There’s a new leader on the ARIA Albums Chart as London Grammar’s Californian Soil (Dew Process/Universal) debuts in the top spot. It’s their first No. 1 in three tries. California Soil is the followup to Truth Is A Beautiful Thing, which hit No. 3 in June 2017, while their debut If You Wait reached No. 2 in September 2013. The British trio will tour these parts in February 2022.
The Offspring narrowly miss out on a third crown with Let The Bad Times Roll (Concord/Universal), the U.S. punk veterans’ first LP in nine years. Bad Times rolls in at No. 2 for their eighth Top Ten in Australia. The Offspring previously ruled the ARIA Albums Chart with Smash (February 1995) and Americana (January 1999).
Finally, international artists Alex Henry Foster and AJ Tracey make their ARIA Chart debut this week. Foster’s live set Standing Under Bright Lights (Independent), captured from the Canadian artist’s performance at the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal in 2019, starts at No. 6, while British rapper AJ Tracey bows at No. 12 with his sophomore album Flu Game (Independent).