Bowie track may miss singles chart...File photo dated 25/11/2003 of David Bowie performing at Wembley Arena, as the singer's surprise and much talked-about comeback track looks set to miss out on a place in the singles chart. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Issue date: Thursday January 10, 2013. The song, Where Are We Now?, created a buzz around the world on Tuesday when it appeared without warning and soon topped the download charts on iTunes. But the Official Charts Company said that sales of the song have not been counted towards this week's top 40 because many sales are tied to orders for his new album. See PA story SHOWBIZ Bowie. Photo credit should read: Andy Butterton/PA Wire...E

David Bowie's new album, The Next Day, is on course to enter the UK charts at number one on Sunday.

David Bowie is set to reach number one in Sunday's charts with his album, The Next Day, making it the fastest selling album of 2013.

The Next Day is Bowie's first since Reality in 2003, which peaked in the charts at number three. Reports from the Official Charts Company showed that The Next Day had sold 66,000 copies by Wednesday, two days after its release.

Last week London pop band Bastille made number one in the album charts with Bad Blood, but The Next Day is currently outselling it and the number two record, Bon Jovi's What About Now.

Currently the fastest selling album this year is Opposites, by Biffy Clyro, which sold 71,600 copies during its first week of release.

Bowie's first single from the album, Where Are We Now, made number one in January in the iTunes download chart on the day it was unexpectantly released, ahead of Rihanna and Taylor Swift. However, due to a technicality in how Bowie made the record available, it was not eligible for the Top 40.

The Telegraph gave the album five stars, calling it an "absolute wonder", "an intellectually stimulating, emotionally charged, musically jagged, electric bolt through his own mythos and the mixed-up, celebrity-obsessed, war-torn world of the 21st century."

Speculation over an album tour – which would be Bowie's first in a decade – was furthered yesterday after his wife said she wouldn't be able to join him on the road due to family commitments. Last week his guitarist had said Bowie was "50:50" on touring again.

Alice Vincent Telegraph.co.uk

Online Editors