Today, Perpetual Groove have released a pair of singles titled “Black Sheep” and “Sea of Freaks.” This latest dispatch from the genre-bending jam quartet plots two poles in its sound, with the first displaying its trademark carefully-balanced dynamic of acoustic and electric arrangement, while the second shows the group plunging into an intrepid digital odyssey. The singles, alongside accompanying AI-generated psychedelic music videos, are available to stream now.

“Black Sheep” mirrors some of Perpetual Groove’s most beloved tracks as an evocative, sentimental, thought-provoking anthem, in the vein of classics like “Long Past Settled In,” “It Starts Where It Ends” and the band’s more recent singles, “Fiery Skies” and the long-awaited recordings of live standards “Out Here” and “Suburban Speedball.” Stacking and stripping back layers of acoustic instruments and engulfing electronic soundscapes, the group cultivates a trancelike mood that swells through the track like the ebb and flow of the tide. “The demo for ‘Black Sheep’ that Brock & Adam recorded immediately inspired the entire band to jump in both feet first & and expand upon it,” keyboardist Matthew McDonald shares on the first cut. “This one was pieced together over a few weeks bouncing between all four members constantly evolving. I could not be happier with where we all landed with ‘Black Sheep’ in its final iteration.”

“We wanted to release ‘Black Sheep’ in the style of old 45 singles where you would get two songs on a ‘single’ release,” McDonald continues. “‘Sea of Freaks’ was the obvious companion.” The accompanying offering shows a more abstract and progressive side of Perpetual Groove, conjuring the work of synth pioneers like Kraftwerk and William Onyeabor with a slowly-building, heavily syncopated pseudo-krautrock drone. Bassist Adam Perry sheds some light on the process behind this track, recalling, “I had just recently acquired the Life Aquatic soundtrack on vinyl, and I had listened to it several times in a row. I had those Mark Mothersbaugh synth lines bouncing around my head, which led to some great inspiration. I sat down with my Moog and ‘Sea of Freaks’ just came pouring out almost all at once. One part after the other. The vocal part was inspired by a moment and a person from our past. Makes me chuckle a bit whenever I hear it.”

“Black Sheep” and “Sea of Freaks” are available to stream now. Watch the music video for “Black Sheep” below.