Katy Perry is heading for her third UK No 1 single with Roar outselling its next six rivals combined.
The Virgin single had sold 102,677 copies this week up to the close of business on Tuesday, according to Official Charts Company data, four-and-a-half times as many as its nearest rival Burn by Ellie Goulding and more than the collective totals of the songs sitting between positions 2 and 6 in the midweeks.
Roar has already established itself as a big sales hit elsewhere in the world, including in the US where it opened a fortnight ago with the highest weekly sales of the year and the best of Perry's career so far. However, as has become typical in the UK despite previous efforts to establish On Air/On Sale, its British commercial release was held back to build up demand and was originally due to come out this weekend. It was instead brought forward a week and will be followed by Perry's third album Prism on October 22.
The only other brand new arrival among the singles Top 10 at this stage of the week is RCA act Neon Jungle's Trouble at No 10, while on artist albums six of the Top 10 are currently brand new releases, including the entire top three. Leading the charge are Cheshire band The 1975 whose self-titled debut Dirty Hit/Polydor album has so far sold twice as many copies this week as its closest challenger, Ohio band Nine Inch Nails' new Polydor set Hesitation Marks. Trent Reznor's band's return to a major after two independent releases, it is set to become their fifth Top 10 album in the UK and could beat their current highest peak of 3 achieved by With Teeth in 2005.
Joining The 1975 and Nine Inch Nails in the top three are Rizzle Kicks whose second Island album Roaring 20s arrives at 3, while US actress and singer Ariana Grande, who starred in Nickelodeon sitcom Victorious, iCarly, shows up as a new enry at 6 with Republic/Island set Yours Truly. Sequel To The Prequel, Babyshambles' second Parlophone album and third in all, is new at 8, while South London duo Krept & Konan complete the Top 10 entries with the Play Dirty-issued Young Kingz new at 10.
The high number of new releases in the Top 10 naturally means a big clearout of last week's leading sellers and include Domino's Franz Ferdinand and Columbia's Bob Dylan making steep drops of 6-35 and 5-37 respectively in the latest Sales Flashes. Warner Bros rock band Avenged Sevenfold are also subject to a sharp decline with Hail To The King dropping to 9 with sales down 73% in the week to date having debuted at No 1 last Sunday.
Virgin act Naughty Boy was runner-up to Avenged Sevenfold last Sunday, but sales of his Hotel Cabana are slightly more robust, down 54% to move it 2-4, while Richard & Adam's Sony set The Impossible Dream eases 4-5 and the Polydor-issued Halcyon by Ellie Goulding is down 3-7.
The parade of new entries continues outside the Top 10 with acts set to debut in or around the Top 40 this coming weekend to include Virgin's UB40, Columbia's John Legend, Glasvegas with their first album on their own Go Wow label via BMG and Sheffield rock band Black Spiders on the Doublecross label. A new Luciano Pavarotti Decca retrospective, The 50 Greatest Tracks, is new at 25.
Beyonce's 2007 hit Listen is one of a number of one-track oldies to to be revived after featuring in the first weekend of the new season of ITV's The X Factor. Folowing a cover by contestant Melanie Amaro, the RCA-handled single acclerates 66-14, while other gainers on the back of the programme include Virgin act Emeli Sande's Read All About It Pt 3 (up 77-25) and the Whitney Houston's Arista/RCA cut I Have Nothing (a re-entry at 49).
Back in the Top 10 and below Katy Perry's blockbuster, Ellie Goulding's Polydor track Burn drops to 2 after achieving a third week at No 1 last Sunday, while the Postiva/PRMD-issued Wake Me Up by Avicii slides 2-3, Island single Sonnentanz (Sun Don't Shine) by Klangkarussell featuring Will Heard falls 3-4 and Summertime Sadness by Polydor's Lana Del Rey Vs Cedric Gervais is declines 4-5.
Lady Gaga's Interscope/Polydor track Applause continues to revive, up 7-6, as RCA signing Miley Cyrus drops 5-7 with We Can't Stop. Drake's Cash Money/Repubic single Hold On We're Going Home featuring Majid Jordan is up a place to 8 and Rizzle Kicks' Island-issued Lost Generation drops 6-9.
Rock band You Me At Six, formerly with Virgin, show up as a new entry at 11 with Lived A Lie released via BMG, while hotly-tipped pop trio London Grammar are new at 17 in the week to date with the Metal & Dust/Ministry of Sound track Strong.
The full midweek singles and albums charts are on musicweek.com.