The Parlophone-issued Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends has opened up a lead of a few thousand sales over A&M/Polydor act Duffy, according to early sales figures. The Duffy album has been at number two for the past three weeks behind Coldplay.

Almost Gold/Mercury act the Black Kids are eyeing a top five debut with their first album Partie Traumatic, while initial sales suggest Beck could be making a similar impact with his first XL album Modern ...