Norris: You're doing a couple of new songs, right?

Stefani: We're gonna do two new songs. We're gonna do a song called "Hella Good." That was a song that we had experimented with on this record, writing with some other weird freaks. We hooked up with these guys called the Neptunes, who basically everyone knows. They have, like, 4 billion hits out right now. We just wanted to see what would happen — the kind of cultural collision coming from the hip-hop world and a true band. It's the first time [we] had written with other people before, and it was really hard. It's like getting naked and trying to get really intimate with people you don't know. We ended up writing a song called "Hella Good" and we took it to Nellee Hooper.

Norris: It totally feels like you can hear a dance remix of it already.

Stefani: Like it doesn't even really need to be remixed, but the remixes are going to be insane.

Kanal: That was a big go for us on this record, to be able to go to dance clubs and hear our own music being played. We're going there anyway, so you might as well have your stuff spun in with the rest of it.

Stefani: The daytime we'd spend writing as much as we wanted and having fun, and then we'd go out dancing at night. It was kind of like being on tour — we didn't stop the going-out process. It was really inspiring to go out and listen to music and dance and roll in at like two in the afternoon and try to write some songs.

Kanal: We wanted to keep the same vibes we had going from touring last year, 'cause I think for the first time ever, we actually got to enjoy touring. We spaced it out, and we were looking forward to these aftershow parties where we'd play Jamaican dancehall music. We were so inspired by Jamaican dancehall music that we wanted to bring that spirit into the record.

Norris: Was it you, specifically, that was the biggest dancehall fan to begin with?

Kanal: All of us are real big reggae fans. I went to Jamaica last year for vacation and really got into the dancehall scene.

Stefani: You know what? That is so crazy, 'cause Tony's kind of [a] little bit uptight, a little bit hard to relax. Anal. He'll say it right now. Say it.

Kanal: No. It's completely not true.

Stefani: That trip to Jamaica is what totally mellowed you out. When you came back from that, you changed.

Kanal: I think I've found a good balance now.

Stefani: He's the star on the album. He really is. He poured all of his influences and everything musically that he loves, he really shoved it right into the band and really made it work with what we're doing. It's inspired us, and our chemistry on the record, as far as writing goes, was just on fire. [RealVideo]

Norris: How did you hook up with Sly & Robbie?

Kanal: We have some friends who live in Jamaica and just made a few calls, asked if they would be interested in working with us. Amazing how it just came together. The whole record was very spontaneous. For this band to start writing a record on January 2 and then put it out December 18 is a huge accomplishment. [The album has since been pushed up to December 11.]

Stefani: It's a miracle. We're hoping that we get some kind of award or something.

Kanal: I think with Return of Saturn ... there was a chip on our shoulders after Tragic Kingdom. We really had to prove ourselves as songwriters, as musicians. It was somewhat labored, the process of making that record. This time it was very free and fun and quick. It just flowed. It was amazing.

Norris: It's a lot of fun to listen to, and it seems like lyrically, too, you were in a happier place.

Stefani: I was in a really good mood. I had a really good year. I think hip-hop kinda — it sounds silly. I always hate admitting it, because it's like this white dame from Orange County ... but the truth is, rock wasn't very exciting in the last few years. I think the tracks that they were doing in hip-hop, the sounds and the beats and everything has just been the most inventive and the most inspiring.

Norris: You guys worked with both Dr. Dre and Timbaland, but those tracks didn't make the record, right?

Adrian Young: We didn't work with Dre, though.

Kanal: We worked on some stuff that Dre sent over, and we went in the studio with Timbaland.

Stefani: You're gonna hear them. They're really good and they're different, and I think that's really fun. I love the idea of different cultures coming together and trying to make something great. I think that's really fresh.