The Sam Willows are all grown up

YOU might not recognise The Sam Willows - comprising siblings Benjamin and Narelle Kheng, Sandra Riley Tang and Jon Chua - immediately when you hear their new single Keep Me Jealous.

Co-produced by the band and producers Fredrik Häggstam (Kygo, Girls Generation, The Chainsmokers) and Litens Anton Nilsson, the bouncy dance-floor anthem is punctuated with deep electronic drops and marks a transition from their previous pop-centric indie-folk sound.

It is also an intriguing and electrifying prelude to the quartet's upcoming new album which will be released at the end of the year.

"I guess every artist evolves over time and learn new things along the way and I guess we've always been trying to feature contemporary melodies - what was contemporary in 2012 might be different in 2017 - (so) we just do our best to write the best melodies we can think of," shares Chua.

His bandmate Tang reveals there could be surprises in store when their sophomore record hits the shelves later: "I think this album is a good representation of where we are now; we didn't write it with the intention of all the songs fitting into one genre."

The upcoming tunes also find The Sam Willows growing up as Narelle adds the songwriting delves into other adult topics like depression.

Lyrically, Keep Me Jealous tackles the complications of modern romance and the games lovers play.

"(The song) talks about that distressing but beautiful part of love where envy is wielded as a tool to keep the fire going - I think we all do it to some degree - and it is a reflex born out of wanting to be wanted and despite being selfish in nature, carries the intent of holding on to the person," explains Benjamin, who says it was "fun to explore that discomfort in song".

His sister notes: "We started with just love in general but as (the band) chatted, we got really hooked on this idea of jealousy, and how in this particular relationship, it's what keeps the couple interested and excited about each other - It's definitely a bit of a dark, twisted relationship ... which we twisted even more in the music video!"

The colourful and surreal clip is as bold as The Sam Willows' new musical direction and was filmed on a retro yet futuristic-looking set built from scratch.

It was directed by Tang, who was "excited to finally see the images in my head fleshed out", with the rest of the group also highly involved in the conceptualisation, creative process and production.

"Keep Me Jealous was definitely the biggest, craziest, and toughest idea I've ever worked on" she declares. "The band and I, together with our director of photography Ben Ong (@hypebong), went through a lot of ideas ... We're always so used to music videos with deep meaning, thus, I wanted to create something that didn't have to make sense, very much like how jealousy makes you do things that sometimes really just doesn't make any sense."

The clip features various Easter Eggs, which are blink-and-you'll-miss type scenes; so Tang jests it should be viewed three times at least before re-watching it again in slow motion.

She reveals there is a falling pineapple in there somewhere and Indian actress-singer-beauty-queen Priyanka Chopra has a cameo.

"There are some very sleight-of-hand visual effects," confirms Benjamin.

Since the release of Keep Me Jealous in May, it has charted across Asia and landed on Indonesia, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore's iTunes and Spotify charts. The song has also been added into over 60 international playlists on Spotify and Apple Music, including the United States, Sweden, Indonesia and Norway.

The hit has even caught the attention of one Michael Bolton, with The Sam Willows posting a Facebook video where the curly-haired crooner sings it.

The band got to meet him because Tang was his co-host on his new singing competition show Bolt of Talent, and they were all in Malaysia where the finale was being filmed.

"We were talking about the band's new single one day during filming and he said he would sing it if we taught it to him," she reveals. "So we did! Still very unreal, but Michael is such a sport - it still blows my mind how he was so willing and supportive!"