Welsh instrumentalist Gwenifer Raymond returns this week with news of the follow-up to her 2020 album Strange Lights Over Garth Mountain, which saw her praised for alchemizing her blues and Americana influences with her own rural roots to create a singular new sound, dubbed Welsh Primitive.

Out September 5, Last Night I Heard the Dog Star Bark is heavily inspired by Raymond's love of sci-fi – actually Dr. Raymond, since she has a PhD in astrophysics – and the mystic. Lead single "Jack Parsons Blues" draws from the "oddly inspirational" life of a Californian rocket scientist who was a friend of Scientology founder L Ron Hubbard and follower of English occultist Aleister Crowley.

Listen to "Jack Parsons Blues" below:

"He was both a scientist and an embracer of the weird and esoteric," says Raymond of her long-running obsession with Parsons. “He lived in this vast old mansion which he shared with a whole cast of oddballs and shysters. He also came to an abrupt end, blowing himself up in his home lab. For all his faults, I find him to be a sort of romantic character – full of boundless zeal and ideas."

Last Night I Heard the Dog Star Bark is out September 5. Pre-order here. Full tracklist:

1. Banjo Players of Aleph One
2. Jack Parsons Blues
3. Champion Ivy
4. Bliws Afon Tâf
5. Bonfire of the Billionaires
6. Dreams of Rhiannon's Birds
7. Last Night I Heard The Dogstar Bark
8. Cattywomp
9. Bleak Night in Rabbit's Wood
10. One Day You'll Lie Here But Everything Will Have Changed