From behind the mixing board at L.A.'s Swing House studio, Sugar Ray's centerfold singer Mark McGrath bemoans the music industry for exploiting his beautiful brawn and pigeonholing his music. From behind the lens of a Cosmopolitan camera, however, he's all smiles. |

This month, the blue-eyed McGrath appeared spiky and sexy on the cover of America's most profound women's rag, which incidentally hit newsstands just before Sugar Ray began laying down tracks for the follow-up to their 1997 breakthrough, Floored, with producer David Kahne.

Last Wednesday, the Orange County natives entered Swing House with nine songs and lofty aspirations in hand. Written during the band's widespread tour and a short-lived break this summer, these "incredible" fresh tunes represent classic Sugar Ray with a new twist of sophistication, a spokeswoman for the group told JAMTV on Tuesday.

"These songs show a more mature Sugar Ray, and I think that's what the band is all about -- taking their music to the next level," she said. "There are no throw-away songs on their demo tape."

Though the spokeswoman could divulge no details, she did confirm that Sugar Ray will likely import an esteemed guest to contribute to this highly anticipated sequel to Floored. That sophomore effort catapulted to the top of the charts last year thanks to the single "Fly." The flighty success of that summer song placed extra pressure on the band, which is now driven to demonstrate the significance of their music, the spokeswoman said

"They don't want to be perceived as a one-hit wonder," she said. "This album will prove to anyone who ever said they were a one-hit wonder that they were definitely wrong."

McGrath confirmed these fears and ambitions in the pages of Cosmo, where he said, "Now we feel like some cute fuzzy animal going to take a lick at the stream on the Discovery Channel -- sitting ducks for criticism ... we're not going to make 15 "Fly"s either."

Sugar Ray will continue to write and record through the summer with plans to release their untitled third album in late October. (Anni Layne)