• e-mail

Fans of Harry Styles were left beside themselves on Thursday when the ex-One Direction star unveiled the track-list of his freshman album, alongside a photo of his naked back in a bath of pink water.

And as his legions of followers scanned the list of 10 songs desperately, the most eagle-eyed of them noticed one track in particular seemed to stand out.

The eighth song on the album list, titled Ever Since New York, saw One Directioners hysterically clutching at straws to somehow attach it to one of the various 'ships' that fans of the boy band seem so obsessed with.

Scroll down for video

'OMG - it's about Haylor!' Frenzied Harry Styles fans convince themselves forthcoming song Ever Since New York is a tribute to his unconfirmed fling with Taylor Swift from five years ago 

Sequel: The major reasoning behind this was that Taylor's album, 1989, also featured a song with New York in the title (namely Welcome To New York) leading frantic fans to presume Ever Since New York was some form of sequel song

Sweeping 'Larry Stylinson' and 'Zarry' to one side, fans deciphered that this particular song must be a tribute to Harry's brief and never-confirmed tryst with Taylor Swift from five years ago.

The major reasoning behind this was that Taylor's album, 1989, also featured a song with New York in the title (namely Welcome To New York) leading frantic fans to presume Ever Since New York was some form of sequel song.

Clawing their way on to Twitter to throw their opinions into the ring, fans tweeted declarations such as 'Ever Since New York is for Taylor, Haylor still lives!' and 'Welcome To New York, Ever Since New York, Wow Haylor is real!'

'Haylor is so real I'm crying,' wept a third fan, as another defiantly saluted: 'Haylor rise!'

Artsy unveiling: The One Direction star, who released his debut record Sign Of The Times to positive reviews last week, took to Instagram on Thursday with a picture of him in a pink pool to release date of the eagerly anticipated album

Haylor rise! Clawing their way on to Twitter to throw their opinions into the ring, fans tweeted declarations such as 'Ever Since New York is for Taylor, Haylor still lives'

'#EverSinceNewYork mmmm I smell HAYLOR!' hash-tagged another.

'Ever since New York Haylor proof!' came someone else's thoughts on the matter.

'Harry has a song on his new album called Ever Since New York and I'm praying it's about Tay also I hate myself what's new,' surmised somebody else. 

On the flip side of this, some fans were left seething at the insinuation.

'Can we all not fight about making stuff about Larry, Hendall or Haylor and make this about supporting Harry for a successful solo project?' begged one embittered enthusiast, also referencing the Harry/Kendall Jenner pairing of yesteryear.

'There are people saying that one of the songs on Harry's album is about Haylor. I mean, that's over since 2012. Go f**k another fandom,' spat a second furious tweeter.

Handbags at dawn: 'Don't disrespect Ever Since New York by saying it's about Haylor, Harry doesn't care, don't ruin a good song like this,' someone else typed, presumably having somehow managed to hear the song ahead of the rest of the planet 

'It's probs not even about Haylor, and even if it is just enjoy the song & forget that it's about her,' counselled another.

'Don't disrespect Ever Since New York by saying it's about Haylor, Harry doesn't care, don't ruin a good song like this,' someone else typed, presumably having somehow managed to hear the song ahead of the rest of the planet.

Despite the fact that Harry and Taylor did spend some time in New York City together five years ago, it was never 100 per cent clarified whether or not they were an item, despite pictures of them seen holding hands.

Harry, in fact, said nothing about her at all, while Taylor seemed to use some of the speculation in the promotion for songs such as We Are Never Getting Back Together and Style.

Eagerly anticipated; Harry Styles has announced that his debut solo album will be released on 12 May

The obsession with Ever Since New York has somewhat overshadowed the other nine tracks on the album - although Harry's single Sign Of The Times has already been talked about thanks to it's debut this week as the first song to be unveiled.

Other song names include Meet Me In The Hallway and From The Dining Table, suggesting a domestic room theme to some of the other tracks.

No-one seems to have married the song Woman to any female in particular as of yet, and tracks such as Two Ghosts and Only Angel have suggested an ethereal, perhaps otherworldly vibe.

Harry announced that his debut album will be released on 12 May by taking to Instagram on Thursday to reveal two snaps of the singer in the aforementioned rose-tinted water.

While it hasn't been confirmed, it looks as though the album will simply be named Harry Styles, as he captioned the picture: HARRY.STYLES //12.MAY.17//.' 

Going solo: The former X Factor star previously admitted that branching out on his own away from the band has left him feeling 'vulnerable'

The former X Factor star previously admitted that branching out on his own away from the band has left him feeling 'vulnerable'.

He explained to Dermot O'Leary on BBC Radio 2 : 'It's very much like giving birth - without the pain, obviously. It was very exciting. It was nerve wracking. Also, very exciting to have a job again.

'But I think honestly, any time you are putting something out that's kind of a piece of you, I guess it's quite a vulnerable feeling. But it is exciting. I like it. And I think that helps in terms of the nerves. I think if I was putting something out that I didn't like, then I'd be much more nervous.'

The singer - whose band embarked on an extended hiatus in March 2016 - sent social media into meltdown after unveiling his hotly-anticipated debut solo single on Radio 1 last Friday. 

However, his efforts to branch out solo got off to a rocky start after fears his new single Sign Of The Times could lose out on the number one spot on the Australian charts. 

Positive reviews: The singer - whose band embarked on an extended hiatus in March 2016 - sent social media into meltdown after unveiling his hotly-anticipated debut solo single on Radio 1 last Friday

His fellow bandmates Liam Payne and Niall Horan also took to Twitter to congratulate Harry on the track.

New dad Liam wrote on Twitter 'proud of you H. Glad you're getting to do your own thing', while Niall added: 'Love it H.' 

Spotify suffered a data glitch last week that prevented the song from being listened to, potentially impacting on the true number of listens.

The music streaming service confirmed to Variety on Saturday that a glitch had stopped the single from coming up for several hours after its official release on Friday.

A music source explained: 'This is a nightmare start for Harry's solo career and his record label won't be happy.

'The Spotify malfunction meant many of his fans simply couldn't find his song to listen to online when they searched for it.

'The potential ramifications are big and it's likely he has missed out on hundreds of thousands of streams as a result. That could really affect his chart position.

'Harry's launch is one of the industry's biggest this year and everyone expected him to hit the ground running by topping the charts.'

Rough start: Spotify suffered a data glitch last week that prevented the song from being listened to, potentially impacting on the true number of listens