Maroon 5 are about to return with their second disc, It Won't Be Soon Before Long. The SoCal outfit busted a handful of hits from their debut, Songs About Jane, and it looks like the more things change, the more they stay the same: their new single, "Makes Me Wonder," rocketed to the top of the Billboard charts. Singer Adam Levine recently spoke to us about the sophomore slump, writer's block, and putting everybody together under one roof.

You guys look friendly, but how close are you really?

Adam LevineWhen we started writing the record, we moved into a house together. We spent a few months just making music every day. We always try and have our musical output be really sincere and just spontaneous. There's nothing calculated about it.


You've said that you had problems writing the song "Makes Me Wonder." Do tell.

Adam LevineWe just didn't have all the parts together. We were missing the chorus until the very end. Yes, it was this great song, but it didn't have a chorus. I have a bad attention span when it comes to music. It's my fatal flaw and my greatest gift. So I didn't really know what to do with it. And then we went to Vegas and I met a girl and wrote a chorus. It was amazing. All of sudden I had a girlfriend and I had a great song. But it took a long time. That song was sitting around for four years. It was one of the first demos we even made for our record that's coming out, so it's got my oldest and newest feelings in it.


Is that why you took so much time between records?

Adam LevineWe were on the road for about three and a half years. And pretty immediately after we got home, we started working on the new record. The record took about a year to make. We couldn't have anticipated the success of the first one and obviously when that happens, it gets more intense and longer and the cycle gets a bit bigger.


Which was more stressful to produce -- your last album or this one?

Adam LevineI don't think we could possibly feel the pressure we felt initially with our first album because there was so much more riding on it. We didn't have any money and no idea what we were going to do had it not worked out. That's real pressure. [Back then] we were in the studio for a shorter period of time with a very small budget and -- not to sound, like, cue violins -- we had to borrow money for food from our producer. We were in a rough spot.


What's the secret to your winning formula?

Adam LevineHopefully we've continued to be honest and forthright with the lyrics that we write. I think what established our relationship with fans in the first place was that they connected with what we were doing lyrically. Musically, too, but they could take away something [from the lyrics] that meant something. Hopefully, that connection is still there. I think that we were equally honest with ourselves with this music. So as far as I'm concerned as long as we continue to be sincere in everything that we do, our fans will be onboard.


Yes, but surely you must have had a little help.

Adam LevineWe worked with a team of producers, scientists, 100 monkeys. The first people we worked with were Mike Alizondo and Spike Stanton. Mike had just finished with Fiona Apple's record and had done a lot of work with Dr. Dre, knew a lot about hip-hop and R&B production, and Spike was a sonic genius who worked with U2 and Bjِrk. So we put them together, just to round out everybody in the band. We could always go to Mike to ask him questions about musicality and arrangements, and go to Spike to ask questions about the sound of the recordings. We worked with Eric Ballantine, who had done some good sessions with Queens of the Stone Age, and finished up the process with a guy named Mark Endert.


So what can the faithful expect from you this time?

Adam LevineWe were lacking upbeat, fist-pumping songs that really got people excited. We needed some more of those. We only had one record. If you have one record out, that's basically your set list. So it was tough to round out our live show. But this is great because now we have a lot more straightforward, four-on-the-floor, easily danceable tunes that people can get into immediately. We desperately needed that in our set, so we're really excited to have those go-to songs.