A 21-year-old Englishman stands in the way of another Rolling Stones chart triumph.
Declan McKenna leads the U.K.’s midweek albums chart with his sophomore effort Zeros (Columbia), ahead of the Stones’ Goats Heads Soup (Polydor) reissue.
Based on weekend sales activity reported by the Official Charts Company, Zeros has shifted the most physical units in the week so far to lead the Official Chart Update.
McKenna got his break in 2015 when he won Glastonbury Festival’s Emerging Talent Competition. His debut album What Do You Think About The Car? peaked at No. 11 on the Official U.K. Albums Chart following its release in 2017.
Meanwhile, the Stones are rolling on to another big chart impact with Goats Heads Soup, an album that ruled the national sales tallies on both sides of the Atlantic back in 1973.
Rereleased Sept. 4, Goats Head Soup is the market-leader on downloads and slots in at No. 2 on the midweek chart. If it lifts its game, Goats Head Soup would become the Hall of Famers’ 13th No. 1 album.
The special packages of Goats Head Soup feature 10 bonus tracks with alternate versions, outtakes and at least three previously unreleased tracks, including “All The Rage” and “Scarlet” featuring Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page on the guitar and Blind Faith’s Rick Grech on the bass.
Elsewhere on the midweek chart, electronic duo Hurt — comprised of Theo Hutchcraft and Adam Anderson — are on track for their first Top 10 album in seven years with Faith (Lento), new at No. 5.
“Caribbean Queen” singer Billy Ocean is close behind at No. 6 with One World (Sony Music CG), his first new album in seven years.
New LPs from prog-rockers The Pineapple Thief (Versions of the Truth at No. 14 via Kscope), rappers 6ix9ine (Tattletales at No. 23 via Scumgang) and Big Sean (Detroit 2 at No. 25 via Def Jam) and British trip-hop veteran Tricky (Fall To Pieces at No. 31 via K7) are aiming for Top 40 debuts.
Over on the midweek singles chart, Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s “WAP” (Atlantic) continues its reign, ahead of “Mood” (Black Butter) by 24kGoldn featuring Iann Dior, and “Lighter” (Atlantic) by Nathan Dawe featuring KSI, respectively.
The Official U.K. Singles and Albums Charts are published late Friday local time.
