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HERE COMES SUMMER

The leaves of autumn may be falling, but Capitol Records U.K. is hoping for a second wind of sunny season. Pop-punk boy band Five Seconds of Summer are “the biggest band no-one’s ever heard of,” says Capitol boss Nick Raphael, who’s setting out to change that alongside a star-studded team of Capitol A&R Queen Jo Charrington, Modest! Management and U.S. labelmate Steve Barnett.

Raphael hopes the second album from the Australian foursome, Sounds Good Feels Good (out on 10/23), tops the 3.25m sold worldwide on their self-titled debut, released in 2014. The album took the band from YouTube sensation to arena headlining act, but apart from a U.K. #1 single with “She Looks So Perfect,” there were no real crossover hits.

The second single from Sounds Good Feels Good. “Hey Everybody,” was released last Friday (10/9) and enjoyed 46 new adds at U.S. radio as of Tuesday, landing the #2 Most Added spot. In Blighty, it’s on the C List at BBC Radio 1 and, according to Raphael, has had “a very positive effect on album preorders.” Those numbers stand at 100k+ copies our side of the pond and 30k in the U.K.

Raphael and Charrington signed 5 Seconds of Summer to Capitol U.K. in 2013 after Modest! manager Matt Emsell noticed the band building a fanbase from their bedrooms in Australia. Emsell arranged a publishing deal with Sony/ATV, which funded the release of a debut EP that hit the top of the Aussie iTunes charts overnight. Modest! founders Harry Magee and Richard Griffiths got wind and made the shrewd decision of putting the young band on tour with One Direction.

Griffiths worked with Raphael and Charrington during their tenure at Sony’s Epic Records U.K. with acts including Lemar, Olly Murs and JLS. When Raphael resigned from Sony in 2011, Griffiths promised he’d find an opportunity for them to work together again in future. He kept his word and introduced Raphael—who was then heading up the resurrected London Records label under David Joseph’s UMG alongside Charrington—to 5SOS at a show in Dublin.

Raphael and Charrington were immediately convinced of the band’s star power, and a deal was signed. It was agreed on Griffiths' condition that the band would go through Capitol in the U.S.; Barnett had helped break One Direction worldwide while at Sony, and Raphael was more than happy to team up with him again, having headed up the Epic U.K. offices at the same time Barnett was doing so stateside. In a timely turn of events, Joseph rebranded London Records to Capitol U.K. and the synergy was set.

5SOS’ self-titled debut hit #1 in the U.S. and #2 in the U.K. on its release in June 2014 (July in the U.S.). After guesting on 1D’s 2013 Take Me Home tour, 5SOS have since played over 75 sold-out headline arena dates worldwide, and are about to announce a tour that tops that.

The recording process for Sounds Good Feels Good began at the beginning of this year in between tour dates. Previous collaborator John Feldmann has taken control of production, alongside Eric Valentine. Good Charlotte twins Benjamin and Joel Madden have played a big role in writing, with contributions from Evanescence’s David Hodges, Duran Duran, All Time Low, Bonnie McKee and Roy Stride.

Promo-wise, there are U.S. and U.K. TV slots booked—something that wasn’t done for 5SOS’ debut—and Raphael says Capitol is “going in all guns blazing.” He tells HITS: “We’ve sold 3.25 million debut albums, got the preorders that we’ve got, had the reaction we’ve got online to this band, and we’ve never had a crossover hit with them. Imagine if this band crossed over? The potential is massive.”

With One Direction taking a hiatus next year, we wholeheartedly agree.

The Justin Bieber preorder is now live and #1 at iTunes.

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