Harry Styles has hinted he is about to end his four-year musical drought, with a series of cryptic billboards appearing in cities around the world including New York, Manchester, Palermo, São Paulo and Berlin.
The posters bear the message "we belong together" superimposed over a photo of a stadium of fans, taken from the last date of Styles' 2022-23 world tour.
A website with the same branding launched simultaneously. Clicking on the page opens a WhatsApp group chat called "HSHQ" - Harry Styles Headquarters.
Fans believe that all this activity points to Styles gearing up to announce his fourth album, after a brief detour into marathon running last year.
The star, who was propelled to fame as part of One Direction, was spotted at both the Tokyo and Berlin Marathons last year - clocking up an impressive time of 2 hours 59 minutes in the latter race in September.
He was also seen in St. Peter's Square for the announcement of the new pope and then, according to the Mirror, with actress Zoe Kravitz in his Cheshire hometown over Christmas.
But he is believed to have been working on new music since his Love On Tour concerts wrapped up three years ago.
The new album would be his first since 2022's Brit and Grammy Award-winning Harry's House, which spawned singles As It Was, Late Night Talking and Music For A Sushi Restaurant.
Sessions for the record were initially confirmed in August 2024, when Styles was seen arriving at London's RAK Studios.
Last year, Australian radio hosts Fifi, Fev and Nick claimed it was finished and that Styles wrote it entirely "on a typewriter" - although their sources seemed dubious, at best.
The New York Post has also reported that Styles has signed a deal for a residency at the city's iconic Madison Square Garden, where he played for 15 nights on his most recent tour.
There have also been rumours that the star will play a residency at Manchester's Co-op Live arena. Styles is a significant investor in the venue, which opened in 2024 and will host this year's Brit Awards.
Source : BBC