News 27 February 2021

Terra Firma lands Tash Sultana first ARIA #1 album

Plus, moves for Ariana Grande, BTS and more!

Terra Firma lands Tash Sultana first ARIA #1 album

Releasing, Terra Firma, Tash Sultana scores their debut #1 on the ARIA Charts. The Melbourne singer-songwriter’s second studio album is the follow-up to Flow State (#2 Sept. ’18) and includes collaborations with Matt Corby, Dann Hume and rapper Jerome Farah. Sultana’s previous album won Best Blues & Roots Album at the 2019 ARIA Awards. It becomes their third Top Ten release, having first charted with the EP Flow State (#8 Feb. ’17). Terra Firma also tops this week’s ARIA Vinyl Albums Chart.

Tash Sultana said:

I've had the most incredible, emotional and overwhelming week after releasing Terra Firma and I’m just really lost for words that it’s number 1. Like I really am lost for words. I was really unsatisfied with the work I’ve done in the past prior to Terra Firma and my mission for this record was to try to be better than I was the day before, the month before, the year before. I produced, arranged, composed, co-engineered and played everything on this record and did it all in my own studio. This was my mission, my entire soul, the air in my lungs and to have it received this way is so much more than I ever expected. I feel seen. I feel heard in a way I’ve been trying to communicate for a long time. Thank you to my family, my friends, MY FANS, my management, thank you to my Sony Music family, Denis & Marietta, thank you ARIA, thank you Richard Stolz, Matt Corby, Dann Hume, Jerome Farah, Josh Cashman  & Andrei Eremin. Thank you world.” 

ARIA CEO Annabelle Herd said:

“Congratulations to Tash Sultana and the teams at Lemon Tree Music, Lonely Lands and Sony Music Australia on their #1 ARIA album. It’s been an incredible journey for Tash, from busker to Bandcamp to breaking through and now having the #1 album in the country. The rest of the world has already caught on, and we couldn’t be more excited to follow the next part of their career.”

Terra Firma is the fifth Australian #1 album on the ARIA Charts in 2021.

Ariana Grande’s Positions climbs back up the chart from #32 to #3 following the release of a deluxe edition. The American star’s sixth album was originally released in October 2020, spending two weeks at #2. Among the tracks on the new version is the remix of ‘34+35’ (#5 Jan. ’21) featuring Doja Cat and Megan Thee Stallion, which sits at #19 on this week’s Singles Chart.

BTSBE re-enters the Top 50 following the release of a new edition. The K-pop group’s fifth Korean-language album debuted at #2 in late-November 2020. The new release of BE is called the Essential Edition and comes as a thank you to fans for the "historic milestones", including becoming the fastest group to earn five chart-topping albums in the United States since The Beatles.

Australian country singer-songwriter Adam Harvey takes out his sixth career Top Ten on the ARIA Albums Chart with Songs From Highway One. Harvey’s 15th studio album features collaborations with Graeme Connors, Colin Buchanan, Beccy Cole, Darren Coggan and Felicity Urquhart. The voice of Slim Dusty appears on Harvey’s version of the late country music legend’s track ‘Angel Of Goulburn Hill’. Harvey last charted with The Nashville Tapes (#9 Aug. ’18). Songs From Highway One also tops the ARIA Country Albums Chart this week, becoming Harvey’s eighth album to do so.

Daft Punk returns to the ARIA Top 50 at #24  with Random Access Memories following the announcement of French electronic duo’s split after 28 years together. Released in May 2013, the final studio album by Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter became their first #1 on the Albums Chart when it spent one week in the top spot. Random Access Memories featured the pair’s only #1 single, ‘Get Lucky’ (#1 May ’13).