Earlier today, The Avalanches sent fans into a tailspin by releasing a mysterious allstar teaser clip that had us all going:

The video, dubbed Since They Left Us, seemed to hint at the imminent release of new music, but obviously after 16 years of waiting around we were hella cautious about jumping to any premature conclusions.

And we weren’t the only ones. Over on Reddit, Avalanches fans put on their Sherlock Holmes caps and tried to get to the bottom of the whole groovy mystery.

And the results of their labour has been one very convincing theory with some hard evidence to back it up.

As Consequence Of Sound reports, one Redditor found out that if you Shazam the song that appears at around the 1.20 mark in the clip, you get a result The Wizord of Iz by a band called BRAINZ.

Now, it just so happens that BRAINZ features on Noise 11’s recent list of upcoming releases, with a song called Frankie Sinatra. It’s being released by Universal Australia, which is the label responsible for The Avalanches’ first and only (so far) album Since I Left You.

Now, stick with us, because here’s where it gets interesting.

Danny Brown – who features in The Avalanches’ new teaser clip – has said in multiple interviews that one of the two songs that he recorded with the band was called — wait for it — Frank Sinatra.

AND if you listen closely to the “Yeah!” and “Uh!” during what Shazam dubs BRAINZ’ The Wizord of Iz in The Avalanches’ new clip, it’s hard to deny it sounds A HELLUVA LOT like Mr. Brown.

Also, as triple j points out, a search for the Frankie Sinatra title on APRA reveals a song has been copyrighted and registered to Avalanches members Robbie Chater and Tony Di Blasi (alongside vintage musical composers Rodgers & Hammerstein… possibly a sample?)

Meanwhile, some 4Channers have reported that Shazamming the song that appears around the 1.40 mark in the clip reveals this:

But when you look back on your Shazam history, it changes to this:

So the theory – if you haven’t already pieced it together – is that BRAINZ is just an elaborate rouse, a trojan horse if you will, for The Avalanches. And furthermore, the Aussie electrolords will be releasing new music imminently – this week even, according to some.

And let’s hope they’re right. Because one thing’s for sure: if The Avalanches are actually just trolling the shit out of us again, then we’re all going to need therapy.

UPDATE: The Avalanches have returned, listen to their new track Frankie Sinatra here!

Watch TheAvalanches’ new teaser clip for yourself below.