The head of Beyoncé's record label believes her next album will be "monumental".

The singer has been working for most of 2013 on the follow-up to her 2011 effort '4'.

Whilst some fans have been growing frustrated at the seeming lack of progress, Columbia chairman Rob Stringer said that it will definitely land in 2014.

He added to Hits Daily Double that it will be a momentous affair:

"At the beginning of next year we've got Broken Bells and Bruce Springsteen. Then we've got Lea Michele from Glee coming, and we've got Foster the People up next. Then we've got Pharrell and Solange, and obviously, at some point Beyoncé will put a record out, and when she does it will be monumental. So we're in really, really good shape."

Speaking meanwhile about Simon Cowell and another US Columbia act One Direction, Stringer added:

"In his field he is the best, the same way as when Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin did Def Jam. I feel really good about One Direction, and in the next few months I have one or two others up my sleeve who will, hopefully, be similar in stature. And I'll still be here to talk to you in a year's time."