The Rolling Stones are teasing the announcement of their first studio album in a decade with snippets and messages on Twitter.
The British rock band this week released on Twitter a 10-second snatch of a bluesy track and video of them playing in a studio, with the message "Coming Oct 6".
The band's latest tweet proclaims:
The veteran rockers last released an album of new material in 2005 with A Bigger Bang, but have toured the world relentlessly.
In March, they staged the first major concert by a Western rock band in Cuba, playing free for an estimated 500,000-strong crowd.
Lead guitarist Keith Richards said a year ago that he and bandmates Mick Jagger, Charlie Watts and Ron Wood planned to get back into the studio in 2016.
A new album would mark the longest interval between new studio sets for the band, which formed in London in 1962.
The Stones are due to perform at a three-day outdoor festival in southern California this weekend dubbed "OldChella" because the lineup includes other stalwarts of rock and pop music including Paul McCartney, The Who and Bob Dylan.
Reuters