The Reytons score a second UK Number One album, beating FLO to the top

The Reytons have scored their second UK Number One album, with A Love Letter To A Broken Town entering the Official Albums Chart at the top spot on August 14, beating London girl group FLO's Therapy At The Club, which debuted at Number Five. The self-released, indie Rotherham band previously topped the chart with 2023's What's Rock And Roll?, and the new album also topped the Official Vinyl Albums Chart.

Frontman Jonny Yerrell highlighted that the record reached Number One without any mainstream radio support. "This has to be the first album in history to reach Number One in the Official Charts without a single play on mainstream radio!" he said. "I wouldn't change a thing, it's been unapologetically us, Rotherham and Reytons." The band dedicated the chart-topper on Instagram to "the grafters, the dreamers and the everyday people who taught us everything we know."

The Reytons' chart run began with 2021 debut Kids Off The Estate, which narrowly missed the Top 10, before What's Rock And Roll? took them to Number One in 2023 and third album Ballad Of A Bystander reached Number Two, with the band saying at the time that they outsold the James Arthur album that beat them.

Speaking to NME in 2023 about their DIY approach, Yerrell said the band built its success out of necessity. "We're proud that we've done it independently, and it's just a reminder that you can do it," he said. "There's no financial backing, we never started with any money... We've had to work our way to where we are."

A Love Letter To A Broken Town was previewed by singles "Jukebox" and "Busker's Paradise," and the band's first world tour resumes in the UK and Ireland in October, including a date at London's Alexandra Palace, before dates in Asia and Australia next year.