British band Coldplay released cryptic artwork on social media on Tuesday matching a mysterious London Underground poster, leading fans to speculate a new album is due for release.

The interlacing rainbow-colored rings on a black background had appeared on a poster in the British capital's metro with text reading only "December 4."

Eagle-eyed fans had noticed that the pattern also appeared on a t-shirt worn by front man Chris Martin at an event in Global Citizen Festival in New York in September.

On Monday and Tuesday the pop rock band released two moving animations of the colorful pattern on its official Twitter and Facebook pages, with fans concluding it was the artwork for a new album.

Last year Martin said that the group was in the process of making an album called A Head Full of Dreams.

Coldplay's label Parlophone did not immediately respond to a request for comment when contacted by AFP.

If the rumors turn out to be true, the new work would be the group's seventh studio album since it was formed in London in 1996.

Their best-known songs include "Viva la Vida" and "A Sky Full of Stars."