘

Originally posted March 2024 Disclaimer: I'll be honest this is actually an autobiographical snippet followed by a review. Occasionally, maybe once every 1-2 years, I will post a review of an album. Although I get positive feedback I always feel like I’ve cheated a little. If you’ve read any you will notice I tend to review new material by old bands/artists. Despite by Masters in Music (ooh eer) and being something of a new music expert (whether it be charting stuff, more obs

Originally posted Nov 2023 (pre-GWIM Project) I think it’s important to note that the vast majority of this review was written before the album entered at Number 1 in the UK Album Chart making it Madness's 1 st ever number 1 album (excluding ‘best of’ collections). A surprise. Although they came very with their 1 st two albums (1979/1980) and have had a number of very successful albums since, they’ve never actually managed to achieve that Holy Grail. So, whatever I thought

Originally posted March 2026 THE GWIM PROJECT 2016 PART 2 OF 2 – THE ALBUMS Note: as mentioned in a previous post – I have slightly reduced the amount of listening I have to do, and significantly reduced the amount I’m writing (and you have to read through). I’m only writing up on the albums if I give them a mark of 8 and above or 2 and below. I may drop short comments on others. Otherwise I will simply state my mark. Albums: Marking key at the bottom. Little Mix “Glory Day

Originally posted March 2026 INTRO : We enter 2026 and, quite unbelievably, my 3 rd year doing this project. I went full-pelt on the project in 2025 and came the decision I would have to tone it down somewhat. As much as I was enjoying it, I had put myself in a position where I was compulsorily listening to absolutely hours of music per day, and spending quite a lot of time writing almost every day. It was consuming my life in a way a fun little project should not be. So, I

Originally posted March 2026 As part of my GWIM Project – I really enjoyed doing this last year. Most of you won’t know but I also made a live reaction video that resulted in my 1 st ever Copyright Strike on YouTube so I won’t be doing that again!! I correctly predicted 5/13 which I was very happy with, considering that just 1 year earlier I had never even heard of any of the nominees! Let’s see if I can beat ‘2025-Kev’. Mastercard Album of the Year · Dave – The Boy

Originally posted Feb 2026 ALBUMS ALSO – AM I CONTINUING THE GWIM PROJECT? Marking Key at bottom. Ed Sheeran “÷” This kicked off my 2017 listening very well. I’d summarise it as an album that showcases the versatility of the artist. No track is like the last one. For example, if we start from the top, “Erasure” is a striking opening – its like a heavily produced folk number (but one that is largely rapped, interestingly). “Castle On The Hill” is a perfect example of Sheeran’s

Originally posted Jan 2026 INTRO ALSO – THOUGHTS ON HOW THE CHART IS COMPILED ALSO – AM I CONTINUING WITH THIS PROJECT (SEE 2017: Albums & Conclusions). 2017 was the big ‘Ed Sheeran Controversy’ year. Just a few year’s earlier, streaming (which had its own off-shoot chart since 2012) was incorporated into the official charts (2014 for singles & 2015 for albums). The stand-alone streaming chart included any single track that streamed – so it didn’t necessarily have to be a ‘

Originally posted Nov 2025 THE ALBUMS Marking key at bottom George Ezra “Staying at Tamara's” What a great start to 2018! Ezra has that folk-pop sound with a ‘soul’ singing style. This opens strongly with an anthemic (made up word alert) track, “Pretty Shining People” that invites the audience to sing along. Its upbeat in tone and positive in philosophy. Many will know that’s not always my thing, but when its done this well it can be. I'm aware some say that they miss the bal

Originally posted Nov 2025 INTRO A notable point about 2018was that musicals/musical-films had a surge in popularity. “The Greatest Showman” was the #1 album of the year .“Mamma Mia – Here We Go Again”, “A Star Is Born” and “Bohemian Rhapsody” were all not far behind. If you remove those, George Ezra’s “Staying At Tamara’s” was the leading album with Ed Sheeran’s “÷”, the biggest album of 2017, still performing strongly just behind. The biggest single was Calvin Harris & Dua

Originally posted Sept 2025 Albums Marking key at bottom Lewis Capaldi “Divinely Uninspired To A Hellish Extent” I think he's a much more than just a passable song-writer. There are also some very good tracks indeed. An obvious one is “Someone You Loved”. I also really like “Maybe” in its simplicity. However, for me there's nothing (in the music) that makes him standout from his contemporaries. In terms of an ‘album’ there's also far too much reliance on solo vocal accompanie

Originally posted Sept 2025 INTRO 2019. I'm going backwards through the years, so we have come out of the Covid-era into a world where we were blissfully unaware of what was about to happen. I've theorised that ‘The Covid Years’ was a dip in the quality of pop music. However, I can only conclude that if things picking up in 2019 and that that way. I certainly hope so – because my listening schedule for this journey back to the year 2000 sees me spending 7 weeks per year, so 2

Originally posted August 2025 Albums Marking key at bottom Pop Smoke “Shoot For The Stars Aim For The Moon” I think the popularity of this has a lot to do with their death (victim of murder) a few months beforehand. Its OK but that’s about it for me. Its sort of ‘easy listening’ - all fairly simple and standard for this genre. I wouldn’t say it particularly stands out or offers anything different enough to be noteworthy. I do really like “Get It On Me”. 5 Nubya Garcia “SOU

Originally posted August 2025 INTRO I suppose the only thing we are really going to remember about 2020 is that we went into lockdown. We remained in various versions if this for the remainder of the year. Based on the disappointment of 2021-22, I'd say this had a real impact on music and it only picked up in 2023. However, plenty of the music released that year was recorded before lockdown kicked it. So, let’s see........ “Blinding Lights” by The Weeknd was the most successf