Next month, Sean O’Hagan’s long-running sophisticated avant-pop project the High Llamas will release the new album Hey Panda. O’Hagan wrote the tracks during lockdown, under the influence of TikTok, and we’ve already posted the title track and “Toriafan.” Now, the High Llamas have shared another single, and it’s a duet with the UK singer-songwriter Rae Morris.

Rae Morris, a big High Llamas fan, sings backup on a bunch of Hey Panda songs, but she really takes the lead on the new one “Sisters Friends.” It’s a warped piece of lounge-R&B with lush, jazzy, surprising things going on with synths, pianos, acoustic guitars, bass, and drum machines. Sean O’Hagan hits some falsetto notes on the chorus, but it’s not really a duet.

In a press release, O’Hagan says, “This song traces a homeless man and his dog from London to the Isle of White, off the UK southern coast. The man makes a living playing a Japanese instrument called a shakuhachi… Rae sings it with open generosity, almost like a folk performance, but the tune is deffo from the church.” Rae Morris says that it’s “a big honor” to work with the High Llamas, and she adds, “I feel very at home with its story and calm, elegant beauty.” Watch the song’s Simon Russell-directed video below.

Hey Panda is out 3/29 on Drag City.