The Hoods are at the top of the hill.
When the ARIA Albums Chart was published late Friday, August 8th, Hilltop Hoods were crowned with Fall From The Light, their ninth studio album.
With that effort, the hip-hop trio make it six-straight studio collections at the summit. And they extend their record as the Australian band with the most No. 1s, at seven.
Hailing from Adelaide, Hilltop Hoods have snagged 10 ARIA Awards, and led the weekly chart with The Hard Road (in 2006), State Of The Art (2009), Drinking From The Sun (2012), Walking Under Stars (2014), Drinking From The Sun, Walking Under Stars Restrung (2016), The Great Expanse (2019) and now Fall From The Light.
Fall From The Light is the trio’s first LP in six years, and sixth consecutive album to debut at No. 1.
Also, it’s the fifth Australian album to lead the national chart in 2025, after sets by Ball Park Music, Bliss n Eso, Jimmy Barnes and Calum Hood.
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“Fundamentally, us being friends first and respecting each other’s decisions is why it still works,” DJ Debris (Barry Francis) tells Rolling Stone AU/NZ for a candid interview. “If one of us is opposing an idea, we don’t try to do the ‘but two out of three of us said yes’ thing — it’s all or nothing. We don’t fight over much, and being friends first and foremost is probably at the core of it.”
“There’s an energy between us. Whatever it is, it’s intangible,” chimes in Pressure (Daniel Smith). “We have a formula or a cohesion that works for some reason. I couldn’t be more thankful that I get to do what I love for a living. I pinch myself every now and then.”
It’s been a cracking couple of weeks of the Hoods, who came in at No. 2 on triple j’s Hottest 100 of Australian Songs with their 2023 anthem “The Nosebleed Section”. They already boast the most entries into triple j’s decades-long Hottest 100 series.
Suffa, Pressure and DJ Debris end a month-long run at the top of the ARIA Chart by the KPop Demon Hunters, down 1-2, although “Golden” from the animated Netflix hit holds at No. 1 for the second week on the ARIA Singles Chart, and is one of five cuts from the soundtrack to appear in this week’s top 10.
Meanwhile, American singer, songwriter and actor Renee Rapp nabs a podium position on the albums tally with Bite Me, new at No. 3. That’s a new career high, easily besting the No. 42 of 2023’s Snow Angel.
The latest albums list has a stronger-than-usual Australian presence, thanks to a batch of new releases.
Darcie Haven makes her first chart appearance, with her second EP, Angel Of The Apocalypse. The Perth singer and songwriter’s effort opens its account at No. 11.
Homegrown rockers The Vanns wheel in a No. 27 with their third album, All That’s In My Head, while veteran Australian singer Swanee dives in at No. 37 with his seventh studio album, Believe.
Just one Aussie single makes a dent in the ARIA Top 50: Crowded House’s 1986 classic “Don’t Dream It’s Over”. The ARIA Hall of Fame-inducted folk-rock group’s nine-times platinum song returned to the top 40 following its appearance in the triple j’s countdown, at No. 5. The single rebounded into the top 40 at No. 22, and dips ten spots to No. 32 on the current frame.
