Future’s Pharrell In Race To Knock Off INXS

Future Music Festival headliner Pharrell Williams is in a race against time to chase down INXS in the ARIA Albums Chart this week after giving the latter a two-day head start.

Williams' new album G I R L was released Monday to tie in with an international release, rather than the traditional Friday in Australia, giving INXS' The Very Best a clear head start over the weekend before the weekly ratings period closes on Monday. According to midweek figures G I R L has had strong initial sales, but only two day into its sales reports it's too early to predict where it will sit come Saturday evening.

The next Future Music Festival date is on Saturday in Sydney, so any bump it receives from this weekend's shows will impact the following week's charts.

The INXS compilation is still flying after the INXS: Never Tear Us Apart mini-series success but the gap out front is getting smaller.

Another album charting well this week is Katy Perry's Prism, which on the back of a tour announcement and promotional duties will jump into the top five from nine, if the midweek figures are to be believed.

Other movers include Bruno Mars' Unorthodox Jukebox, Future Music Festival band Rudimental's Home, the Love Child soundtrack and One Direction's Midnight Memories. ScHoolboy Q's Oxymoron will debut in the top 50.

Interestingly triple j's latest Hottest 100 compilation is one of the best selling albums of the week thus far. It won't feature in the albums chart though, just the compilations ranking (where you can almost bet your house that it will be number one). That's unlike their Like A Version 9 compilation, which given they were new recordings gave the station a number one debut last year.

In the ARIA Singles Chart Pharrell's reign with Happy is under threat from Sara Bareilles' Brave, which is once again selling well midweek after reaching a new high of six last week. David Guetta featuring Skylar Grey's Shot Me Down is also on the move up the charts as is Peking Duk featuring Nicole Millar's High.

Midweeks are showing debuts from Nathaniel's You're Beautiful, Pitbull featuring G.R.L's Wild Wild Love and Jason Derulo's Stupid Love.