Following their triumphal Portland-area debut at 2015’s Pickathon festival, excellent English band Wolf People have emerged from the mossy cave where they harvest their mystic, misty, rune-written folk-prog-rock off the walls like lichen, with the welcome heralding of new material. “Ninth Night” is the opener of their upcoming third album, Ruins, and it’s got all the hallmarks of the Wolf People sound—spiderweb riffs, white-out crunch, a stone-circle beat—alongside evidence of some new directions. It’s a brief snatch of a song that cuts right to the climax, running about half the length of some of Wolf People’s woolier epics, and singer Jack Sharp’s voice, often plaintive and clarion, is here cloaked in a cauldron of smoke. It’s bonechilling and marvelous.

According to the official press release, the song’s “lyrics are an incantation once whispered by 18th century burglars and vagabonds while toting the famed Hand of Glory—the stolen hand of a hanged man, dipped in wax (or alternatively a candle made from human fat). Once lit it was believed to lull victims into a deep sleep. ‘Let those who rest more deeply sleep,’ sings frontman Jack Sharp. ‘Let those awake their vigils keep / Oh hand of glory shed thy light / Direct us to our spoils tonight...’”

Ruins will be out on Jagjaguwar on November 11, and Wolf People are doing a UK tour immediately following. No US dates have been announced, but I think it’s safe to assume they'll be bringing their druidic rock our way sometime in 2017. At least, I’m hoping. In the meantime, Ruins is available for pre-order here, and if you simply can’t wait (I don’t blame you), their terrific split vinyl LP with Vetiver, recorded live at 2015’s Pickathon, is for the asking right here. Also, check out the Mercury’s profile of the band from July 2015.