1D ALBUM ANNOUNCEMENT
IS MADE

One Direction has just announced details of their fifth album, Made in the AM, ahead of headlining Apple Music Festival in London this evening. Released on 11/13 and open for pre-orders now, it appears the Modest!-managed British four piece could be set to go head-to-head with Justin Bieber, whose comeback fourth album is slated for the same date.

Out via Sonny Takhar's SYCO in the U.K. and SYCO/Columbia on this side of the sea, it will be 1D's last for a while (if not ever) as they go on a "hiatus" starting in March 2016. Forecasts currently expect it to sell about 350k first week.

The Made in the AM announcement was issued via video on One Direction’s Twitter feed, with Apple adding to marketing weight on social media and Apple Radio as they guested on Julie Adenuga’s show while getting ready for the gig.

New track "Infinity," the second from Made in the AM, is available to stream now on both Spotify and Apple Music, so there's no exclusive for the Cupertino giant (at least for now).

“To celebrate the launch of the album, One Direction have released an instant grat track from the album as a special surprise for anybody who pre-orders the album… or streams through online retailers,” reads the press release. In simple terms, "Infinity" is a special surprise for everyone, pre-order album customer or not. The track was penned by John Ryan, Jamie Scott and Julian Bunetta - the team behind 1D’s massive 2013 hit "Story Of My Life."

Made in the AM is said to “showcase a more mature sound” for the band, that lost one member earlier this year in Zayn Malik, who’s off launching a solo career. Make In the AM’s first single, "Drag Me Down," went to #1 on 90 iTunes charts and broke streaming records globally.

The band played one of the smallest shows they’ve played for a while yet to an audience of 1,700 at London’s Roundhouse for the Apple fest. This week, the UK and EIRE leg of their On The Road Again Tour continues with six nights at London’s O2 Arena.

Another SYCO-signed and Modest!-managed act, Little Mix, opened the show, where they premiered tracks from their new album Get Weird, out on 11/6. Q4 is shaping up to be a huge month for new music for Sony, with Capitol boy band 5 Seconds of Summer also set to release their much anticipated second album, Sounds Good, Feels Good, on 10/23, with projections currently standing at 300k.