Five years on from the release of "Songs About Jane," which propelled Maroon 5 into the multiplatinum stratosphere, the group is ready to return with a new album that's "a little more hyper and excitable; not as laid-back or bluesy as the first record," frontman Adam Levine tells Billboard.com.
"It Won't Be Soon Before Long," due May 22 via the new A&M/Octone label, percolated for months as the band tried to achieve perspective on its sudden success.
"The first record was so massive that we all started to get a little freaked out," Levine says. "We all started to get a little nervous and wanted to take our time and make sure it was something we all loved. We all became very concerned with the quality of the record, and when you have five different people equally concerned with that, it's going to take awhile. It doesn't happen overnight. We were borderline Fleetwood Mac on this one; it was crazy."
Levine looked to the fairer sex for inspiration on the new set, but maintains, "It certainly isn't a theme record like the first one -- it's not about one girl and how one girl broke my heart. It's definitely a bit broader than that. Since I'm constantly perplexed by women, that was definitely a central theme of this record as well. And no matter what you're talking about, it's always easy to use the metaphor of a relationship, in my opinion at least."
Rather than work with one producer for the whole album, the band spent time with four different people in a "quest to make it perfect, or as perfect as it could be through our eyes,? according to Levine. ?We wanted it to be as good as possible. It's nice to have a different perspective once in a while. You get fried at the studio every day going in with the same people and doing the same things. Your attitude can sometimes be negatively affected by it, and therefore what you're doing creatively can be negatively affected by it.?
Maroon 5 won't begin a proper tour until September, but the group will suit up as the support act for the Police's July 10 show at Miami's Dolphin Stadium. "I can't wait for that," Levine says. "It's a dream come true. I would've liked to have just seen the concert, let alone open up for them."
"It Won't Be Soon Before Long," due May 22 via the new A&M/Octone label, percolated for months as the band tried to achieve perspective on its sudden success.
"The first record was so massive that we all started to get a little freaked out," Levine says. "We all started to get a little nervous and wanted to take our time and make sure it was something we all loved. We all became very concerned with the quality of the record, and when you have five different people equally concerned with that, it's going to take awhile. It doesn't happen overnight. We were borderline Fleetwood Mac on this one; it was crazy."
Levine looked to the fairer sex for inspiration on the new set, but maintains, "It certainly isn't a theme record like the first one -- it's not about one girl and how one girl broke my heart. It's definitely a bit broader than that. Since I'm constantly perplexed by women, that was definitely a central theme of this record as well. And no matter what you're talking about, it's always easy to use the metaphor of a relationship, in my opinion at least."
Rather than work with one producer for the whole album, the band spent time with four different people in a "quest to make it perfect, or as perfect as it could be through our eyes,? according to Levine. ?We wanted it to be as good as possible. It's nice to have a different perspective once in a while. You get fried at the studio every day going in with the same people and doing the same things. Your attitude can sometimes be negatively affected by it, and therefore what you're doing creatively can be negatively affected by it.?
Maroon 5 won't begin a proper tour until September, but the group will suit up as the support act for the Police's July 10 show at Miami's Dolphin Stadium. "I can't wait for that," Levine says. "It's a dream come true. I would've liked to have just seen the concert, let alone open up for them."
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