Premiere: We Were Evergreen – ‘Be Like You’

Plus: check out a short Q&A with the band...

It's a jungle out there.

We Were Evergreen swapped their native Paris for London some time back, using the city as a base to construct their debut album.

Since then, the trio have shifted and evolved, switched and progressed. Work has now progressed on their second album, with new single 'Be Like You' acting as a neat switchover between the records.

And yes, it's a Jungle Book cover. 'Be Like You' swaps the effervescence of the original for something rather grittier, while the accompanying visuals spin a stark, uncompromising, monochrome tale of city life.

Check it out now, then find a short Q&A with the band after the jump.

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What made you leave Paris behind for London? Which city feels more like home?
A few years ago we were lucky enough to do some gigs and festivals in the UK, and we really enjoyed it. After a few months of that, we decided that we really wanted to move over to London and try it out. We've been here for longer now so it feels more like home, but obviously there's still lots to discover (this city is BIG).

'Towards' enjoyed a lot of success, what is that like for a band? Is it gratifying, or do you try not to notice?
We were just happy that it came out – it's hard to gauge success. What is great is playing to crowds and seeing them sing the lyrics to your album – that really does something to you.

Can you tell us a little bit about 'Be Like You' – what made you tackle this?
We wanted to revisit a classic tune from everyone's childhood: the original song not only has a great melody, but the lyrics themselves have a much deeper meaning than what the Disney film shows. By keeping the melodic base but making the arrangements darker, we wanted to bring out the idea lurking behind the song: that universal feeling of envy, the need to fit in – themes that we already developed in our debut album.

What has the fan response been like to the track? Did you feel it was a risk when you put it out there?
Hopefully they like it! There's always a risk when covering something from a Disney film – people will be tempted to disparage it as a 'children's song', which always has such negative connotations. People try so hard to shun what they see as childish because of how uncool it's supposed to be.

The video is great. Who came up with the concept?
The concept came from us. The video was filmed by Katie Craik, along with Fabienne and Michael from the band. The animation was created by Nathaniel H'Limi, who also directed our first ever video. Because of the song's original premise (an animal wanting to be a man), we imagined a situation in which animals would slowly invade an otherwise very human environment.

The black and white shots of urban London life confronted to animated wildlife help transpose the Jungle Book's elements into a more contemporary context – illustrating the difficulty of integration on a broader scale. We also liked the contrast between the more realist shots and the fantasy brought out by painted animation.

What is next for We Were Evergreen?
A second album ! We're actually working on it now and it's very exciting. We're also playing in Poland, Lebanon and France soon.

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'Be Like You' is out now (purchase LINK).

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