Peter Kramer | Getty images

Maroon 5 is riding high these days. After the band's 2002 debut album — Songs About Jane — sold more than 4 million copies in the U.S., the group is back with a new album, It Won't Be Soon Before Long, which hit stores on May 22. The first single from Maroon 5's sophomore release, “Makes Me Wonder,” hit the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in only its second week. Before the band's new release hit stores, 210SA caught up with Maroon 5 lead singer Adam Levine.

Do you think for the band, it was a long time before you released the new album?
The common misconception, I think, is that people think we took a lot of time off. But because the record took such a long time to happen, we took about a month off when we got home. We were on the road for about 3/61/2 years, and pretty immediately after we got home, we started working on the new record, and the new 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.

What is it about the new album that will resonate with fans?
Hopefully, we've continued to be honest and forthright with the lyrics that we write and still connect with them in that way. I think what helped the first time around, what established our relationship with our fans in the first place, was that they connected with what we were doing lyrically. And musically too, but they could take away something that meant something to them. Hopefully, that connection is still there.

If you could go back to right before you started the tour for Songs About Jane, what would you tell yourself about the next several years, and what would do you wish you'd known ahead of time?
We've all seen what can happen in “Back to the Future 2.” I could have told myself something that would have totally screwed up everything, and we might not be where we are today. I'm a big fan of no regrets. So I think that if I could do that, if that was a possibility, I would either say no or if someone put a gun to my head and said, “do it,” I would do it and probably kill myself with the shock because I would see myself coming back to give myself advice. So it would get really confusing and scary.

It's obvious that you have been thrown into the Hollywood spotlight, and gossip is obviously a very big part of that scene. What's it like being in the public eye and being subject to the scrutiny of it?
It's pretty stupid, and I don't think it's very cool. We tend to laugh at it and ignore it and treat it as a silly little byproduct of the success that we've had. But it's definitely funny.

How do these new songs play live when mixed in with the old songs?
We really needed these songs because we were lacking upbeat, fist-pumping songs that really got people excited. We needed some more of those. We only had one record, so you have to think essentially, if you have one record out, it's basically your set list. So it was tough to round out our live show. But this is great because there are 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.

In this decade, it seems like it's been very difficult for U.S. bands to continue the momentum of success. They have one album that blows up and then seem to fade. Why do you think it is?
You never know why these trends take place, but I think maybe it has to do something with what happens before the boom of success. The coolest thing about what's happened with us, and the reason why we're so happy and confident going into this next record, is because we toured for a long time before anything happened really. And a lot of times when bands release a record in the summer and then by fall, they've sold a million copies, it's really difficult to know why people are there for that moment. And so much hype and so many things happen all at once that it becomes overwhelming. At the end of the day, you started off and there were 10 people that were there to see your show, and now there are 10,000. And that jump, I think, the slower and more gradual it is to get to that point, the more you have to fall back on when that buzz is over and the dust settles.

Clint Hale | 210SA