Ryan Sheridan has blasted his way to the top of the Irish charts. The Hot Press cover star’s album Here and Now has gone straight to No.1 in the first week of its release.

It is an impressive achievement for the Monaghan artist - and bodes well for his international hopes with what is his most commercial album to date. He saw off competition from the highly-rated Weeknd – whose album Beauty Behind The Madness was released on the back of a three-week stint at the top of the singles charts with the ubiquitous ‘Can’t Feel My Face’, and lands at No.2.

Less easily predicted is the powerful start achieved by Halsey, the US singer songwriter, better known to her mother as Ashley Nicolette Frangipane. Her album Badlands leaps in at No.3 – a position it had already reached in New Zealand, clearly suggesting that her star is in the ascendant. Her previous outing, the EP entitled Room 93 was a minor hit in the US, peaking at No.3 in the Heatseekers chart, and just edging its way into the Alternative Top 20.

Halsey will celebrate her 21st birthday on September 29, 2015.

Foals, meanwhile, chart at No.5 with What Went Down’, an album which received an 8 out of 10 review from Paul Nolan in Hot Press. "What Went Down is another hone run for Yannis and the boys,” he concluded.

Also new in the frame is Van Morrison, with the compilation The Essential Van Morrison entering the charts at No.18. On Monday last, Morrison celebrated his 70th birthday with a celebratory gig on Cyprus Avenue in Belfast. The final newcomer in the Top 20 comes from the Irish indie outfit The Jimmy Cake, with the intriguing Master hitting an impressive No.12. The album – The Jimmy Cake’s fifth – is a three song journey across 70 minutes of music – which ends with the colossal ‘Death Can Fuck Off’. The album has been described by The Jimmy Cake as their most ambitious to date.

With Ed Sheeran (X), Kodaline (Coming Up For Air), Dr. Dre (Compton), Taylor Swift (1989), Florence and the Machine (How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful) and Hozier (Hozier) making up the Top 10, it is indeed a strong chart of quality creative music...