Looking at the Aussie charts can be a mixed bag. Homegrown music usually performs pretty well on the albums chart, but the singles chart continues to be the domain of international artists, with the occasional outlier.
But even the local albums chart can be cause for concern, as we recently noted when the soundtrack to the much-maligned Suicide Squad beat out the latest solo effort from Australian music legend Bernard Fanning.
But there’s reason to celebrate this week. Not only are two Australian artists respectively occupying the gold and silver medal positions, but Australian icon Nick Cave has helped set a new Australian chart record.
Cave’s latest album, the haunting and powerful Skeleton Tree, is the 15th Australian album to hit the top of the albums chart this year. This beats the record for most Aussie Number 1s in a single year, which was 14 set back in 2013.
Sitting right behind Cave are Canberra’s SAFIA and their new album Internal. The next Australian entries in the chart are Human Nature with Gimme Some Lovin’: Jukebox Vol. II at 14 and Keith Urban’s Ripcord at 15, both of whom previously hit Number 1.
Other notable Australian Number 1 albums this year include The Amity Affliction’s This Could Be Heartbreak, Sia’s This Is Acting, and Hilltop Hoods’s Drinking From The Sun, Walking Under Stars Restrung.
Of course, the singles chart remains the domain of international pop-stars, with The Chainsmokers and Halsey sitting at Number 1 with ‘Closer’. This is partly due to the fact that the singles chart counts streaming numbers towards its tally.
It will be interesting to see what kind of impact Australians have on the charts as pop artist begin to abandon the album format completely, as it was recently suggested superstar producer and DJ Calvin Harris would do.
