chart roundup: is sombr really "the future?"

plus a song of the summer contender, new music from Carly Rae Jepsen, and more chart news for the week of 7.1.26

Welcome to Track Ten - You’re reading the Chart Roundup where I count down the week’s biggest songs, take a look at what’s trending up in the weeks ahead, and let you in on the story behind the #1s. On Mondays, I write about the impact of the stars and moments from pop music’s past and present, including in my newest themed collection, Resurrection, about pop’s greatest comebacks.

It’s a steady week in the Hot 100’s top ten compared to last week’s Olivia Rodrigo surge. All ten songs have previously appeared in the region, and none reaches a new peak with the #1 slot returning to Ella Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas” for an 11th week. Can anyone stop her? Unless Madonna manages a surprise chart hit with her new album (you never know!), we’re also in a pop star holding period until Charli XCX and Ariana Grande release new albums at the end of July. I’d say we’re going through a “Dry Spell,” but Kacey is on the chart this week with “Mexico Honey” at #59, so maybe not after all.

what the charts had to tell us about the biggest songs of the week:

The Chart Consensus: “Choosin’ Texas” by Ella Langley

Langley achieves her 11th week at #1, boosted by returning to #2 peaks on Spotify and Apple Music (as well as Youtube, but those streams don’t count). With 11 weeks on top, “Choosin Texas” has now surpassed huge hits like Olivia Newton John’s “Physical,” Beyoncé’s “Irreplaceable,” and a personal favorite “We Found Love” by Rihanna feat. Calvin Harris. Ella is concurrently charting two other hits in the top ten: “Be Her” at #3 and “I Can’t Love You Anymore” with Morgan Wallen at #9. She’s already cleared the one hit wonder bar, and her smash hit is showing only a hint of slowing down.

The Chart Subplot: “Homewrecker” by Sombr

Sombr has been in the news lately as one of Taylor Swift’s favorite new artists. She’s called him “the future” and he was invited to perform covers of her songs when she was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame last month. It’s his own single, “Homewrecker” that’s now climbing the charts, reaching a new peak of #16 this week. That ties it with “Undressed” for his second highest charting single after the #7 peak “Back to Friends.” To me, it still feels like he hasn’t quite broken containment. “Homewrecker” has taken a verrrrry slow climb since its debut in February indicating that he isn’t yet the type of star that can launch a new single into the top 10. Maybe his real breakthrough will come if he plays MSG as part of Taylor’s wedding festivities - stranger things have happened!

new music favorites from me + a guest:

Best New Track: “On Wires” by Carly Rae Jepsen

The queen of pop is back! This is honestly so far from what I expected from a Carly comeback single: it’s moody, dramatic, and not even particularly pop. Still, I’m fascinated by the heavy piano chords that open up to the crashing, driving chorus. With a double album coming in September, I can’t wait to see what else she has in store for us.

Guest Verse (feat. Nick Pierre): “DOOR SWANGIN” by Kenny Mason

Nick writes the Substack Playlist Park where he explores his fascination with Rap (that he’s also going to be bringing to his graduate studies very soon!) Here’s what he had to say about his pick:

Kenny Mason’s Door Swangin has been on repeat for me—the third song on his latest album BULLDAWG.

Whatever that looped vocal is embedded with that high hat and bassline combo, is hypnotizing.

Southern rappers have a syllabic advantage to bend and contort everyday words.

His last verse alone keeps me coming back.

Recommended Reading: Matt Bailey on “Irrelevant #1s”

I’ve been banging the drum for a while now about how the Hot 100 is doing a bad job of reflecting what’s actually popular (my chart report card is one attempt to fix it). Matt Bailey put out a great piece earlier this month about the rise of the “irrelevant #1” - those that remain in the top ten for less than four weeks. He explores the phenomenon with a data deep dive, and a conclusion that Drake is one of the main culprits here!

Track Ten X Can't Get Much Higher:

Chris Dalla Riva was kind enough to let me take over his newsletter for a guest essay last week, and I wrote about one of the biggest trends I’ve noticed writing these chart report cards for the past year: Country ascending, Rap declining. This piece is an attempt to measure whether it’s really happening (it is) but more than that, to explain why.

Adapt or Die: How Country Took Rap’s Place Atop The Charts

I’m using my proprietary Track Ten formula to track the race for Song of the Summer. Check out this post for the full methodology if you’re interested!

We have a new contender for the crown with “I Knew It, I Knew You” jumping up to #2 this week! Even though “Choosin’ Texas” beats it on the Hot 100 this week, it earns the max points on the SotS chart as it is the highest new song on the chart. We’re starting to see the Drake hits outside of “Janice” slip down. With this being week #5, we’re over a third of the way through the race. Get your bets in now!