This is one of those weeks in which nearly every music chart has a different song at #1: Taylor Swift‘s “The Fate of Ophelia” is #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 (in fact, she holds all top 12 spots with every track from her latest album The Life of a Showgirl), sombr‘s “Back to Friends” tops the Hot Rock Songs chart (though I don’t consider it a rock song, it topped my own chart in July), Bad Omens‘ “Specter” tops the Mainstream Rock chart, Sleep Token‘s “Caramel” tops the Hard Rock chart, Sublime‘s “Ensenada” tops the Alternative Airplay chart, St. Paul & The Broken Bones‘ “Sushi and Coca-Cola” tops the Adult Alternative Airplay chart, and Justin Bieber‘s “Daisy” tops the Pop Airplay chart.
Though several of these songs are included on my latest chart, my top song this week is “Five More Seconds”, a wonderful collaboration by English folk-rock duo Seafret and Scottish singer-songwriter KT Tunstall. I love its exuberant melody, stomping beat and their glorious harmonies, plus the video’s brilliant. The song has not appeared on any charts in the US, UK or anywhere else as far as I can tell, which is a travesty.
Seafret, based in Yorkshire and comprised of singer Jack Sedman and guitarist Harry Draper, released three albums and a number of singles from 2015-2023 and saw their debut 2015 single “Atlantis” go viral on TikTok over the past three years, eventually racking up over 1.2 billion streams on Spotify alone. KT Tunstall burst onto the British music scene in 2004 with her debut album Eye to the Telescope, which spawned the hit singles “Black Horse and the Cherry Tree” and “Suddenly I See”, which won the Ivor Novello Award for Best Song in 2006.
Speaking about their collaboration for the webzine Litehouse Media, Seafret commented “When we set out making this record we knew we wanted to bring in some incredible people and collaborate. When we found out KT Tunstall was in town and up for it, we were so happy! We had no idea how it would go or what we’d write but this idea started circling in the room and suddenly it was there in front of us like it was meant to be. We have always loved KT’s voice and her songwriting so bringing this song to life with her has been a real privilege.” KT Tunstall added, “I met Jack and Harry quite a few years back and loved their vibe and songwriting. Real players and songcraft with an old school, troubadour attitude to touring where they put the hours in and got really great at what they do. Authentic and righteous dudes!“
And speaking of “Sushi and Coca-Cola”, the song is the biggest upward mover on my chart again this week, jumping eight spots to #8. Also entering the top 10 are “Hornets” by Canadian singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Western Jaguar, and “Mistakes” by Ohio folk band Caamp, at #s 9 and 10, respectively. Three songs make their debut, starting with Taylor Swift’s aforementioned “The Fate of Ophelia”, entering at #23. While I’m not overly excited with the entirety of The Life of a Showgirl, I do like this song.
Coming in at #27 is “Enough” by Jeff Tweedy, who’s released music both as a solo artist and as lead vocalist and guitarist of Chicago-based alternative country-rock band Wilco. Featuring an opening guitar riff that reminds me of the one from The Kinks’ “Waterloo Sunset”, “Enough” is featured on Tweedy’s ambitious new triple album Twilight Override, which dropped September 26th.
And entering at #30 is the sultry “Lingerie” by Two Feet (aka Brooklyn, New York-based singer-songwriter and guitarist extraordinaire Zachary William “Bill” Dess). One of my favorite artists since 2018, I’ve seen Two Feet in concert three times. Ten of his songs reached #1 on my chart between 2018 and 2022, beginning with “I Feel Like I’m Drowning”, which also reached #1 on the Billboard Alternative Airplay chart and remains his biggest hit to date.
- FIVE MORE SECONDS – Seafret & KT Tunstall (2)
- UNDRESSED – sombr (1)
- ENSENADA – Sublime (3)
- BACKSEAT – Balu Brigada (6)
- AS ALIVE AS YOU NEED ME TO BE – Nine Inch Nails (9)
- BETTER DAYS – Yellowcard (7)
- LIGHT YEARS APART – Unobliterated (8)
- SUSHI AND COCA-COLA – St. Paul & The Broken Bones (16)
- HORNETS – Western Jaguar (11)
- MISTAKES – Caamp (12)
- THE WEATHER – All Time Low (13)
- JUPITER – almost monday feat. Jordana (4)
- SALLY, WHEN THE WINE RUNS OUT – ROLE MODEL (5)
- WRECK – Neko Case (15)
- ELEGANTLY WASTED – Hermanos Gutiérrez feat. Leon Bridges (20)
- ANOTHER LIFE – Alabama Shakes (21)
- DOWNSTAIRS – Matt Maeson (18)
- EVERYBODY SCREAM – Florence + The Machine (19)
- POLYESTER (YES SIR) – Sorry Ghost (10)
- ASSHOLE – The Lumineers (14)
- ORDINARY CREATURE – Of Monsters and Men (26)
- CITY WALLS – Twenty One Pilots (29)
- THE FATE OF OPHELIA – Taylor Swift (N)
- SPECTER – Bad Omens (30)
- MY MIND IS A MOUNTAIN – Deftones (17)
- MOODY – Royel Otis (22) 20th Week on Chart
- ENOUGH – Jeff Tweedy (N)
- METAL – The Beths (23)
- EVERYDAY MAGIC – My Morning Jacket (24)
- LINGERIE – Two Feet (N)
ECLECTIC MUSIC LOVER 
Same here Jeff.
Been loving the Seafret & KT Tunstall collab.
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Glad you love it too, Luke. It should have been a massive hit.
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“Five More Seconds” is a great-sounding contemporary pop song – catchy melody and, as you noted, great harmony harmony singing. I primarily know KT Tunstall because of “Black Horse and the Cherry Tree” and “Suddenly I See,” both songs I’ve always liked.
From you new entries, I think my favorite is Jeff Tweedy’s “Enough.” I still haven’t had a chance to listen to all of his massive new album “Twilight Override.”
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It’s a great song. I haven’t listened to much of Tweedy’s album either, as it’s a lot to digest!
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I hadn’t heard about the KT Tunstall duet, but she sounds great on it. Unsure if I want to commit to reviewing the new Jeff Tweedy – it’s so long!
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I love “Five More Seconds” more with each listen. And yes, Tweedy’s album is gargantuan!
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It really is a travesty that such a great song hasn’t appeared on any charts apart from your weekly one, but that’s also what makes your chart such a gem :). I was aware of Seafret and KT Tunstall, but they weren’t exactly on my radar. I would’ve missed this fantastic song if it weren’t for you!
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It really is, and I would think it would have at least been a hit in the UK. And I’m happy to have introduced it to more people!
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Also love Seafret/KT, and the new taylor swift song is the best track on the album, though the notion that someone can own the entire top 12 is ridiculous – we had that moment with Ed Sheeran and changed the chart rules to limit new entries to 3 artist tracks – which brings its own nonsense as much as the US chart rules do. What it really is, is the single at number one, and the album at number 2 (courtesy of the lowest-rated album track). I go back to the 60’s when a streaming chart would have given The Beatles the entire top 20 in early 1964, most likely, as opposed to entire top 5 with actual physical singles and albums restricted to the album charts. Record labels should be forced to choose between album sales or single sales, not get the benefit of both. Take away total album “sales” of the lowest-streamed track from all tracks and problem solved I reckon!
Great chart as always!
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Yes, using streaming stats as the primary measurement for a chart is grossly unfair.
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