News 19 December 2020

Evermore lands Taylor Swift second ARIA Charts #1 album for 2020

Plus, debuts for The Avalanches, Cold Chisel and more!

Evermore lands Taylor Swift second ARIA Charts #1 album for 2020

Taylor Swift scores her second chart-topper for 2020 as she debuts at #1 with evermore. Swift’s second surprise album for the year comes four months after she spent four weeks at #1 with folklore (#1 Aug, ’20). Like the previous album, evermore sees Swift collaborating with members of The National, Jack Antonoff and Bon Iver. Haim make a guest appearance on the track ‘No Body, No Crime’. Twelve of the album’s 15 tracks have entered the ARIA Top 50 this week, including ‘Willow’ at #1. It becomes the American singer-songwriter’s seventh career #1 album, having also topped the chart with Speak Now (#1 Nov. ’10), Red (#1 Oct. ’12), 1989 (#1 Nov. ’14), Reputation (#1 Nov. ’17), Lover (#1 Sept. ’19) and folklore. This week, folklore is at #9, while 1989 is at #45 and Lover sits at #47.

With her two #1 albums in 20 weeks, Swift has broken the ARIA Charts record for shortest space between successive #1 albums. The record was previously held by Ariana Grande, who had #1s – Sweetener (#1 Aug. ’18) and Thank U, Next (#1 Feb. ’19) – in 25 weeks.

Five weeks into its chart run, Delta Goodrem’s Only Santa Knows climbs up ten spots to hit a new peak at #2. Its move up the chart comes on the back of the TV special Delta At Christmas, which aired on 12 December. The album previously debuted/peaked at #5.

Melbourne electronic wizards The Avalanches return at #4 with We Will Always Love You. The third album from the four-time ARIA Award winners comes four years on from chart-topper Wildflower (#1 Jul. ’16) and features a plethora of guests including Neneh Cherry, Perry Farrell, MGMT, Johnny Marr, Kurt Vile, Tricky, Rivers Cuomo (Weezer), Karen O (Yeah Yeah Yeahs), Cornelius, Mick Jones (The Clash/Big Audio Dynamite) and many more. We Will Always Love You tops this week’s ARIA Vinyl Albums Chart.

Debuting at #5, ARIA Hall Of Fame members Cold Chisel dip into their archive again to release The Live Tapes Vol. 5: Live At The Bondi Lifesaver Feb 29, 1980. The fifth edition in the band’s Live Tapes series becomes its highest-charting, taking over from The Live Tapes Vol. 4: The Last Stand Of The Sydney Entertainment Centre, December 17 And 18, 2015 (#9 Nov. ’17). Cold Chisel topped the ARIA Albums Chart a year ago with Blood Moon (#1 Dec. ’19).

In its fifth week in the chart, Andrea Bocelli’s Believe moves up five spots to hit a new peak at #6.

At #22, Thelma Plum’s ARIA-nominated debut album Better In Blak (#4 Jul. ’19) returns to the Top 50 for a tenth week on the back of the release of a special vinyl edition.

Kid Cudi makes his first solo appearance in the Top 50 since 2013 at #25 with Man On The Moon III: The Chosen. It’s the final installment of the American rapper’s Man on the Moon trilogy of albums; which also includes Man on the Moon: The End of Day (2009) and Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager (2010). Kid Cudi’s only other Top 50 appearance as himself was with Indicud (#28 Apr. ’13). Kid Cudi joined forces with Kanye West in 2018 as Kids See Ghosts, peaking at #4 with their self-titled debut.

After hitting the Top Ten with the single ‘Whats Poppin’ (#8 Jul. ’20), Jack Harlow makes his Albums Chart debut at #46 with That’s What They All Say. The album includes the hit single, as well as collaborations with Maroon 5’s Adam Levine, Big Sean and Lil Baby, among others.