Rumours of a Harry Styles album have been fuelled after four new songs were registered to a performing rights organisation in the US.

The tracks appear on the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) website with Harry listed as the only performer.

Snow Patrol guitarist John McDaid and dance producer Gary Go are listed as co-writers.

One Direction started their year-long hiatus on 13 December.

Ahead of their Radio 1 Live Lounge performance last month, the group told Greg James they would be returning after the break.

The band has always insisted that they’re not splitting up and want to focus on solo projects.

Since early 2014, there have been rumours Harry was planning a solo record but he has always denied an album was in the works while he was in the band.

He has previously worked on tracks with Kodaline and Meghan Trainor but the new songs – which are called Already Home, Coco, Endlessly and 5378 Miles – are the first signs of him releasing his own work outside of One Direction.

Liam Payne, who wrote songs with Good Charlotte last year, recently unveiled his first post One Direction track, a song called The Night We Met for Irish boy band HomeTown.

Ahead of the break, Louis Tomlinson said he was going to be working on his new record label.

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