Ezra Collective lead the race for first UK Number One album

Jazz cohort Ezra Collective are currently leading the race to secure their first-ever UK Number 1 album with their latest release, Here Because of Hope. The fifth studio effort from the 2023 Mercury Prize winners is on track to smash their previous chart record, set when their 2024 album Dance, No One’s Watching peaked at Number 7 on the Official Albums Chart.

Indie rock favourites Bloc Party occupy the Number 2 spot in the midweek update with their seventh studio LP, Anatomy Of A Brief Romance. Should the album maintain its position, it will earn the four-piece their highest-charting record since 2007’s A Weekend In the City. Completing an all-British Top 3 is producer and DJ Bonobo with Distance in Static. If it stays at Number 3 through Friday, it will become the Brighton-born musician’s best-performing album to date.

Further down the midweek top five, enigmatic artist RØRY looks to follow up last year’s Top 10 success with RESTORATION as her new project, BLOODLETTING, enters the chart update at Number 5. Meanwhile, London rockers Green Lung are set to make their Top 40 debut with their fourth studio album, Necropolitan, currently tracking at Number 7.

Nostalgia and live announcements are also making an impact across the wider standings. Britpop icons Oasis see three classic releases climbing the charts, with Time Flies… (1994-2009) at 11, (What’s The Story) Morning Glory? at 13, and Definitely Maybe at 25. Elsewhere in the midweek Top 40, punk duo The Meffs eye their first chart entry with Business at 17, while Scottish legends The Proclaimers target their ninth Top 40 accolade with You May Offend at 20.

Rounding out the chart update, Jhené Aiko’s Westside Whimsy currently sits at Number 37, while Pixies’ classic 1990 album Bossanova looks poised to re-enter the standings at Number 39 following a special vinyl remaster release. Official chart positions will be finalized this Friday.