Newton Faulkner and Lianne La Havas go head to head in the albums race

Newton Faulkner takes the early lead in this week’s albums race, but young soul newcomer Lianne La Havas is biting at his heels, according to today’s Official Albums Chart Update.

Write It On Your Skin, Faulkner’s follow up to 2009’s Rebuilt By Humans, sees the acoustic guitar virtuoso enlisting the help of his brother Toby (a former drum and bass MC), Phantom Planet’s Sam Farrar and production writing duo Nexus. This is the Surrey singer/songwriter’s third studio album, and if Faulkner and his signature rust-red dreadlocks hold on through to Sunday, Write It On Your Skin will be his second chart topper (his 2007 debut Hand Built By Robots also hit the Official Albums Chart summit).

22 year old soul singer/songwriter Lianne La Havas enters the race today at Number 2 with debut album Is Your Love Big Enough. The south Londoner, who can already count under her belt a breakthrough performance on Later With Jools Holland, a Bon Iver US tour support slot, as well as a stint as backing vocalist for fellow songstress Paloma Faith, releases her first full length debut after two warmly received EPs.

Faulkner and La Havas are separated today by less than 3,000 copies, while Maroon 5’s Overexposed (4) and Chris Brown’s Fortune (5) round off today’s Top 5.

New Entries And High Climbers

There are a total of four new entries in today’s Official Albums Chart Update Top 40. Led by Newton Faulkner (1) and Lianne La Havas (2), next up is returning Scottish indie rockers The View with new offering Cheeky For A Reason at Number 3.

Frank Ocean of LA hip-hop collective Odd Future, who also finished second in the BBC’s Sound Of 2012 poll behind Michael Kiwanuka, looks set for a debut Top 10 with Channel Orange (Number 6). Ocean hit the headlines recently after posted an open letter to his Tumblr account disclosing that he'd fallen in love with another man.

Adam Lambert looks set for his highest UK charting album with Trespassing (7); his 2010 debut For Your Entertainment reached 36. Meanwhile Canadian rockers Rush complete the week’s new entries with the band’s 19th studio album, Clockwork Angels, currently sat at Number 10.

The Official Albums Chart Update Top 40 is as follows:

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