Powderfinger reunion rumours are gathering pace after a cryptic campaign appeared across Australia, and drummer Jon Coghill has declined to comment when asked by YELO whether the Brisbane band is preparing to return.

Main photo: Jon Coghill. Photo: Supplied.

Cryptic billboards and projections have appeared in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne, while a new Instagram account called @thereturnoftheelectrichorsemen has been dropping clues that point heavily towards Powderfinger.

The @thereturnoftheelectrichorsemen account is posting cryptic clues linked by fans to Powderfinger. Screenshot: Instagram.

YELO contacted drummer Jon Coghill on Wednesday morning and asked whether he could offer anything about a possible reunion, even a teaser or a funny line.

His reply was brief: “Hi Penny, sorry I can’t comment.”

That is not confirmation. Powderfinger have not announced a reunion, tour or new music. But the campaign now contains enough references to the band that fans are understandably paying attention.

Why the clues point to Powderfinger

One of the cryptic billboards above White Fox on James Street in Brisbane includes the date of Powderfinger’s final 2010 concert. Photo: via Courier-Mail.

The biggest clue is the campaign name itself. “(Return of) the Electric Horseman” is the closing track on Powderfinger’s 1996 album Double Allergic.

Double Allergic was released in Australia on September 2, 1996 and became Powderfinger’s breakthrough album, with singles including “Pick You Up”, “D.A.F.”, “Living Type” and “Take Me In”. The band wrote and demoed much of the record beneath guitarist Ian Haug’s East Brisbane house before the album pushed them into the national alternative-rock spotlight.

Double Allergic turns 30 in 2026. Album artwork: Powderfinger.

The timing is hard to ignore. A 30th-anniversary Double Allergic project is one plausible explanation if the campaign is not pointing to a full reunion.

The mysterious account has also used the line “I see your signs on the street now. Do you?”, a nod to “My Happiness”, while five horse emojis in its bio have been read as a reference to Bernard Fanning, Darren Middleton, Ian Haug, John Collins and Coghill.

Billboards have carried numbers including seven albums, 18 ARIA Awards and five members, all matching Powderfinger’s history. Another clue points to 13.11.2010, the date of the band’s final Sunsets farewell show at Brisbane’s Riverstage.

Rolling Stone Australia and 7NEWS have both reported on the campaign, with 7NEWS also noting that Powderfinger’s official Instagram account follows the new Electric Horsemen account.

Rolling Stone Australia has more on the campaign here.

Jon Coghill is already back playing

Coghill has also been back behind the kit in Queensland.

Earlier this year, the Nambour-raised drummer joined Brisbane rock band Intercooler after two years of jamming and recording with members Phil Ballantyne, Mooger and Joel.

He told YELO at the time that he was not replacing Intercooler’s existing drummer Damon “Damo” Cox.

“I think Intercooler has many members, so I’m in the band but not taking over from Damo,” Coghill said. “Think of it as them having two drummers.”

Cox also plays drums with US indie-rock band Modest Mouse, giving Intercooler’s current setup a fairly unusual piece of rock history: a Powderfinger drummer and a Modest Mouse drummer in the same Queensland band.

There is no evidence Coghill’s Intercooler work is connected to the current Powderfinger campaign, but it does mean he has been rehearsing, recording and performing again.

Powderfinger have reunited before

Powderfinger called time on the band in 2010 after more than two decades together, ending with the Sunsets farewell tour.

The five members reunited remotely in 2020 for the One Night Lonely livestream, raising more than $500,000 for Support Act and Beyond Blue.

As of Wednesday morning, there are still no confirmed reunion dates, venues or ticket links on the band’s official website.

Powderfinger’s official website is here.

So what is coming?

A reunion tour is the obvious theory, but a 30th-anniversary Double Allergic project, archival release or special event also fits the clues.

For now, Coghill’s “can’t comment” is as close as YELO has to an answer. We’ll update this story when the Electric Horsemen reveal what they’re actually returning for.