Crowded House’s dream run continues

It’s a week of comebacks, as Crowded House maintain their perfect albums chart record and Eminem lands his first chart-topping single in more than a decade. 

Billie Eilish returns to the albums chart penthouse, as her third studio album, Hit Me Hard And Soft, reclaims the #1 spot for the second non-consecutive week. No official singles have been lifted from the album, but two tracks are in the top 10 singles chart: Birds Of A Feather at #6 and Lunch at #7.

Just below Billie, Crowded House’s Gravity Stairs opens at #3. It’s the legendary band’s eighth studio album and becomes their 10th top five album: all eight albums plus two greatest hits collections have reached the top five.

Crowded House’s chart history includes five #1 peaks: Crowded House in 1986, Temple Of Low Men in 1988, Recurring Dream: The Very Best Of Crowded House in 1996, Time On Earth in 2007 and Intriguer in 2010. The winners of 13 ARIA Awards, they were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2016.

Two decades after the release of his first album, Tasmanian-born country singer Casey Barnes is new at #11 with Mayday. It’s his third album to reach the top 30: Town Of A Million Dreams peaked at #16 in 2020 and Light It Up rose to #17 in 2022. The latter won the ARIA Award for Best Country Album two years ago. 

American rapper Eminem storms back onto the ARIA Singles Chart, with his new track Houdini arriving at #1. It’s the lead track from his upcoming 12th studio album The Death Of Slim Shady (Coup De Grace).

Houdini is his first chart-topper since The Monster featuring Rihanna spent three weeks at #1 in 2013, his first top 10 showing since Godzilla with Juice Wrld got to #3 in 2020, and his 22nd top 10 hit. The new track samples Eminem’s own Without Me, My Name Is and Just Lose It, and interpolates Steve Miller Band’s Abracadabra, which spent two weeks at #1 in 1982. 

Houdini is Slim’s ninth #1 single here, following Stan in 2000, Without Me in 2002, Lose Yourself in 2002, Just Lose It in 2004, When I’m Gone in 2005, We Made You in 2009, Love The Way You Lie in 2010 and The Monster in 2013. Only one male artist has had more #1 singles: Elvis Presley, with 14. (Until this week, Eminem was tied with Justin Bieber at eight a piece.)

Elsewhere on the singles chart, Central Cee is back in the top 10, this time with Band4Band featuring American rapper Lil Baby. It debuted at #17 last week and steps up to #XX this week. Last year, Central Cee and Dave spent seven weeks at #1 with Sprinter. It’s Lil Baby’s first trip to top 10 since he featured on Drake’s Girls Want Girls, which peaked at #2 in 2021.