Chart Analysis April 26, 2018

ARIA Chart Predictions: Avicii’s posthumous charts activity to reach next level

Features Editor

This week the ARIA charts are seeing some fresh faces battle it out for a podium finish, while the late Avicii is making his posthumous move back into the singles and album mix.

All eyes will be on A Perfect Circle, who return with their first album in 14 years. There is no denying that while the iconic art-metal act is not to everyone’s taste, the Top 3 is in their sights with the triumphant release of Eat The Elephant.

On the local front, Samantha Jade will join Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu and Kylie Minogue towards the top of the chart, with her disco dedication Best Of My Love likely to celebrate its first week of release with a Top 10 spot. New Zealand acts Kimbra and Lorde may also finish the week in the Top 25, following the respective release of Primal Heart and the reignited interest in Melodrama (thanks to the announcement of Lorde on the Splendour In The Grass lineup).

Two artists are making their presence felt on both the Singles and Albums charts this week, but for very different reasons. American hip hop act J. Cole looks likely to fight it out with A Perfect Circle in the Top 3 on the Albums Chart, while simultaneously spreading himself thin across the Singles Chart with five releases debuting between #20 and #40.

But it’s the posthumous activity of Avicii that is attracting the most attention. Following his death over the weekend, the Swedish DJ looks like becoming a textbook case of a phenomenon noted by TMN charts editor Peter Tuskan earlier this year.

Avicii’s album True will claim a Top 10 spot on the Albums Chart, while Stories and EP Avici are likely to reappear in the Top 30. It’s a similar story over on the Singles chart too, with ‘Wake Me Up’ moving into the Top 10 and three other singles (‘Levels’, ‘Hey Brother’ and ‘Without You’) all popping up in the Top 40.

This flurry of activity won’t take away from the return of Ariana Grande though. The surprise release of ‘No Tears Left To Cry’ has sent a clear signal that the 24-year-old means business in 2018, eyeing a Top 3 debut on the Singles Chart this week.