A blimp over London and stencils on the pavement in New York suggest that the pioneering Warp artist may be making his return

Aphex Twin is up to something. Almost 13 years after the pioneering DJ’s last studio album, his symbol has been spotted in the skies and on the streets: flying on a blimp over London, and stencilled on the pavement in New York.

For fans of Richard D James, there was no mistaking the weird glyph that appeared above London’s Oval Space on Saturday. Aphex Twin’s iconic logo, splashed in black on a neon-green blimp, along with the text “2014”. The same symbol was later glimpsed outside Manhattan’s Radio City Music Hall, outside the Music Hall of Williamsburg, and near New York’s SoHo Apple Store.

Neither Aphex nor his label, Warp Records, have confirmed their involvement in the marketing campaign, let alone what it means. The electronic musician has previously claimed that he had six different unreleased LPs, and in 2011 he told El País there were “10 or 11” albums waiting in the wings. As far as we know, Aphex Twin’s James has not released any music, under any name, since 2009, when a series of bonus tracks were made available to those purchasing his Analord EPs. The last official Aphex Twin album, his fifth, was 2001’s Drukqs.

Despite the lack of recorded material, Aphex Twin is no musical hermit. James emerges fairly often for DJ sets, including a gig at this year’s Glastonbury. And he gave the OK to a recent fan campaign, funded over Kickstarter, to obtain and distribute his long lost Caustic Window double LP - completed but never released in 1994. Thousands of people donated to the cause, each receiving a digital copy of the album; the purchased test-pressing was then sold on eBay for $46,300 (£27,700).

Although there is no confirmation of release dates, the producer’s fans have pointed to Warp’s upcoming 25th anniversary. The label has already announced celebration gigs as part of Kraków’s Sacrum Profanum festival, including a performance of Aphex Twin’s music by the London Sinfonietta. And Reddit users have pointed to a possibly prescient, anonymous post on the 4chan messageboard: “There will be new Aphex Twin music on Warp Records around September time,” someone promised on 8 August, more than a week before the blimp went up. “[It] will actually be TWO releases ... both albums ... They’re going to be amazing ... Believe me or don’t.”