Taylor Swift “Fortnight” debuted at #1

Fortnight Taylor Swift with Post Malone

Writer(s): Taylor Swift, Jack Antonoff, Austin Post (see lyrics here) Released: April 19, 2024 First Charted: May 5, 2024 Peak: 12 BB, 11 DG, 11 ST, 16 AC, 11 A40, 11 UK, 11 CN, 12 AU (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): -- US, 0.6 UK, 1.05 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 151.40 video, 782.44 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Taylor Swift was born in 1989 in West Reading, Pennsylvania. She released her first album in 2006 while still a teenager. While she started as a country singer, she quickly crossed over to pop. She reached a commercial zenith with her 1989 album in 2014 and then seemed to be dropping off slightly with her next few albums, which included two indie-folk style albums in 2020. In 2022, she roared back with the hugely successful Midnights, propelled by “Anti-Hero,” her biggest #1 hit to date, and locking down the entire top ten on the Billboard Hot 100 the week the album was released. Her Eras Tour launched in 2023 and over a year-and-a-half became the highest-grossing tour of all time, grossing more than $1 billion. In the middle of the tour, she released her eleventh album, The Tortured Poets Department. The lead single, “Fortnight,” is “an ‘80s-inspired downtempo electropop tune” SF reminiscent of power ballads by Roxette, Cutting Crew, and Phil Collins. WK The narrator is in an unhappy marriage and happens to live next door to her also-married ex-lover. “Fortnight” is a British term meaning two weeks, which references the doomed couple’s “fleeting romantic relationship that lasted only two weeks.” SF The song paired her with Post Malone (who assumes the voice of the ex-lover/neighbor). When it debuted at #1 it became her twelfth chart-topper and his fifth. It set the record for the highest single-day streams on Spotify WK and garnered Grammy nominations for Song and Record of the Year. It also won MTV’s Video of the Year award. Resources: SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 1/3/1014.

 

Sabrina Carpenter “Espresso” released

Espresso Sabrina Carpenter

Writer(s): Sabrina Carpenter, Amy Allen, Julian Bunetta, Steph Jones (see lyrics here) Released: April 11, 2024 First Charted: April 24, 2024 Peak: 3 BB, 13 RR, 6 AC, 12 A40, 17 UK, 3 CN, 11 AU (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 5.0 US, 1.2 UK, 8.09 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, --240.97 video, 1745.89 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Singer/songwriter Sabrian Carpenter was born in 1999 in Pennsylvania. As a teenager, she starred in Girl Meets World on the Disney Channel. She released her first single in 2014 and her first album the following year. While her first five albums all charted, it wasn’t until 2024’s Short N’ Sweet that she ascended to the top of the Billboard album chart. It also went double platinum and lifted the previous album, 2022’s Emails I Can’t Send, to platinum status as well. “Feather,” from the Emails deluxe album release, was Carpenter’s first foray into the top 40. She followed that with three top-5, multi-platinum hits from her Short N’ Sweet album. The first of them, “Espresso,” peaked the lowest (#3) but sold the most (five times platinum). It topped the charts in more than 25 countries, including Australia and the UK. WK The song was nominated for Grammys for Record of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance. Carpenter told Vogue magazine that the song was about “seeing femininity as your super power and embracing the confidence of being ‘that bitch.’” WK In the song, she brags about a guy who “can't sleep a wink, his mind buzzing with thoughts of her, and she knows it.” SF She is “the irresistible jolt that’ll keep…[him] wired with anticipation.” SF Vulture called the dance-pop song an “instant earworm” WK while Uproxx praised it for its “infectious groove” WK and Rolling Stone for its “irresistible rhythm.” WK Songfacts.com says it is “one of the catchiest pop songs we’ve ever hear, an earworm that strikes like a heat-seeking missile.” SF Resources: SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 12/27/2024; last updated 1/1/2025.