It's been 3 years since Radiohead released their Hail to the Thief album. Now, sans label, they're ready to unleash the follow-up.

New Radiohead album or not?

It's been over 3 years since Hail to the Thief came out, but Radiohead fans expecting a new album have been left confused after mystical posts by the band on their official website. Although the new album is reported to have been completed several weeks ago, there has been no word on when it will see the light of day.

Instead, a bizarrre mixture of images and phrases on Radiohead's blog have surfaced, leading many fans to believe they're alluding to the new album itself. Indeed, an unofficial fan website named Ateaseweb claimed to have deciphered the code.

March 2008 for new Radiohead album. Possibly.

The people at Ateaseweb have posted their findings, and they believe the images and words are broken down into the following set of phrases (including the date posted):

- September 20: YES WE ARE STILL ALIVE

- September 21: BLINK YOUR EYES ONE FOR YES TWO FOR NO CODE CODE CODE

- September 22: PLAUSIBLE DENIABILITY

- September 22: XENDLESS

- September 23: MIGHT NOT OPERATE PROPERLY

- September 24: A FLATLINE WE ARE IN A MEETING

- September 25: CONSIDERING DISSEMINATION

- September 25: SEMAPHORE ELEMENTS

- September 26: MARCH WAX

It's the last one from September 26 that Ateaseweb believe is the release date for the new album (March for the month, and X for the number 10). As well as March 10, the website also cite March 24 as a possible date. Although neither Radiohead nor their management has either confirmed or denied the claims, such a timescale would make sense, considering the band are currently without a record label after leaving Parlophone/EMI.

Radiohead bidding war

The news that Radiohead don't have a record deal at the moment is particularly surprising. Although the previous agreement with EMI was for six albums (of which Hail to the Thief was the last one), many music industry insiders had believed that this would be a mere formality to renew. After all, which label wouldn't want Radiohead on their roster?

Yet there have been rumours that EMI couldn't afford to keep Radiohead, especially after a downturn in both record sales and revenue from their other artists. Whether this is the case or not doesn't seem to have affected Thom Yorke and his cohorts too much, and they'll be prepared to wait for the right deal to come along. And if not, who's to say they won't release the new album themselves? The picture should become clearer over the coming months, as the hype builds up for what is sure to be one of the most-anticipated releases of next year.

• UPDATE 30/09/07: Radiohead have announced on their website that the new album, In Rainbows, will be released via digital download from their website on October 10.