Wigan band The Lathums have knocked Drake off top spot in the album charts, with their debut record 'How Beautiful Life Can Be'.

Despite only forming in 2019 and being unable to tour for much of that time due to the pandemic, the rising stars have gone straight in at number one.

Celebrating their chart-topping debut album, frontman Alex Moore said: “We’re four friends from Wigan who just love making music and are at Number 1 with our debut album, it’ll take a while for this one to sink in.

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"It proves what’s possible for young, British artists with a pure-at-heart ambition to reach people with songs like ours, making friends every step along the way and finding that dreams can come true.

Wigan band The Lathums have topped the charts

"How Beautiful Life Can Be is about seeing the good in things, holding on and coming through difficult times with a smile at the end.

"Today our smiles couldn’t be any wider. Thank you."

The Lathums were 3,700 sales ahead of their closest chart rivals - Public Service Broadcasting - on Monday (September 27). Their album Bright Magic goes in at number two.

Drake's newest album and last week's number one 'Certified Lover Boy' has fallen to number three.

The British Phonographic Industry (BPI) said that British bands have ruled the number one spot for 11 out of the 39 Official Chart weeks in 2021 so far.

BPI’s Gennaro Castaldo added: “New British bands have been quietly breaking through in recent years, but this trend has really exploded in 2021, propelled by streaming and vinyl and fuelled by a new wave of brilliant guitar groups drawn from all over the UK.

Alex Moore of The Lathums performing at Sefton Park in May

"The Lathums are just the latest superb new band to make their mark, underlining that 2021 is shaping up to be the year of the new British band!”

Natalie Imbruglia’s sixth record Firebird opens at Number 10 – the Australian artist’s fourth Top 10 collection and first in 14 years.

Further down, US alt-rockers Angels & Airwaves are new at 17 with their sixth album Lifeforms, Nirvana’s Nevermind rebounds 40 places to 28 on its 30th anniversary, metal band Sleep Token enter at 39 with their second record This Place Will Become Your Tomb, and MoStack bows at 40 with mixtape High Street Kid 2.

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