Radiohead reappear on the internet; post animated video featuring music from new album

The band deleted their social media posts just hours before

UPDATE 2: The band have released their new song "Burn the Witch", listen here.

UPDATE 1: Radiohead have now posted a video to their website, featuring a cult group wearing masks, dancing around a tied up woman.

The clip is all animated and features bright colours as well as what some have presumed is the first musical excerpt from the album.

Watch via the band's Instagram below.

ORIGINAL: For a good 24 hours, Radiohead were no longer on the internet. It all started on Sunday evening, when eagle-eyed fans noticed pages from the band’s website were slowly being deleted.

Soon after, their Tweets, Facebook, and even Google+ pages were systematically wiped, leaving behind only blank images and absolutely no posts.

At 6pm, Tuesday Morning at around 6AM, Radiohead returned, posting a five-second video of an animated bird chirping.

Several month ago, the band registered a new company called Dawn Chorus, LLP; the new tease is an obvious nod to this, as a dawn chorus occurs when birds sing at the start of a new day.

The day of their internet blackout also adds to the mythos, as the first Sunday of May is also known as International Dawn Chorus day, dedicated to the natural symphonies of early morning birds.

Meanwhile, a select group of fans received a strange delivery on 30 April; a date sometimes referred to as Walpurgis Night, the old folkloric celebration said to belong to the witches.

Leaflets, emblazoned with the words, "Sing the song of sixpence that goes 'Burn the witch'"; referring to an old, unreleased song by the band dating back nearly 13 years.

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Many fans are assuming the record will hit the internet within the next few days, and is thought to be reaching the internet at dawn. Keep your eyes peeled for a 6am release any day now.

The follow-up to the King of Limbs follows the band's long-standing tradition of releasing albums via non-traditional methods. Famously, in 2007, the band started the company Xurbia Xendless Ltd to distribute In Rainbows, initially letting fans pay whatever they wanted for the release.

The band are also heading off on tour, kickstarting things on the 20 May with a show in Amsterdam, soon followed by three nights at London's Roundhouse and various festival dates.