It’s Billie Eilish’s week in the U.K., as Hit Me Hard And Soft punches its way to No. 1 with personal-best results.
According to the Official Charts Company, Hit Me Hard And Soft (Interscope) knocks out 67,100 chart units in its first seven days, easily surpassing the opening week for her 2019 leader When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, which bowed with 48,400 units.
With that effort, Eilish hits a perfect three-from-three with her studio albums (When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? and 2021’s Happier Than Ever also debuted at the summit), and bags the second-biggest opening week for any album in the U.K. this year, behind only Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department, which shifted a mighty 270,000 U.K. chart units in just seven days.
Also, three tracks from the California alternative pop phenomenon’s latest LP crack the national top 10, led by “Lunch” at No. 2, ahead of “Chihiro” (No. 7) and “Birds Of A Feather” (No. 9), lifting her career tally of U.K. top 10 hits to 12.
The runaway leader on the midweek chart, when it was outselling the rest of the top 5 combined, Hit Me Hard And Soft knocks Swift from the summit, as Tortured Poets (via EMI) dips 1-2, while Zayn lands a No. 3 start with Room Under The Stairs (Republic Records). That’s the former One Direction singer’s third top 40 solo appearance, following 2016’s chart-leading Mind of Mine and 2021’s Nobody is Listening, which peaked at No. 17.
Further down the Official U.K. Albums Chart, Portishead singer Beth Gibbons debuts at No. 7 with her first solo studio album, Lives Outgrown (Domino Recordings), while legendary Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash earns a No. 8 entry with his star-studded collection, Orgy of the Damned (Gibson).
Finally, Michael Head & the Red Elastic Band scores a second U.K. top 10 with Loophole (Modern Sky), new at No. 10.