Fred Again..‘s ‘Actual Life’ Begins on Top Dance/Electronic Albums Chart

Fred Again.. (aka, Fred Gibson) debuts at No. 10 on Billboard‘s Top Dance/Electronic Albums chart (dated Dec. 17) with Actual Life (April 14 – December 2020). The set starts with 2,600 equivalent album units, including 2,000 from album sales, Dec. 2-8, according to Luminate.

The pandemic-themed set, originally released in April 2021, hits the chart following its Dec. 2 arrival on vinyl. It’s Fred Again..’s second entry and top 10, after a later release in the series, Actual Life 3 (January 1 – September 9 2020) (No. 3, November).

Actual Life 3 spurred five hits on the multi-metric Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart, including the top 20 achiever “Clara (The Night Is Dark)” (No. 18, Nov. 12). Overall, Fred Again.. owns 12 charted titles, including most recent single “Strong,” with Romy (No. 27, Dec. 3), and “Turn On the Lights Again..,” with Swedish House Mafia and featuring Future (No. 16, Aug. 13).

Speaking of Hot Dance/Electronic Songs, INTERWORLD earns its first Billboard top 10 with “Metamorphosis” (11-10). The track, whose profile has surged thanks to TikTok, earned 2.4 million U.S. streams, up 8%.

Jengi (Dutch producer Jan Berendsen) jets to his initial Billboard chart appearances with “Bel Mercy.” The track, at No. 40 on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs, collected 278,000 domestic streams and sold 600 downloads. With the latter figure, Jengi also jumps in at No. 5 on the Dance/Electronic Digital Song Sales chart.

Continuing with Billboard firsts, but shifting to the Dance/Mix Show Airplay chart, Lena Leon spins to her inaugural top 10 with “Spiral” (12-7). The song is drawing core-dance airplay on SiriusXM’s BPM, Music Choice’s Dance/EDM channel and iHeartRadio’s Evolution, among other outlets. (The Dance/Mix Show Airplay chart measures radio airplay on a select group of full-time dance stations, along with plays during mix shows on around 70 top 40-formatted reporters.)

“‘Spiral’ was written with my friends Andrew Tyler, Flo August and the Disco Fries about a panic attack I had in my own house during the pandemic,” Leon tells Billboard. “It’s one of the most personal things I’ve ever written, and I decided to release it myself after feeling like there wasn’t enough female representation in dance music. I never expected this kind of reaction in a million years and I’m so grateful this one is resonating with so many.”

Additionally on the Dance/Mix Show Airplay chart, Tiësto travels into the top 10 with “10:35,” featuring Tate McRae (14-9). It’s Tiësto’s 17th top 10 (and McRae’s third), tying him with Kaskade for the fifth-most top 10s since the chart began in August 2003. The twosome trails only David Guetta (34), Rihanna (24), Calvin Harris (20) and Justin Bieber (20).