Australians have welcomed back Sam Smith in the best possible way by giving the British singer his first No. 1 Down Under.
Smith’s “Too Good At Goodbyes” (Capitol/EMI) launches to the summit of the ARIA Singles Chart on debut, eclipsing his previous best of No. 3 for 2015’s "Lay Me Down." It’s just his third top 10 hit in Australia, after “Stay With Me” (No. 5 in June 2014) and “Lay Me Down.”
“Too Good At Goodbyes,” which also bows at No. 1 in Smith’s homeland, is the first track lifted from his forthcoming second studio album, the followup to his chart-topping In The Lonely Hour from 2015.
Smith last charted in Australia with Spectre theme “Writing's On The Wall, which peaked at No. 43 in November 2015, the same year the singer scrapped a handful of live shows in these parts due to a hemorrhage to his vocal cords which required surgery.
Falling 2-1 this week is Taylor Swift’s “Look What You Made Me Do” (Universal), which is already platinum certified in just three weeks on the chart, while Swift locks down third place for another week with “...Ready For It?” Dua Lipa’s U.K chart-topper “New Rules” (Warner) climbs 6-4 in Australia, a new peak, while Pink’s former leader “What About Us” (RCA/Sony) dips 2-5.
Behind Smith’s “Goodbyes,” the next highest debut this week is Zayn featuringSia’s “Dusk Till Dawn” (RCA/Sony), which drops in at No. 8. Aside from Sia, the only other homegrown artist to crack the top 20 this week is Vance Joy, with “Lay It On Me” (Liberation/Universal) rising 25-18. Just three homegrown tracks appear in the top 50.
On the ARIA Albums Chart, Aussie classical crossover star Anthony Callea lands a second successive No. 1 with ARIA Number 1 Hits In Symphony (Sony), a collection of covers of songs performed by John Legend, Adele, George Michael and others (and an original, “Rain”). It’s the followup to the Melbourne singer’s September 2016 album Backbone and his third No. 1 dating back to his 2005 self-titled debut.
Also performing well on debut are The National’s Sleep Well Beast (4AD/Inertia) at No. 2 and Jack Johnson’s All The Light Above It Too (Universal) at No. 3, while Ed Sheeran’s quadruple platinum Divide (Warner) dips 1-4 and veteran Australian singer-songwriter Paul Kelly’s first career No. 1, Life Is Fine(EMI), is down 2-5.
