Ellie Goulding's Halcyon could be heading to No 1 in the UK for the first time this weekend as it capitalises on a quiet release schedule.
The album originally peaked at No 2 following its release in October 2012, but climbs 6-1 in the latest midweeks with a lead of around 5,000 sales over the rest of the market, according to the Official Charts Company. If it makes it, Halycon will be her second No 1 album out of two releases following her debut Lights getting there in 2010.
Halcyon, which was reissued in an expanded version in August with additional tracks including the chart-topping Burn, faces its closest competition from fellow Polydor album
Since I Saw You Last by Gary Barlow. Helped by the screening of a live concert on BBC One as part of its New Year's Eve/New Year's Day programming, the album holds at 2 in the latest Sales Flashes as Beyonce's self-titled Colmbia set climbs 4-3.
Robbie Williams' Island set Swings Both Ways is one of several big Christmas sellers to decline sharply in the first chart week of 2014 as it falls 1-4 on midweek sales. Similalry, Syco act One Direction slip 3-10 with Midnight Memories, which finished as the top-selling artist album of last year, Epic act Olly Murs' Right Place Right Time is down 5-13, Interscope/Polydor's Eminem falls 7-15 with The Marshall Mathers LP 2 and Reprise/Warner Bros act Michael Buble drops 9-24 with To Be Loved and most spectacularly 8-152 with Christmas.
A number of acts who appeared on Jools Holland's annual Hootenanny on BBC Two are on the rise, led by John Newman whose Island debut Tribute is up 16-6, while the same show's Rudimental are up 34-8 with the Asylum/Atlantic-issued Home as its sales improve 70%. Also benefitting from being on the show are Haim whose Polydor album Days Are Gone rises 40-14 in the week so far with sales up 37% and The Lumineers with their self-titled Decca set up 68-32 with sales increasing 27%.
Virgin's Bastille are set to move back into the Top 10 with Bad Blood rising 11-5, despite its sales dropping 22% week-on-week. Also set to make Top 10 returns with sales declines are Arctic Monkeys with the Domino-issued AM up 12-7 and Positiva/PRMD's Avici with True rising 19-9. Columbia's Tom Odell is just outside the Top 10, moving 20-11.
Pitbull is poised to achieve his second UK No 1 single with the RCA-handled Timber featuring Kesha having already sold more than 110,000 copies this week. His only chart-topper to date was 2011's Give Me Everything featuring Ne-Yo, Afrojack and Nayer.
Columbia act Pharrell Williams, who achieved 2013's last No 1, is now down to 2 in the week so far with Happy, while Positiva/PRMD's Avicii holds at 3 with Hey Brother and Warner Bros's Jason Derulo is static at 4 with Trumpets. As she heads for a possible No 1 album, Polydor's Ellie Goulding is also on the rise in the singles market with How Long Will I Love You back up 7-5.
Interscope/Polydor act Eminem's former No 1
The Monster with Rihanna drops 5-6 as X Factor winner Sam Bailey's own Syco-issued chart-topper Skyscraper drops 2-7. Fellow Syco act One Direction's Story Of My Life is back up 9-8, while Martin Garrix's Positiva/Virgin single Animals could be returning to the Top 10 as it climbs 13-9 in the week so far. Interscope/Polydor's OneRepublic complete the Top 10, unchanged in 10th position.
There are two brand new entries within the Top 40 outside the Top 10, both 3 Beat/AATW releases. Fuse ODG registers at No 16 with Million Pound Girl (Badder Than Bad) and Control by Matrix & Futurebound featuring Max Marshall is new at 19 in the latest midweeks.
The full midweek singles and albums charts are on musicweek.com.
http://www.musicweek.com/news/read/m...-topper/057163 
legend 
but perhaps it might mean sales are really low 
. Wasn't it this time around that '21' became the lowest selling no.1 ? Or has that also been broken ?