Arcade Fire appear to tease return with cryptic posts to social media

They’ve also changed their bio, which now simply reads: "It’s the year of the snake so let your heart break."

While there are no posts on their page, they have started posting cryptic photographs and videos on their Instagram Stories, which disappear after 24 hours.

Each bearing the same hot pink hue as their profile picture, among the videos is a point-of-view camera walking through the street with the blink marked across the lens.

In another, singer Régine Chassagne is seen posing with a bunch of roses blinking as she switches between staring towards and looking away from the camera.

The third sees Régine and her husband - fellow lead since Win Butler - dressed in eccentric black and white outfits while standing at the top of a hill as they look up at a pink-coloured sky.

The final picture shows a pair of flower sunglasses being held outside Beaux Dega Liquor Store in New Orleans, Louisiana.

While it remains to be seen what this all means, the band have previously wiped their online slate clean to promote their sixth album, WE, in 2022.

The band first shot to fame with their debut album, Funeral, in 2004, and since then have become regular faces on the festival circuit and a force in indie rock music.

The Quebec-natives, completed by Richard Reed Parry, Tim Kingsbury, Jeremy Gara and a revolving troupe of touring musicians, were touring until August last year.

They had not mentioned any new music, with fans thinking they will make a surprise drop of new material or even a music video in the upcoming days.

Their website, which is still showing on their Instagram page, links through to a magenta website with links to their YouTube, Spotify and social media sites.

Check out more of our Entertainment coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.