NEW MUSIC FRIDAY IN BLIGHTY: HERE'S WHAT'S COMING NEXT

New music being birthed from Blighty on Friday involves the second albums from PMR/Island garage duo Disclosure and Virgin EMI/Glassnote indie trio Chvrches, and New Order’s tenth studio set, released via Mute.

Titled Caracal, Disclosure’s new album is big on star guests, featuring tracks with The Weeknd, Sam Smith, Lorde, Lion Babe and more. Their debut effort Settle, released in 2013, hit #1 on the U.K’s Official Albums Chart and has since been certified platinum.

The duo have yet to score a #1 single, though they’ve had Top 5s with “White Noise” featuring Alunageorge and “Latch” with Smith (released right at the beginning of his stratospheric rise in 2012), also platinum.

First signed to brothers Ben and Daniel Parmar’s PMR label in 2012, and managed by Smith’s management Method, Disclosure have spent the past few years building up notoriety in Blighty but have yet to truly breakthrough worldwide. Could the all-star cast of Caracal change their fortunes? Disclosure is now on Capitol in the States; Interscope released their previous album.

Caracal’s latest single “Omen” reached #13 and has had 1,895 plays across all U.K. radio this past week. Lorde collab “Magnets” was premiered on Zane Lowe’s Beats 1 show last night, and the duo headline the Apple Music Festival this evening. The third in a four-part video series directed by Ryan Hope premiered on 9/15. On 9/23, Disclosure announced a four-date U.K. tour in Glasgow (11/26), Manchester (11/28) and two nights at London’s 10k-capacity Alexandra Palace (12/1-2).

Glasgow trio Chvrches' 14-track self-produced Every Open Eye “refines the sleek, dynamic synthpop” of their debut, wrote NME last week. The project was helmed by Virgin EMI SVP A&R Nick Burgess. Label chief Ted Cockle is hoping for a Top 3 chart position. “We adore this band and their whole attitude and demeanor,” he tells HITS. Chvrches also play at Alexandra Palace in London next month.

Singles-wise, “Leave a Trace” and “Never Ending Circles” have failed to make any significant impact on the charts thus far, although the first is currently sitting on the BBC Radio 2 playlist and has had 92 plays across all U.K. radio this week.

The band’s debut, The Bones of What You Believe, reached #9 on the U.K. albums chart in 2013, has sold almost a million copies and helped break them on this side of the pond (despite leaking before release). Chvrches played Tufnell Park Dome in London last night and appeared on BBC Radio 1 for a Live Lounge session, where they covered Justin Bieber’s “What Do You Mean” and got a “great job” from the Biebs on Twitter. Other promo activity has included a rather delightful real life floral poster that's running in London.

New Order’s Music Complete is the Brit rock band’s debut on Mute after signing a deal in 2014. It’s their first full studio release since 2005's Waiting For The Siren's Call and is somewhat of a homecoming for band member Gillian Gilbert, who took a hiatus in 2001. The first single from Music Complete “Restless” failed to chart and has had 130 plays across U.K. radio this week. Music Complete will be BBC Radio 6 Music's Album of the Day tomorrow, when the band also take part in an “in conversation” and album listening session at Reeperbahn Festival in Hamburg, which will be streamed online from 7pm CET.

Will it be the newcomers or the veteran rockers who wrest the U.K. charts crown this week? Stay tuned.