Enigmatic French robot-men Daft Punk have given us a visual hint that their new album might be on the way (via Mixmag).

A little earlier today they updated their Facebook page with the above photo, a split image of their two helmets, as well as the one below, which intriguingly adds the Columbia logo in the corner. They've also updated their website with the image, but that's currently down, presumably due to traffic.

Given that they don't update their Facebook very often - their last but one post was of the poster for Tron Legacy, for which they produced the soundtracked in 2010, their latest material to date - this is presumably the beginning of the build-up to their new album, which is due this year, according to Nile Rodgers whose been working on the record.

Rodgers confirmed that he was working with the duo of Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo last year, posting the below Photoshopped image of himself with the duo on his blog and giving the video interview - scroll down - in which he says: "All I can say is that those guys are geniuses... Spiritually and artistically, working with them was as good as anything I've ever done. It's as great as being in a studio with Bowie, it's great as being with Bernard Edwards, it's as great as the best stuff I've ever done with Duran or Madonna... It's going to be so cutting edge that people aren't going to expect what they're doing."