After abruptly wiping her website and all social media accounts clean, Taylor Swift has started dropping cryptic hints believed to signify new music on its way.
The 'Bad Blood' hitmaker cleared out her Instagram and Twitter pages on Friday (US time) without warning, but on Monday a new video was added to both of the accounts.
It shows a snake moving around, flickering in grainy film effects, and has already racked up more than 4.4 million views on Instagram alone.
Only hours after it was posted, magazine Us Weekly claimed to have inside knowledge about an upcoming single.
It's been more than three years since Swift released her fifth album, 1989, which featured the hit single 'Shake It Off'.
That was released during a livestream, following an event where the singer invited her fans to her many homes to listen to the album early in what was dubbed 'Secret Sessions'.
According to Us Weekly, the first single from Swift's sixth album will be released on Friday, followed by a music video and a performance at the MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday.
The album will come soon after, if Us Weekly is to be believed.
"She's being very secretive about it, but [the album]'s going to be a really good one," a source reportedly told the magazine.
Swift's snake saga
The appearance of a snake on Swift's profile is not an unusual sight in recent months - what's surprising is that it's come from Swift herself, rather than other commenters.
In 2016, Kim Kardashian and her husband Kanye West were embroiled in a feud with Swift, which started with West's song 'Famous' from his album The Life of Pablo.
In it, West raps: "I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex / I made that bitch famous", in reference to the 2009 MTV Music Awards where he infamously interrupted her acceptance speech and claimed the award should've gone to someone else.
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Swift fired back, claiming she never approved the line and the reference as being a "bitch". In response, Kardashian posted a video appearing to show Swift giving her blessing for West to use the raunchy line and agreeing it was amusing.
Later that day, Kardashian headed to Twitter with a simple message: "Wait it's legit National Snake Day?!?!?They have holidays for everybody, I mean everything these days!"
Since then, Swift's social media has seen a barrage of messages either directly calling her a "snake", or simply containing a series of snake emojis.
They disappeared several months later, as Instagram launched a feature allowing celebrities to block certain words or emojis from their feeds.
But now, a snake has slithered back into sight - and this time, it appears to be on Swift's side.
However, the barrage of emojis on Instagram have yet to make a reappearance, as comments are disabled on the video.
Now all fans can do is sit and wait, wondering what will happen next - and whether the famously revealing singer will reignite some simmering feuds in her next album.
Newshub.
