The edgy, propulsive “Don’t You Believe Me Baby” is the lead single from the EP, and its fall 2018 release date falls just shy of the 40th anniversary of the release of The Police’s debut album Outlandos d’Amour.

What? You say you know every song The Police and Sting have ever committed to album and never heard of it? Don’t worry. Many of the band’s most rabid fans haven’t either. In fact, the lyric video Elsewhere – whose members include Aroian’s longtime college pal Kevin Swaluk (bass) and kick-ass new drummer Adam Soucy – posted has over 189,000 views, compared to only 64,000 for a video clip featuring the audio of Sting’s demo, and subsequently landed the band a full page story in The Boston Herald. It was a track that was considered for The Police’s hit album Ghost in the Machine but was scrapped. It features Sting’s scratch vocals without Andy Summers or Stewart Copeland.

Led by Aroian’s dynamic lead vocals, the re-imagined version is as raucous and spirited as any Police track of that time but with a contemporary sensibility that includes Elsewhere’s other foundational influence, the grunge and modern rock of the 90s - when Aroian first launched the band. “I first heard the track at home a few years ago, almost accidentally,” Aroian says. “I spend way too much time on YouTube checking out old concert footage of bands I love, so of course I was enjoying some clips from long ago Police concerts.

“I walked away from the laptop to do something but left YouTube on, and from the other room, I began hearing this raw recording with an incredible melody and Sting’s voice singing words I had never heard him sing,” he adds. “I learned that it was a demo featuring the keyboardist who played on ‘Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic.’ I thought it was extremely cool, and did a little research to learn that we could record it commercially as long as Sting and the publisher were credited. So when Elsewhere began working on the Multi-Man EP, I thought it could be a song worthy of being re-created. We love how it came out. The idea was to modernize it, like the answer to the question, ‘What would Sting, Andy and Stewart have done if the song had made their album?’”

Aroian also felt that the theme of the track – about infidelity – tied thematically to several tracks on the new collection, several of which deal bluntly with the fallout from troubled relationships. The title track “Multi-Man” is about love addiction, or sex addiction, the idea of allowing any sort of emotional addiction overtake our lives. Some may not think it’s as harmful as substance abuse, but Elsewhere’s here to tell us it can be just as damaging. Along those lines, the high octane “Codependency” tackles the notion that even when it’s the best for both parties in a relationship, it’s harder to break free than anyone initially imagines. “(We’ve Got A) Movement” is a whole different ballgame, a socially conscious rock anthem, inspired by the Arab Spring era, about the way the masses can come together to make major changes in the world – even overthrowing totalitarian regimes.

Elsewhere has been a popular Boston band on and off for many years, initially achieving notoriety for their 1997 album Outbound, which earned them slots at the College Music Journal (CMJ) Marathon and numerous showcases in NYC where major labels showed interest – back in the day when that was the ultimate ticket to wider fame. The band later released the EP Perception in the early 2000s before achieving an international breakthrough with their widely acclaimed 1981 album in 2010. In addition to Belgium, where they received a write-up in one of the country’s biggest rock magazines (Rock Tribune), they became popular and received great press in Germany, Denmark, Norway, UK, Italy, Czech Republic and other countries – all while continuing to hold court at top clubs in their home base of Boston and NYC.

“We kind of engaged in a reverse-Police strategy,” Aroian says. “When the Police first went to the U.S. without any label support, they did the tour on their own with an Econoline van. They said they were shocked how far it was from city to city and between venues, while in the UK they could always drive to gigs and return home for the night. We thought we might have more success as a big fish in smaller ponds in Europe, and that proved to be the case.”

For Elsewhere, Multi-Man represents the band’s ongoing ambition and drive to succeed after a series of personal setbacks over the past few years. Aroian has overcome being displaced from his apartment because of a fire, the fracturing of relationships and some major health issues. To quote a famous Sting tune, he learned just how fragile we are and how fleeting life can be. He and Swaluk have been the foundation of the group, but they endured a revolving door of drummers on their way to finding the perfect chemistry with Soucy.

“Maybe the coolest thing about all this is that we have this sense that Kevin and I keep getting better with age. We’re not burning out, we’re just getting hotter and our live shows are more high energy than ever. We believe our music’s good and deserves a wider audience, and the fact that we keep receiving airplay, media attention and continue to book great gigs helps fuel the fire that keeps us going.”